2024 plan-year Industry rank #1 of 21 DOL Form 5500

Manufacturing Retirement Plans

18,500 ERISA-covered retirement plans in the Manufacturing industry, holding $3.1T for 13,704,757 participants per 2024 Form 5500 filings.

$3.1T across 18,500 plans

According to DOL Form 5500 filings (plan year 2024), the Manufacturing industry sponsors 18,500 ERISA-covered retirement plans holding $3.1T for 13,704,757 participants, ranking #1 of 21 industries by plan assets, with 79.7% structured as 401(k)s.

  • #1 of 21 industries
  • 79.7% 401(k) plans

The industry in one line

Manufacturing sponsors 18,500 ERISA-covered retirement plans holding $3.1T for 13,704,757 participants, the 1st-largest industry by plan assets.

$3.1T
total plan assets
18,500
employer plans
$169M
average plan size
79.7%
of plans are 401(k)s
Plans
18,500
401(k) Plans
14,736
79.7% of plans
Total Assets
$3.1T
Participants
13,704,757

What the Manufacturing Industry Plan Filings Show

The Manufacturing industry sponsors 18,500 ERISA-covered retirement plans according to 2024 Form 5500 filings, ranking #1 of 21 industries on PlainRetire by total plan assets. Within the industry, 79.7% of plans are 401(k) defined-contribution arrangements (14,736 plans), with the remainder split across defined-benefit pension plans, profit-sharing arrangements, ESOPs, and money-purchase plans. The average plan in Manufacturing holds $169M in end-of-year assets and covers 741 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 (Manufacturing)

Plan Type Plans Participants Total Assets
401(k) 14,736 11,353,857 $2.2T
Defined Benefit (Pension) 1,824 1,711,466 $848.1B
ESOP 1,063 279,993 $78.8B
Profit Sharing 760 177,923 $21.9B
Other 50 107,687 $11.1B
Money Purchase 62 73,816 $4.4B
IRA-Based 5 15 N/A

Largest Manufacturing Plans by Assets

Top 30 Manufacturing retirement plans ranked by 2024 end-of-year total assets.

# Plan Sponsor State Type Participants Assets
1 The Boeing Company 401(k) Retirement Plan The Boeing Co. and Consolidated Subsidiaries WA 401(k) 139,394 $73.9B
2 Rtx Savings Plan Rtx Corporation CT 401(k) 124,876 $58.6B
3 Lockheed Martin Corporation Salaried Savings Plan Lockheed Martin Corporation MD 401(k) 96,812 $51.4B
4 General Motors Hourly-Rate Employees Pension Plan General Motors LLC MI Defined Benefit (Pension) 15,648 $42.5B
5 Rtx Consolidated Pension Plan Rtx Corporation CT Defined Benefit (Pension) 36,180 $41.6B
6 Northrop Grumman Savings Plan Northrop Grumman Corporation VA 401(k) 104,719 $39.5B
7 Intel 401(k) Savings Plan Intel Corporation CA 401(k) 55,298 $24.9B
8 Apple 401(k) Plan Apple Inc. CA 401(k) 101,450 $24.7B
9 Exxonmobil Savings Plan Exxon Mobil Corporation TX 401(k) 21,990 $23.7B
10 Johnson and Johnson Savings Plan Johnson and Johnson NJ 401(k) 42,583 $23.6B
11 The Pension Value Plan for Employees of the Boeing Company The Boeing Co. and Consolidated Subsidiaries WA Defined Benefit (Pension) 29,538 $23.3B
12 General Motors Retirement Savings Plan for Salaried Employees in the United States General Motors LLC MI 401(k) 43,053 $23.1B
13 Cisco Systems,Inc. 401(k) Plan Cisco Systems,Inc. CA 401(k) 40,452 $22.7B
14 Pfizer Savings Plan Pfizer Inc NY 401(k) 33,309 $22.0B
15 Procter & Gamble Profit Sharing Trust & Employee Stock Ownership Plan The Procter & Gamble Company OH ESOP 33,639 $22.0B
16 Retirement Plan of Johnson and Johnson Johnson and Johnson NJ Defined Benefit (Pension) 37,882 $21.1B
17 Chevron Employee Savings Investment Plan Chevron Corporation TX 401(k) 21,505 $20.4B
18 GE Aerospace Pension Plan General Electric Company, Operating as GE Aerospace OH Defined Benefit (Pension) 9,637 $19.0B
19 Caterpillar 401(k) Savings Plan Caterpillar Inc. TX 401(k) 43,873 $18.8B
20 Northrop Grumman Pension Plan Northrop Grumman Corporation VA Defined Benefit (Pension) 12,678 $18.8B
21 Lockheed Martin Corporation Salaried Employee Retirement Program Lockheed Martin Corporation MD Defined Benefit (Pension) 18,014 $18.3B
22 Ford Motor Company UAW Retirement Plan Ford Motor Company MI Defined Benefit (Pension) 25,742 $17.8B
23 Ford Motor Co. Savings and Stock Investment Plan for Salaried Employees Ford Motor Company MI 401(k) 31,790 $17.3B
24 Honeywell Retirement Earnings Plan Honeywell International Inc. NC Defined Benefit (Pension) 9,923 $16.6B
25 L3harris Retirement Savings Plan L3harris Technologies, Inc. FL 401(k) 40,330 $16.3B
26 Honeywell 401(k) Plan Honeywell International Inc NC 401(k) 39,468 $16.3B
27 Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan Abbott Laboratories IL 401(k) 38,229 $15.8B
28 The Boeing Company Employee Retirement Plan The Boeing Co. and Consolidated Subsidiaries WA Defined Benefit (Pension) 31,398 $15.4B
29 Iam National Pension Fund Board of Trustees of the I.a.M. National Pension Fund DC Defined Benefit (Pension) 102,493 $15.0B
30 Merck US Savings Plan Merck & Co., Inc. NJ 401(k) 27,956 $15.0B

Nationwide industries with similar retirement plan scale

Two DOL Form 5500-derived peer sets for Manufacturing: nearest tracked industries by plan filing count (18,500 plans here) and nearest by aggregate plan assets ($3.1T 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 Manufacturing plans

How many retirement plans are in the Manufacturing industry? ▼
Manufacturing sponsors 18,500 ERISA-covered retirement plans according to 2024 Form 5500 filings, including 14,736 401(k) plans (79.7% of plans in the industry). Total assets across all plans in the industry sum to $3.1T, covering 13,704,757 participants.
What's the average plan size in the Manufacturing industry? ▼
The average Manufacturing retirement plan holds $169M in assets and covers 741 participants. This is an arithmetic mean across all 18,500 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 Manufacturing industry? ▼
In Manufacturing, the most common plan type by total assets is 401(k) (14,736 plans, $2.2T in assets). Other common types include: Defined Benefit (Pension) (1,824), ESOP (1,063), Profit Sharing (760).

Related guides

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

Explore from Manufacturing

Information & Media

Closest peer by total plan assets ($647.6B, 2,937 plans)
The Boeing Company 401(k) Retirement Plan

Largest Manufacturing plan on file · $73.9B
401(k)

Dominant type here by assets · 14,736 plans, $2.2T
All industries

Industry #1 of 21 by total Form 5500 plan assets

What to do with Manufacturing plan data

18,500 plans across the Manufacturing 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.