$12.2M — based on the privacy-thresholded accepted-generation projection (2024 DOL Form 5500 filings).
Average plan size measured by total assets under management (AUM). Reported as the median to remove distortion from the very largest plans, which can hold tens of billions in assets and inflate the arithmetic mean.
| State | Avg AUM per Plan | vs National |
|---|---|---|
| MN | $23.5M | +93.1% |
| WA | $22.6M | +86.0% |
| AR | $22.4M | +84.3% |
| RI | $20.2M | +66.0% |
| NJ | $19.2M | +57.6% |
| CT | $18.3M | +50.3% |
| TX | $17.5M | +44.0% |
| VA | $17.5M | +43.7% |
| IL | $16.6M | +36.7% |
| TN | $16.5M | +35.8% |
| DC | $16.5M | +35.5% |
| NC | $15.5M | +27.1% |
| GA | $14.7M | +21.3% |
| PA | $14.6M | +20.4% |
| NY | $14.3M | +17.3% |
| OH | $14.2M | +16.9% |
| MO | $14.2M | +16.7% |
| WI | $13.6M | +11.6% |
| MA | $12.7M | +4.6% |
| NE | $12.1M | -0.5% |
| MI | $11.9M | -2.1% |
| DE | $11.5M | -5.1% |
| IN | $10.8M | -11.5% |
| IA | $10.4M | -14.6% |
| ND | $10.2M | -16.2% |
| MD | $10.0M | -17.6% |
| KY | $10.0M | -17.6% |
| KS | $8.5M | -29.7% |
| ME | $8.2M | -32.6% |
| CA | $7.9M | -34.8% |
| AK | $7.9M | -35.4% |
| UT | $7.6M | -37.5% |
| AL | $7.3M | -40.0% |
| OK | $7.3M | -40.3% |
| LA | $7.2M | -40.9% |
| NM | $7.1M | -41.9% |
| AZ | $6.4M | -47.4% |
| FL | $6.2M | -49.1% |
| SC | $6.1M | -49.8% |
| OR | $6.0M | -50.7% |
| SD | $5.7M | -52.8% |
| HI | $5.7M | -52.8% |
| ID | $5.5M | -54.8% |
| MS | $5.3M | -56.3% |
| CO | $5.2M | -57.5% |
| WV | $4.6M | -62.0% |
| NV | $4.5M | -62.7% |
| NH | $4.5M | -63.2% |
| VT | $4.2M | -65.5% |
| MT | $3.9M | -68.2% |
| WY | $2.2M | -81.8% |
| Industry | Avg AUM per Plan | vs National |
|---|---|---|
| NAICS 452 | $365.8M | +2908.2% |
| Hospitals | $249.5M | +1951.7% |
| Air Transportation | $212.2M | +1644.8% |
| Rail Transportation | $145.2M | +1094.1% |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | $135.8M | +1016.3% |
| Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing | $131.0M | +977.0% |
| Transportation Equipment Manufacturing | $121.2M | +896.4% |
| Pipeline Transportation | $102.8M | +744.9% |
| Chemical Manufacturing | $101.0M | +730.8% |
| Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing | $84.1M | +591.4% |
| Utilities | $78.1M | +542.5% |
| Telecommunications | $65.9M | +442.2% |
| NAICS 515 | $62.9M | +417.6% |
| Paper Manufacturing | $50.8M | +317.9% |
| Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services | $50.2M | +312.5% |
| Oil and Gas Extraction | $45.2M | +271.7% |
| Miscellaneous Manufacturing | $39.5M | +224.6% |
| Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing | $39.5M | +224.6% |
| Credit Intermediation and Related Activities | $33.2M | +172.8% |
| Insurance Carriers and Related Activities | $29.6M | +143.0% |
| Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles | $28.5M | +134.2% |
| Water Transportation | $27.9M | +129.5% |
| Food Manufacturing | $27.6M | +127.3% |
| Mining (except Oil and Gas) | $26.2M | +115.3% |
| Publishing Industries | $24.5M | +101.5% |
| Textile Product Mills | $23.0M | +89.5% |
| Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing | $21.2M | +74.7% |
| Primary Metal Manufacturing | $20.3M | +67.1% |
| Machinery Manufacturing | $20.0M | +64.7% |
| Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing | $19.7M | +62.1% |
| Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services | $19.4M | +59.3% |
| Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities | $18.3M | +50.7% |
| Food and Beverage Retailers | $16.4M | +35.2% |
| Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing | $14.4M | +18.6% |
| Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries | $13.4M | +10.6% |
| Support Activities for Mining | $13.0M | +7.3% |
| NAICS 446 | $13.0M | +7.2% |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | $12.9M | +5.8% |
| Wood Product Manufacturing | $11.9M | -1.9% |
| Accommodation | $11.3M | -7.1% |
| Truck Transportation | $10.8M | -11.5% |
| Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing | $10.7M | -11.9% |
| Rental and Leasing Services | $10.2M | -16.2% |
| Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction | $10.2M | -16.4% |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods | $10.1M | -17.1% |
| Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers | $10.0M | -17.7% |
| NAICS 454 | $8.8M | -27.3% |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | $8.8M | -27.9% |
| Waste Management and Remediation Services | $8.7M | -28.7% |
| Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing | $8.6M | -28.9% |
| Apparel Manufacturing | $8.4M | -31.0% |
| Animal Production and Aquaculture | $8.4M | -31.2% |
| NAICS 448 | $8.1M | -33.3% |
| Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing | $7.9M | -34.9% |
| Warehousing and Storage | $7.8M | -35.8% |
| NAICS 443 | $7.0M | -42.8% |
| Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers | $6.9M | -43.3% |
| Printing and Related Support Activities | $6.6M | -45.8% |
| Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works) | $6.4M | -47.0% |
| Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support | $6.3M | -48.4% |
| Support Activities for Transportation | $6.2M | -48.8% |
| NAICS 447 | $6.2M | -48.9% |
| Textile Mills | $6.2M | -49.0% |
| Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries | $5.9M | -51.6% |
| Nursing and Residential Care Facilities | $5.7M | -52.9% |
| Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations | $5.2M | -56.9% |
| Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation | $5.1M | -58.4% |
| NAICS 451 | $4.9M | -59.3% |
| Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry | $4.8M | -60.6% |
| Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries | $4.8M | -60.9% |
| Educational Services | $4.6M | -62.0% |
| Administrative and Support Services | $4.5M | -62.7% |
| Ambulatory Health Care Services | $4.5M | -62.8% |
| Construction of Buildings | $4.4M | -64.2% |
| Real Estate | $4.3M | -64.5% |
| NAICS 453 | $3.9M | -67.7% |
| NAICS 442 | $3.9M | -67.9% |
| Specialty Trade Contractors | $3.6M | -70.0% |
| Forestry and Logging | $3.3M | -73.0% |
| Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers | $3.2M | -73.4% |
| Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation | $3.2M | -73.6% |
| Crop Production | $3.0M | -75.7% |
| Fishing, Hunting and Trapping | $2.9M | -76.0% |
| Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions | $2.8M | -77.1% |
| Food Services and Drinking Places | $2.0M | -83.5% |
| Repair and Maintenance | $1.9M | -84.4% |
| Social Assistance | $1.8M | -84.8% |
| Personal and Laundry Services | $1.4M | -88.4% |
| Couriers and Messengers | $965K | -92.1% |
| Plan Type | Avg AUM per Plan | vs National |
|---|---|---|
| 403(b) | $54.8M | +350.4% |
| 401(k) | $12.2M | 0.0% |
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.