2024 plan-year Industry rank #4 of 21 DOL Form 5500

Healthcare & Social Assistance Retirement Plans

17,796 ERISA-covered retirement plans in the Healthcare & Social Assistance industry, holding $1.3T for 15,298,011 participants per 2024 Form 5500 filings.

$1.3T across 17,796 plans

According to DOL Form 5500 filings (plan year 2024), the Healthcare & Social Assistance industry sponsors 17,796 ERISA-covered retirement plans holding $1.3T for 15,298,011 participants, ranking #4 of 21 industries by plan assets, with 61.9% structured as 401(k)s.

  • #4 of 21 industries
  • 61.9% 401(k) plans

The industry in one line

Healthcare & Social Assistance sponsors 17,796 ERISA-covered retirement plans holding $1.3T for 15,298,011 participants, the 4th-largest industry by plan assets.

$1.3T
total plan assets
17,796
employer plans
$74M
average plan size
61.9%
of plans are 401(k)s
Plans
17,796
401(k) Plans
11,015
61.9% of plans
Total Assets
$1.3T
Participants
15,298,011

What the Healthcare & Social Assistance Industry Plan Filings Show

The Healthcare & Social Assistance industry sponsors 17,796 ERISA-covered retirement plans according to 2024 Form 5500 filings, ranking #4 of 21 industries on PlainRetire by total plan assets. Within the industry, 61.9% of plans are 401(k) defined-contribution arrangements (11,015 plans), with the remainder split across defined-benefit pension plans, profit-sharing arrangements, ESOPs, and money-purchase plans. The average plan in Healthcare & Social Assistance holds $74M in end-of-year assets and covers 860 participants.

Industry-level totals reflect aggregate sponsor disclosures on Form 5500 Schedule H and Schedule I and provide a useful frame for benchmarking individual employer plans. They are not a substitute for plan-specific Summary Plan Description review when evaluating any single plan. Industry classification is self-reported by sponsors based on the primary economic activity of the sponsoring employer. Plans whose sponsor industry has changed across years (mergers, restructurings) carry the most-recent classification on file.

Plan Type Breakdown (Healthcare & Social Assistance)

Plan Type Plans Participants Total Assets
401(k) 11,015 8,500,775 $629.2B
Other 2,418 4,008,111 $346.2B
Defined Benefit (Pension) 898 1,400,975 $231.8B
Profit Sharing 2,947 1,122,911 $86.9B
Money Purchase 398 212,261 $28.3B
ESOP 115 51,378 $2.5B
IRA-Based 5 1,600 $12M

Largest Healthcare & Social Assistance Plans by Assets

Top 30 Healthcare & Social Assistance retirement plans ranked by 2024 end-of-year total assets.

# Plan Sponsor State Type Participants Assets
1 Kaiser Permanente Retirement Plan Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. CA Defined Benefit (Pension) 135,057 $34.5B
2 Hca 401(k) Plan Hca Inc. TN 401(k) 307,086 $23.8B
3 Kaiser Permanente 401(k) Retirement Plan Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. CA 401(k) 149,110 $22.5B
4 1199seiu Health Care Employees Pension Fund Board of Trustees of 1199seiu Health Care Employees Pension Fund NY Defined Benefit (Pension) 111,833 $16.9B
5 Consolidated 403(b) Program of Mass General Brigham and Member Organizations Mass General Brigham Incorporated MA Profit Sharing 76,559 $16.7B
6 Kaiser Permanente Tax Sheltered Annuity Plan Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. CA 401(k) 79,670 $13.8B
7 Mayo 403(b) Plan Mayo Clinic MN Other 85,933 $12.8B
8 Mayo Pension Plan Mayo Clinic MN Defined Benefit (Pension) 71,743 $11.8B
9 Consolidated Cash Balance Program of Mass General Brigham and Member Organizations Mass General Brigham Incorporated MA Defined Benefit (Pension) 60,621 $11.6B
10 Retirement Plan for Physicians and Salaried Employees of the Permanente Medical Group, Inc. The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. CA Defined Benefit (Pension) 18,983 $11.4B
11 Northwell Health 403(b) Plan Northwell Health, Inc. NY Other 44,511 $10.9B
12 Advocate Aurora Health 401(k) Plan Advocate Aurora Health, Inc WI 401(k) 80,015 $10.5B
13 401(k) Savings Plan Providence Health & Services WA 401(k) 86,668 $10.1B
14 The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. Salary Deferral Plan The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. CA 401(k) 21,688 $9.9B
15 The Mount Sinai Medical Center 403(b) Retirement Plan The Mount Sinai Medical Center NY Other 46,826 $9.5B
16 Cleveland Clinic Savings and Investment Plan The Cleveland Clinic Foundation OH Other 65,407 $9.2B
17 Commonspirit Health 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan Commonspirit Health KY 401(k) 90,345 $8.8B
18 Tenet Healthcare Corporation 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan Tenet Healthcare Corporation TX 401(k) 107,575 $8.7B
19 Kaiser Permanente Retirement Plan for Scpmg Southern California Permanente Medical Group CA Defined Benefit (Pension) 50,341 $8.4B
20 The Permanente Contribution Plan of the Permanente Medical Group, Inc. The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. CA Money Purchase 18,550 $7.9B
21 Scpmg Keogh Plan Southern California Permanente Medical Group CA Profit Sharing 10,749 $7.9B
22 Sutter Health 403(b) Savings Plan Sutter Health CA Other 54,954 $7.6B
23 Stanford Health Care Retirement Savings Plan Stanford Health Care CA Other 24,152 $6.9B
24 Intermountain Health 401(k) Plan Intermountain Health Care, Inc. UT 401(k) 68,360 $6.8B
25 Providence Health & Services 403(b) Value Plan Providence Health & Services WA 401(k) 52,776 $6.5B
26 The 401(k) Plan for Permanente Medical Groups Southern California Permanente Medical Group CA 401(k) 18,392 $6.5B
27 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Retirement Savings Plan Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center NY Other 22,606 $6.4B
28 Sutter Health Retirement Plan Sutter Health CA Defined Benefit (Pension) 37,201 $6.2B
29 Kaiser Permanente Supplemental Savings and Retirement Plan Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. CA Money Purchase 37,013 $5.7B
30 Kaiser Permanente Employees Pension Plan The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. CA Defined Benefit (Pension) 40,879 $5.6B

