The 50 best small companies to work for of 2017, according to employees

For a lot of people, working for a small company is better than working for a large one. The best small companies offer a faster pace, more access to the top brass, and great opportunities for growth. But finding the right small company is key.

So job-hunting and employee-review site Comparably analyzed its database of over 3 million employee ratings on 30,000 US companies to come up with this list of the top small companies, based on overall employee satisfaction rating. Small companies were defined as firms with less than 500 employees.

For its reviews, Comparably conducts detailed questionnaires, asking about everything from compensation information to areas like "Are your company's meetings effective?" and "Do you have a mentor at work?"

To make the list, each company needed at least 10 employee reviews with at least 100 ratings (feedback on specific questions). Companies with employees who answered more questions were weighted more heavily than those with staffers that provided fewer answers. Comparably also limited the data to reviews written in 2017.

Tech companies, known for their high pay and perks, dominated the list.