NAICS 238 Retirement Plan Benchmarks

Industry benchmarks aggregated by NAICS classification. Sourced from 54,762 Form 5500 filings for plan year 2024.

Headline numbers (2024)

Plans: 54,762
Total assets: $511.6B
Total participants: 6,537,746
Median expense ratio: 0.40%
Median employer contribution per active participant: $2,213
Median account balance: $42,758
3-year asset growth (2022–2024): +7.9%

Expense ratio distribution

25th percentile: 0.19%
Median: 0.40%
75th percentile: 0.83%

Where the fees go (average mix)

Admin / Recordkeeping: 37.7%
Investment Management: 39.8%
Audit: 8.8%
Legal: 6.3%

Employer contribution generosity

Median per active participant: $2,213
Plans with $0 employer match: —

3-year trend

Year	Plans	Assets	Participants	Median fee	Median employer $
2022	51,700	$474.1B	6,739,807	0.56%	—
2023	54,294	$540.8B	7,015,465	0.43%	—
2024	54,762	$511.6B	6,537,746	0.40%	$2,213

Methodology

All metrics are calculated from U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 annual filings. The slice "NAICS 238" is served from the accepted-generation projection for plan year 2024. Medians use percentile_cont over reported values; zero/null values are excluded from rate-style metrics.

Citation: PlanProvider.Pro, Form 5500 Benchmarks 2024. Free for editorial use with attribution + link to https://planprovider.pro/benchmarks/industry/238.