Trader Joe’s, Patagonia take top spots in corporate reputation rankings
Retailers claimed the top two spots in an annual ranking of the reputations of the 100 “most visible” companies in the U.S.
With a “reputational quotient,” or RQ score, of 82.1, Trader Joe’s came in first in the 2025 Axios Harris Poll 100 corporate reputation rankings. Outdoor apparel retailer Patagonia was a close (82.0) second, followed by Microsoft, Toyota, Costco and Samsung. (A list of the top 25 companies is at end of article.)
More than 16,000 Americans participated in the survey, which ranks companies on categories such as brand trust, ethics, culture, trajectory, products and services.
In other survey findings, nearly half (46%) of all corporate reputations as consumers criticized businesses for passing along higher costs, delivering poorer perceived quality for their stretched dollars and even capitalizing on tariffs to pad profit margins.
Other findings from the survey are below.
- Inflation fighters come out on top: Prioritizing the consumer paid off for some companies with Trader Joe’s experience the sixth-largest increase in score (+3.5) to take the top spot.
- Quality products/quality culture: American consumers point to quality as the most important consideration when considering company reputations today, followed by customer service, employee treatment and prices. Over three-quarters (79%) say brands with the best reputation are the ones prioritizing consumer wallets.
- Perceived quality is falling: Consumers are twice as likely to say the quality of goods and services is falling behind their current prices than exceeding them (48% vs. 22%). Two-thirds (69%) reported a noticeable decline in the quality of their everyday items.
Methodology
The Axios Harris Poll 100 is based on a survey of nearly 25,000 Americans in a nationally representative sample conducted January through March. The two-step process starts fresh each year by surveying the public's top-of-mind awareness of companies that either excel or falter.
These 100 "most visible companies" are then ranked by a second group of Americans across the seven key dimensions of reputation to arrive at the ranking. If a company is not on the list, it did not reach a critical level of visibility to be measured. Axios and Harris Poll have been partnering on the poll since 2019.
Top 25
Here are the top 25 companies in the 2025 Axios Harris Poll 100.
- Trader Joe’s
- Patagonia
- Microsoft
- Toyota Motor Corp.
- Costco
- Samsung
- Arizona Beverage Company
- Nvidia
- UPS
- Apple
- John Deere
- Nintendo
- Honda Motor Company
- Fidelity Investments
- The Home Depot
- USAA
- Sony
- Kraft Heinz Company
- Amazon.com
- In-N-Out Burger
- JPMorgan Chase
- Under Armour
- Lowe’s
- Ben and Jerry’s
- Coca-Cola
To see the complete 100 ranking, click here.
