NAICS 721 Retirement Plan Benchmarks

Industry benchmarks aggregated by NAICS classification. Sourced from 4,403 Form 5500 filings for plan year 2024.

Headline numbers (2024)

Plans: 4,403
Total assets: $48.4B
Total participants: 2,215,695
Median expense ratio: 0.31%
Median employer contribution per active participant: $831
Median account balance: $17,352
3-year asset growth (2022–2024): +25.8%

Expense ratio distribution

25th percentile: 0.11%
Median: 0.31%
75th percentile: 0.62%

Where the fees go (average mix)

Admin / Recordkeeping: 44.2%
Investment Management: 44.6%
Audit: 6.9%
Legal: 1.7%

Employer contribution generosity

Median per active participant: $831
Plans with $0 employer match: —

3-year trend

Year	Plans	Assets	Participants	Median fee	Median employer $
2022	4,134	$38.4B	2,078,120	0.54%	—
2023	4,530	$41.2B	2,153,541	0.30%	—
2024	4,403	$48.4B	2,215,695	0.31%	$831

Methodology

All metrics are calculated from U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 annual filings. The slice "NAICS 721" 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/721.