16 — based on 885,810 U.S. retirement plans (2024 DOL Form 5500 filings).
Average plan size measured by participant headcount across every U.S. employer-sponsored retirement plan. The median is reported instead of the arithmetic mean because a handful of mega-plans (50,000+ participants) would otherwise distort the typical figure.
| State | Avg Participants per Plan | vs National |
|---|---|---|
| GU | 24 | +53.1% |
| MP | 22 | +40.0% |
| ND | 19 | +19.6% |
| SD | 19 | +19.1% |
| DC | 19 | +17.3% |
| IA | 18 | +11.4% |
| WI | 18 | +11.4% |
| MS | 17 | +8.1% |
| VI | 17 | +7.8% |
| MN | 17 | +7.7% |
| IN | 17 | +7.6% |
| NE | 17 | +7.0% |
| KS | 17 | +7.0% |
| VT | 17 | +6.2% |
| KY | 17 | +5.8% |
| WV | 17 | +5.4% |
| LA | 17 | +5.2% |
| AR | 17 | +4.7% |
| ME | 17 | +3.7% |
| OH | 17 | +3.3% |
| PA | 16 | +3.3% |
| AL | 16 | +3.1% |
| MO | 16 | +3.1% |
| MI | 16 | +2.9% |
| AK | 16 | +2.4% |
| WA | 16 | +0.9% |
| TN | 16 | +0.7% |
| NM | 16 | 0.0% |
| VA | 16 | -0.1% |
| UT | 16 | -1.1% |
| MT | 16 | -1.5% |
| OR | 16 | -2.7% |
| OK | 16 | -2.9% |
| IL | 15 | -3.4% |
| NC | 15 | -4.9% |
| NH | 15 | -5.1% |
| ID | 15 | -5.2% |
| MD | 15 | -5.9% |
| RI | 15 | -7.4% |
| TX | 14 | -9.3% |
| MA | 14 | -9.3% |
| GA | 14 | -9.5% |
| WY | 14 | -9.7% |
| CT | 14 | -10.6% |
| SC | 14 | -10.7% |
| CO | 14 | -12.4% |
| NY | 14 | -12.5% |
| NJ | 14 | -14.4% |
| DE | 14 | -15.4% |
| AZ | 13 | -15.5% |
| HI | 13 | -16.0% |
| FL | 13 | -17.8% |
| NV | 13 | -18.3% |
| CA | 13 | -18.5% |
| PR | 8 | -50.6% |
| Industry | Avg Participants per Plan | vs National |
|---|---|---|
| Couriers and Messengers | 36 | +123.1% |
| Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions | 23 | +45.1% |
| Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers | 22 | +37.7% |
| Textile Mills | 22 | +34.9% |
| Primary Metal Manufacturing | 21 | +33.8% |
| Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing | 21 | +33.7% |
| Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing | 21 | +31.9% |
| Nursing and Residential Care Facilities | 21 | +31.3% |
| Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction | 21 | +31.3% |
| Social Assistance | 21 | +29.5% |
| Paper Manufacturing | 21 | +28.5% |
| Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation | 21 | +28.4% |
| Wood Product Manufacturing | 20 | +27.3% |
| Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing | 20 | +26.9% |
| Educational Services | 20 | +22.7% |
| Textile Product Mills | 19 | +21.1% |
| Machinery Manufacturing | 19 | +20.9% |
| Warehousing and Storage | 19 | +20.3% |
| Truck Transportation | 19 | +20.0% |
| Support Activities for Mining | 19 | +19.5% |
| Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing | 19 | +19.3% |
| Credit Intermediation and Related Activities | 19 | +18.1% |
| Apparel Manufacturing | 19 | +16.7% |
| Rail Transportation | 19 | +16.4% |
| Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations | 19 | +16.3% |
| Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing | 19 | +16.3% |
| Miscellaneous Manufacturing | 18 | +15.4% |
| Food Manufacturing | 18 | +12.9% |
| Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing | 18 | +12.3% |
| Transportation Equipment Manufacturing | 18 | +12.3% |
| Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers | 18 | +11.6% |
| Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry | 18 | +11.5% |
| Air Transportation | 18 | +11.1% |
| Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation | 18 | +10.8% |
| Mining (except Oil and Gas) | 17 | +9.4% |
| Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing | 17 | +9.2% |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | 17 | +9.0% |
| Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing | 17 | +8.7% |
| Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing | 17 | +7.1% |
| Telecommunications | 17 | +6.9% |
| Water Transportation | 17 | +6.6% |
| Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support | 17 | +5.9% |
| NAICS 515 | 17 | +5.5% |
| Chemical Manufacturing | 17 | +5.5% |
| Support Activities for Transportation | 17 | +5.3% |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods | 17 | +5.3% |
| Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services | 17 | +5.1% |
| Printing and Related Support Activities | 17 | +4.9% |
| Forestry and Logging | 17 | +4.8% |
| Rental and Leasing Services | 17 | +3.7% |
| Utilities | 16 | +0.9% |
| Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works) | 16 | +0.8% |
| Waste Management and Remediation Services | 16 | -0.7% |
| Specialty Trade Contractors | 16 | -1.2% |
| Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries | 16 | -2.2% |
| Crop Production | 16 | -2.6% |
| Publishing Industries | 15 | -3.7% |
| Construction of Buildings | 15 | -3.8% |
| Oil and Gas Extraction | 15 | -6.7% |
| Food and Beverage Retailers | 15 | -7.4% |
| Food Services and Drinking Places | 15 | -8.1% |
| Animal Production and Aquaculture | 15 | -8.6% |
| NAICS 447 | 14 | -9.2% |
| Accommodation | 14 | -9.7% |
| NAICS 443 | 14 | -10.8% |
| NAICS 442 | 14 | -12.8% |
| Administrative and Support Services | 14 | -13.2% |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 14 | -13.5% |
| NAICS 446 | 14 | -13.6% |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 14 | -14.1% |
| NAICS 454 | 14 | -15.1% |
| Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services | 13 | -15.9% |
| Fishing, Hunting and Trapping | 13 | -16.3% |
| NAICS 448 | 13 | -17.3% |
| NAICS 451 | 13 | -18.7% |
| Ambulatory Health Care Services | 13 | -19.4% |
| NAICS 453 | 13 | -21.5% |
| Pipeline Transportation | 12 | -22.4% |
| Repair and Maintenance | 12 | -23.2% |
| NAICS 452 | 12 | -23.7% |
| Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers | 12 | -24.6% |
| Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles | 11 | -28.2% |
| Real Estate | 11 | -30.2% |
| Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries | 11 | -31.3% |
| Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries | 11 | -31.4% |
| Personal and Laundry Services | 10 | -35.7% |
| Insurance Carriers and Related Activities | 10 | -35.9% |
| Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities | 10 | -38.6% |
| Hospitals | 8 | -48.6% |
| Plan Type | Avg Participants per Plan | vs National |
|---|---|---|
| 403(b) | 21 | +31.4% |
| 401(k) | 16 | -0.9% |
| DC | 12 | -22.8% |
| DB | 10 | -34.4% |
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.