NAICS 541 Retirement Plan Benchmarks

Industry benchmarks aggregated by NAICS classification. Sourced from 193,622 Form 5500 filings for plan year 2024.

Headline numbers (2024)

Plans: 193,622
Total assets: $1677.1B
Total participants: 21,994,792
Median expense ratio: 0.17%
Median employer contribution per active participant: $3,296
Median account balance: $80,779
3-year asset growth (2022–2024): +27.0%

Expense ratio distribution

25th percentile: 0.05%
Median: 0.17%
75th percentile: 0.35%

Where the fees go (average mix)

Admin / Recordkeeping: 34.7%
Investment Management: 56.8%
Audit: 5.1%
Legal: 0.4%

Employer contribution generosity

Median per active participant: $3,296
Plans with $0 employer match: —

3-year trend

Year	Plans	Assets	Participants	Median fee	Median employer $
2022	185,908	$1320.7B	22,376,108	0.26%	—
2023	192,789	$1559.4B	21,986,807	0.16%	—
2024	193,622	$1677.1B	21,994,792	0.17%	$3,296

Methodology

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