Wawa remains Pennsylvania’s largest private company while also climbing to No. 21 nationally on Forbes’ 2025 list of America’s Top Private Companies, writes Emma Dooling for Philadelphia Business Journal.
Wawa has also widened its lead over rival Sheetz.
The Delaware County-based convenience store chain moved up one spot year over year, even though its estimated revenue dropped to $18.64 billion, down from $18.84 billion in 2024, according to Forbes.
Sheetz had a more drastic decline. The Altoona-based company had an estimated revenue loss of more than 20 percent, to $11 billion from $14 billion in 2024.
It fell to No. 43 from No. 30 in the Forbes rankings.
While Sheetz expanded its workforce to 27,615 employees, Wawa’s headcount stayed the same at about 47,000.
Wawa’s ranking gains come amid an aggressive expansion into the Southeast, Midwest, and Central Pennsylvania. That expansion has increasingly put Wawa and Sheetz in close proximity in core markets.
Wawa has appeared on the annual ranking every year for 40 years.
Greater Philadelphia was represented by several other private companies on the list, including Asplundh Tree Expert, W.L. Gore & Associates, NFI Industries, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, and Day & Zimmerman.
Read more about the Forbes list and Wawa’s ranking this year in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