Nationwide industries with similar retirement plan scale

Two DOL Form 5500-derived peer sets for Healthcare & Social Assistance: nearest tracked industries by plan filing count (17,796 plans here) and nearest by aggregate plan assets ($1.3T here). Rows stay link-disjoint so each axis is a distinct neighborhood.

Similar plan count

Nearest other industries by reported employer plan filings.

Similar total assets

Nearest other industries by aggregate end-of-year plan assets (plan-count peers above are excluded).

Questions about Healthcare & Social Assistance plans

How many retirement plans are in the Healthcare & Social Assistance industry? ▼
Healthcare & Social Assistance sponsors 17,796 ERISA-covered retirement plans according to 2024 Form 5500 filings, including 11,015 401(k) plans (61.9% of plans in the industry). Total assets across all plans in the industry sum to $1.3T, covering 15,298,011 participants.
What's the average plan size in the Healthcare & Social Assistance industry? ▼
The average Healthcare & Social Assistance retirement plan holds $74M in assets and covers 860 participants. This is an arithmetic mean across all 17,796 plans in the industry, actual plan sizes vary widely, with a small number of very large plans pulling the average up. See the table above for the largest plans by assets.
Where does this industry data come from? ▼
Industry classification comes from each plan sponsor's Form 5500 filing with the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). Sponsors self-classify into one of approximately 20 industry categories based on the primary economic activity of the sponsoring employer. The category labels follow the DOL plan-sponsor industry taxonomy.
What plan types are most common in the Healthcare & Social Assistance industry? ▼
In Healthcare & Social Assistance, the most common plan type by total assets is 401(k) (11,015 plans, $629.2B in assets). Other common types include: Other (2,418), Defined Benefit (Pension) (898), Profit Sharing (2,947).

Related guides

See also these PlainRetire explainers for interpreting Form 5500 industry totals and comparing plans.

Explore from Healthcare & Social Assistance

Information & Media

Closest peer by total plan assets ($647.6B, 2,937 plans)
Kaiser Permanente Retirement Plan

Largest Healthcare & Social Assistance plan on file · $34.5B
401(k)

Dominant type here by assets · 11,015 plans, $629.2B
All industries

Industry #4 of 21 by total Form 5500 plan assets

What to do with Healthcare & Social Assistance plan data

17,796 plans across the Healthcare & Social Assistance sector offer a baseline for benchmarking your own plan.

Industry classification is self-reported by plan sponsors on Form 5500. Plans may span multiple sectors.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor EBSA Form 5500 public-disclosure dataset, 2024 plan year. Industry classification self-reported by sponsors.

Reference: IRS Publication 560, Retirement Plans for Small Business.

Every figure on PlainRetire is rendered directly from the Department of Labor's Form 5500 annual return filings, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-25.