NAICS 524 Retirement Plan Benchmarks

Industry benchmarks aggregated by NAICS classification. Sourced from 18,469 Form 5500 filings for plan year 2024.

Headline numbers (2024)

Plans: 18,469
Total assets: $652.6B
Total participants: 7,936,786
Median expense ratio: 0.14%
Median employer contribution per active participant: $2,945
Median account balance: $86,990
3-year asset growth (2022–2024): +20.9%

Expense ratio distribution

25th percentile: 0.03%
Median: 0.14%
75th percentile: 0.31%

Where the fees go (average mix)

Admin / Recordkeeping: 35.3%
Investment Management: 50.2%
Audit: 6.5%
Legal: 0.8%

Employer contribution generosity

Median per active participant: $2,945
Plans with $0 employer match: —

3-year trend

Year	Plans	Assets	Participants	Median fee	Median employer $
2022	18,396	$539.9B	7,924,523	0.20%	—
2023	18,548	$612.0B	7,871,651	0.15%	—
2024	18,469	$652.6B	7,936,786	0.14%	$2,945

Methodology

All metrics are calculated from U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 annual filings. The slice "NAICS 524" 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/524.