$10.8M — based on 885,810 U.S. retirement plans (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 |
|---|---|---|
| DC | $29.4M | +172.2% |
| RI | $29.0M | +168.5% |
| WA | $28.3M | +161.9% |
| MN | $28.1M | +160.6% |
| CT | $23.9M | +121.3% |
| IL | $23.5M | +117.8% |
| NJ | $22.1M | +104.8% |
| VA | $21.9M | +102.5% |
| TN | $20.2M | +86.8% |
| MO | $19.6M | +82.0% |
| PA | $19.4M | +79.3% |
| TX | $19.3M | +79.2% |
| GA | $19.3M | +78.4% |
| NY | $18.6M | +72.6% |
| MI | $18.5M | +70.9% |
| OH | $17.8M | +64.5% |
| NC | $17.6M | +63.2% |
| AR | $17.5M | +62.2% |
| MA | $17.1M | +58.3% |
| WI | $16.6M | +54.0% |
| MD | $16.6M | +53.8% |
| NE | $14.7M | +36.4% |
| DE | $13.2M | +22.1% |
| IN | $13.0M | +20.1% |
| IA | $12.0M | +10.9% |
| KY | $11.8M | +9.3% |
| NM | $11.0M | +1.9% |
| ND | $10.8M | 0.0% |
| ME | $10.1M | -6.5% |
| CA | $9.6M | -10.7% |
| AK | $9.2M | -14.9% |
| KS | $8.9M | -17.3% |
| UT | $8.8M | -18.0% |
| OK | $8.7M | -19.2% |
| LA | $8.7M | -19.6% |
| ID | $8.6M | -19.9% |
| HI | $8.2M | -23.8% |
| AL | $7.9M | -26.8% |
| OR | $7.8M | -27.7% |
| WV | $7.7M | -28.7% |
| SC | $7.0M | -34.9% |
| FL | $7.0M | -35.0% |
| AZ | $6.7M | -38.1% |
| NH | $6.5M | -39.4% |
| VT | $6.4M | -40.3% |
| MS | $6.4M | -40.9% |
| SD | $5.7M | -46.9% |
| CO | $5.4M | -50.3% |
| NV | $5.0M | -53.4% |
| MT | $4.6M | -57.0% |
| PR | $4.0M | -63.1% |
| WY | $2.4M | -78.1% |
| VI | $1.7M | -83.9% |
| GU | $1.6M | -85.3% |
| MP | $727K | -93.3% |
| Industry | Avg AUM per Plan | vs National |
|---|---|---|
| NAICS 452 | $296.0M | +2642.0% |
| Hospitals | $292.2M | +2606.4% |
| Air Transportation | $247.8M | +2195.3% |
| Transportation Equipment Manufacturing | $174.4M | +1515.6% |
| Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works) | $168.4M | +1460.0% |
| Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing | $162.2M | +1402.5% |
| Rail Transportation | $158.3M | +1366.4% |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | $148.5M | +1275.7% |
| Utilities | $119.5M | +1007.0% |
| Chemical Manufacturing | $118.4M | +996.4% |
| NAICS 515 | $98.9M | +815.8% |
| Pipeline Transportation | $95.2M | +782.0% |
| Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing | $88.1M | +715.8% |
| Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles | $71.3M | +560.3% |
| Telecommunications | $69.2M | +540.8% |
| Paper Manufacturing | $62.9M | +482.7% |
| Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing | $52.8M | +388.7% |
| Water Transportation | $49.6M | +359.4% |
| Miscellaneous Manufacturing | $46.8M | +333.2% |
| Oil and Gas Extraction | $45.0M | +316.6% |
| Mining (except Oil and Gas) | $39.3M | +263.8% |
| Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services | $39.2M | +263.2% |
| Insurance Carriers and Related Activities | $36.7M | +239.8% |
| Credit Intermediation and Related Activities | $34.7M | +221.5% |
| Food Manufacturing | $33.9M | +214.0% |
| Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing | $33.6M | +211.6% |
| Truck Transportation | $30.2M | +179.3% |
| Machinery Manufacturing | $29.5M | +172.9% |
| Educational Services | $28.7M | +166.3% |
| Food and Beverage Retailers | $28.5M | +163.8% |
| Primary Metal Manufacturing | $26.1M | +141.5% |
| Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries | $25.6M | +137.0% |
| Publishing Industries | $23.5M | +117.7% |
| Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing | $21.2M | +96.4% |
| Textile Product Mills | $20.5M | +90.0% |
| Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction | $18.9M | +74.6% |
| Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services | $18.3M | +69.9% |
| Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities | $17.4M | +61.6% |
| Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing | $16.4M | +52.1% |
| Wood Product Manufacturing | $15.5M | +43.8% |
| Support Activities for Mining | $13.1M | +21.0% |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | $12.9M | +19.7% |
| Accommodation | $12.0M | +11.6% |
| NAICS 446 | $11.5M | +6.5% |
| Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing | $11.0M | +2.0% |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods | $10.4M | -3.4% |
| Specialty Trade Contractors | $10.0M | -7.8% |
| Rental and Leasing Services | $9.8M | -9.2% |
| Support Activities for Transportation | $9.6M | -11.5% |
| Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing | $9.5M | -11.9% |
| Waste Management and Remediation Services | $9.5M | -11.9% |
| Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers | $9.3M | -14.1% |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | $9.0M | -16.7% |
| Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries | $8.6M | -20.3% |
| Textile Mills | $8.5M | -21.2% |
| Apparel Manufacturing | $8.5M | -21.6% |
| Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations | $8.4M | -22.3% |
| Construction of Buildings | $8.1M | -24.5% |
| Animal Production and Aquaculture | $7.9M | -26.5% |
| NAICS 448 | $7.8M | -27.5% |
| Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing | $7.7M | -28.6% |
| Warehousing and Storage | $7.6M | -29.4% |
| Printing and Related Support Activities | $7.6M | -29.7% |
| NAICS 454 | $7.1M | -34.4% |
| Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions | $6.8M | -37.2% |
| Nursing and Residential Care Facilities | $6.6M | -38.6% |
| Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers | $6.6M | -38.9% |
| NAICS 443 | $6.5M | -39.7% |
| NAICS 447 | $6.3M | -41.4% |
| Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry | $6.2M | -42.5% |
| Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support | $5.5M | -49.3% |
| Administrative and Support Services | $5.1M | -52.4% |
| Ambulatory Health Care Services | $5.1M | -52.7% |
| NAICS 451 | $4.8M | -55.7% |
| Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation | $4.5M | -58.2% |
| Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation | $4.3M | -60.2% |
| Forestry and Logging | $4.3M | -60.4% |
| Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries | $4.3M | -60.6% |
| Real Estate | $3.9M | -63.9% |
| NAICS 442 | $3.7M | -65.3% |
| NAICS 453 | $3.7M | -65.4% |
| Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers | $3.4M | -68.7% |
| Crop Production | $2.9M | -73.3% |
| Fishing, Hunting and Trapping | $2.9M | -73.6% |
| Social Assistance | $2.6M | -76.0% |
| Repair and Maintenance | $2.1M | -80.2% |
| Food Services and Drinking Places | $2.0M | -81.9% |
| Personal and Laundry Services | $1.3M | -88.0% |
| Couriers and Messengers | $976K | -91.0% |
| Plan Type | Avg AUM per Plan | vs National |
|---|---|---|
| DB | $65.0M | +501.7% |
| 403(b) | $59.2M | +448.1% |
| 401(k) | $13.1M | +21.3% |
| DC | $7.9M | -27.3% |
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.