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Benefits August 28, 2025
Small Plans By the Numbers
A look at how 401(k) plans rank by participants, plans and assets to put the scope of the small plan universe in some perspective.
Reported by PLANSPONSOR Staff
Art by Greg Clarke
Small 401(k) plans, those with less than $10 million in assets, account for 93% of U.S. single-employer retirement plans, and those plan sponsors have as many challenges to address as do the larger plans. Conversely the largest plans, with more than $200 million in assets, make up less than 1% of all plans.
As expected, the plans with fewer assets each also serve fewer participants. On average, the plans with $10 million or less in assets have nearly 26 participants, while the largest plans have more than 11,000.
Below are data points from the 2025 PLANSPONSOR Recordkeeping Survey that illustrate some of the details.
Single Employer 401(k) Plan Market Segmentation by Plan Assets
Assets by Plan Size
- <$10M: 9.83%
- $10M – $50M: 9.35%
- >$50M – $200M: 9.40%
- >$200M: 71.43%
Plans by Plan Size
- <$10M: 93.09%
- $10M – $50M: 5.23%
- >$50M – $200M: 1.14%
- >$200M: 0.55%
Participants
- <$10M: 20.81%
- $10M – $50M: 13.37%
- >$50M – $200M: 11.63%
- >$200M: 54.29%
Average Number of Participants by Plan Size
| <$10M | 25.7 |
| $10M – $50M | 291.3 |
| >$50M – $200M | 1,184.4 |
| >$200M | 11,248.4 |
Source: 2025 PLANSPONSOR Recordkeeping Survey
