NAICS 541 Retirement Plan Benchmarks

Industry benchmarks aggregated by NAICS classification. Sourced from 191,513 Form 5500 filings for plan year 2024.

Headline numbers (2024)

Plans: 191,513
Total assets: $1722.9B
Total participants: 2,628,842
Median expense ratio: 0.40%
Median employer contribution per active participant: $3,208
Median account balance: $72,803
3-year asset growth (2022–2024): +43.2%

Expense ratio distribution

25th percentile: 0.13%
Median: 0.40%
75th percentile: 2.14%

Where the fees go (average mix)

Admin / Recordkeeping: 22.5%
Investment Management: 21.4%
Audit: 2.6%
Legal: 0.1%

Employer contribution generosity

Median per active participant: $3,208
Plans with $0 employer match: 41,188 (21.5%)

3-year trend

Year	Plans	Assets	Participants	Median fee	Median employer $
2022	174,409	$1203.0B	2,359,684	0.48%	$3,112
2023	187,259	$1531.6B	2,581,028	0.40%	$3,150
2024	191,513	$1722.9B	2,628,842	0.40%	$3,208

Methodology

All metrics are calculated from U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 annual filings. The slice "NAICS 541" includes 191,513 plans 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/541.