0.39% — based on 885,810 U.S. retirement plans (2024 DOL Form 5500 filings).
Average 401(k) plan fees expressed as the total annual plan expense divided by total plan assets. Sourced from DOL Form 5500 administrative-expense reporting and shown as the median to neutralize outlier impact from the largest mega-plans.
| State | Average Fees (% of assets) | vs National |
|---|---|---|
| PR | 1.37% | +250.3% |
| VI | 0.82% | +109.0% |
| MP | 0.72% | +84.3% |
| GU | 0.67% | +71.5% |
| ID | 0.62% | +58.3% |
| WY | 0.55% | +39.5% |
| NV | 0.53% | +36.2% |
| AK | 0.52% | +33.0% |
| AZ | 0.52% | +33.0% |
| HI | 0.52% | +32.7% |
| AL | 0.51% | +30.4% |
| NM | 0.50% | +28.0% |
| OK | 0.49% | +25.4% |
| AR | 0.48% | +21.8% |
| UT | 0.47% | +18.9% |
| MS | 0.45% | +13.8% |
| FL | 0.44% | +12.0% |
| TN | 0.44% | +11.7% |
| OR | 0.44% | +11.7% |
| WV | 0.43% | +8.7% |
| SC | 0.41% | +5.1% |
| MI | 0.41% | +4.2% |
| CA | 0.40% | +2.1% |
| CO | 0.40% | +1.9% |
| MO | 0.40% | +1.8% |
| KY | 0.39% | +0.3% |
| TX | 0.39% | +0.3% |
| IN | 0.39% | 0.0% |
| OH | 0.39% | -0.5% |
| MD | 0.38% | -1.8% |
| NY | 0.38% | -2.0% |
| NJ | 0.38% | -2.2% |
| MT | 0.38% | -2.9% |
| SD | 0.38% | -4.1% |
| KS | 0.38% | -4.2% |
| LA | 0.37% | -4.8% |
| WI | 0.37% | -5.8% |
| PA | 0.37% | -6.0% |
| GA | 0.37% | -6.8% |
| NH | 0.36% | -8.2% |
| IA | 0.35% | -10.2% |
| NC | 0.35% | -10.7% |
| VA | 0.35% | -10.9% |
| IL | 0.34% | -12.0% |
| WA | 0.34% | -13.1% |
| NE | 0.34% | -13.5% |
| ME | 0.34% | -14.2% |
| DE | 0.32% | -17.5% |
| ND | 0.31% | -20.4% |
| RI | 0.31% | -21.5% |
| CT | 0.31% | -21.7% |
| MN | 0.30% | -22.3% |
| MA | 0.30% | -23.0% |
| VT | 0.28% | -29.2% |
| DC | 0.25% | -37.0% |
| Industry | Average Fees (% of assets) | vs National |
|---|---|---|
| Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles | 0.61% | +55.1% |
| Food Services and Drinking Places | 0.53% | +36.0% |
| Specialty Trade Contractors | 0.53% | +35.3% |
| Personal and Laundry Services | 0.53% | +35.1% |
| Real Estate | 0.53% | +34.2% |
| NAICS 443 | 0.52% | +34.0% |
| Truck Transportation | 0.52% | +33.4% |
| Ambulatory Health Care Services | 0.52% | +32.7% |
| Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation | 0.52% | +32.2% |
| Nursing and Residential Care Facilities | 0.51% | +30.6% |
| Administrative and Support Services | 0.51% | +29.1% |
| NAICS 447 | 0.49% | +25.8% |
| Crop Production | 0.49% | +25.2% |
| Warehousing and Storage | 0.48% | +23.6% |
| Food and Beverage Retailers | 0.48% | +23.2% |
| Textile Mills | 0.48% | +22.3% |
| Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries | 0.48% | +22.3% |
| Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers | 0.48% | +22.2% |
| Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing | 0.47% | +21.1% |
| Construction of Buildings | 0.47% | +20.5% |
| NAICS 446 | 0.47% | +20.2% |
| Support Activities for Mining | 0.47% | +20.2% |
| Forestry and Logging | 0.47% | +19.1% |
| Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers | 0.46% | +17.5% |
| Support Activities for Transportation | 0.46% | +16.9% |
| Animal Production and Aquaculture | 0.45% | +14.7% |
| Printing and Related Support Activities | 0.45% | +14.6% |
| Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers | 0.45% | +14.4% |
| Accommodation | 0.45% | +14.0% |
| Primary Metal Manufacturing | 0.43% | +10.6% |
| Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing | 0.43% | +9.3% |
| Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction | 0.43% | +8.7% |
| NAICS 451 | 0.43% | +8.7% |
| Repair and Maintenance | 0.42% | +8.4% |
| NAICS 442 | 0.42% | +8.1% |
| NAICS 453 | 0.42% | +6.8% |
| Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing | 0.41% | +5.5% |
| Rental and Leasing Services | 0.40% | +2.2% |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 0.40% | +2.2% |
| Wood Product Manufacturing | 0.40% | +1.5% |
| Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities | 0.40% | +1.3% |
| Apparel Manufacturing | 0.39% | +0.6% |
| Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing | 0.39% | +0.4% |
| Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries | 0.39% | -0.4% |
| Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries | 0.39% | -1.2% |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | 0.38% | -2.2% |
| Fishing, Hunting and Trapping | 0.38% | -2.3% |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods | 0.38% | -2.3% |
| Social Assistance | 0.37% | -5.0% |
| NAICS 452 | 0.37% | -5.1% |
| Couriers and Messengers | 0.36% | -7.5% |
| Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support | 0.36% | -7.6% |
| NAICS 448 | 0.36% | -9.2% |
| Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing | 0.35% | -10.6% |
| Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing | 0.35% | -10.9% |
| NAICS 454 | 0.35% | -11.1% |
| Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing | 0.34% | -12.0% |
| Food Manufacturing | 0.34% | -12.3% |
| Waste Management and Remediation Services | 0.34% | -14.0% |
| Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works) | 0.34% | -14.5% |
| Mining (except Oil and Gas) | 0.33% | -15.0% |
| Machinery Manufacturing | 0.33% | -15.2% |
| Telecommunications | 0.33% | -15.6% |
| Miscellaneous Manufacturing | 0.33% | -15.9% |
| Paper Manufacturing | 0.33% | -17.0% |
| Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations | 0.32% | -18.8% |
| Water Transportation | 0.31% | -20.3% |
| Textile Product Mills | 0.31% | -20.5% |
| Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry | 0.31% | -21.1% |
| Oil and Gas Extraction | 0.31% | -22.0% |
| Transportation Equipment Manufacturing | 0.30% | -24.2% |
| Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing | 0.29% | -25.3% |
| Credit Intermediation and Related Activities | 0.29% | -27.0% |
| Air Transportation | 0.28% | -27.4% |
| Publishing Industries | 0.28% | -29.0% |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 0.27% | -30.4% |
| Utilities | 0.26% | -32.6% |
| Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing | 0.26% | -34.5% |
| Chemical Manufacturing | 0.25% | -35.4% |
| Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services | 0.25% | -37.4% |
| Insurance Carriers and Related Activities | 0.24% | -38.5% |
| NAICS 515 | 0.24% | -39.2% |
| Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions | 0.23% | -41.9% |
| Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services | 0.22% | -43.7% |
| Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation | 0.22% | -44.7% |
| Rail Transportation | 0.21% | -46.1% |
| Hospitals | 0.19% | -50.7% |
| Pipeline Transportation | 0.18% | -53.7% |
| Educational Services | 0.14% | -64.1% |
| Plan Size | Average Fees (% of assets) | vs National |
|---|---|---|
| <100 participants · DC | 2.01% | +412.4% |
| <100 participants · 401(k) | 1.47% | +275.8% |
| <100 participants · DB | 1.08% | +176.1% |
| 100–499 participants · DB | 0.61% | +56.3% |
| 500–999 participants · DB | 0.58% | +48.6% |
| 1,000–4,999 participants · DB | 0.52% | +32.4% |
| 5,000+ participants · DB | 0.46% | +17.9% |
| 100–499 participants · 401(k) | 0.32% | -18.6% |
| 100–499 participants · DC | 0.25% | -35.6% |
| 500–999 participants · 401(k) | 0.25% | -37.0% |
| 500–999 participants · DC | 0.23% | -41.4% |
| 1,000–4,999 participants · DC | 0.19% | -51.0% |
| <100 participants · 403(b) | 0.18% | -53.9% |
| 1,000–4,999 participants · 401(k) | 0.17% | -56.4% |
| 500–999 participants · 403(b) | 0.17% | -57.5% |
| 100–499 participants · 403(b) | 0.16% | -59.3% |
| 5,000+ participants · DC | 0.15% | -60.7% |
| 1,000–4,999 participants · 403(b) | 0.11% | -71.5% |
| 5,000+ participants · 401(k) | 0.10% | -75.4% |
| 5,000+ participants · 403(b) | 0.06% | -85.3% |
Source: U.S. Department of Labor — Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Form 5500 dataset.
Why median, not arithmetic mean: Retirement plan data has extreme outliers; the median represents the middle plan in each cohort, giving a more accurate "typical" benchmark. We continue to use "average" in titles because that's the everyday term searchers use.