Long Beach’s largest employer got a major recognition from Forbes, who recently ranked the Long Beach Unified School District as the fifth-best employer in California. Forbes relied on market research company Statista to compile the list, its second annual incarnation.

Statista surveyed 80,000 Americans working for business with at least 500 employees from October 2019 through May to create the list.

The LBUSD ranks fifth in California behind Delta Airlines, In-N-Out Burger, Costco, and Microsoft. The district is the city’s largest employer with 12,000 employees, more than double the second-largest employer.

“We appreciate this recognition, especially given the continuing pandemic, because the methodology of the Forbes list emphasizes the safety of the work environment, among other factors, including competitiveness of compensation, opportunities for advancement, and the real test—whether our employees would recommend us to others,” LBUSD Superintendent Jill Baker said in a statement. “We thank our employees for the vote of confidence and for continuing to teach and nurture our students during these trying times.”

The honor comes at an ironic time. The LBUSD and the Teachers Association of Long Beach had a protracted labor dispute over the summer about workplace location, with the district asking teachers to work from their classrooms, and TALB requesting workplace flexibility to allow its members to teach from home if they chose.

After weeks of negotiations, teachers got the option to teach from home, which about 60% of teachers opted to do, according to the district. It was a rare public fight between the district and the union, with TALB officials bringing up the threat of a strike for the first time in decades. (Long Beach teachers haven’t gone on strike in the city’s history).

Only two other public school districts in California made Forbes’ list of the top 100 employers in the state: Hacienda La Puente Unified (No. 41) and Riverside Unified (No. 92).

You can see the whole list here.