Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2023

Merck & Co., Inc. Pension Plan

Data updated 2026-08-25

$10.2B
Total assets Mega-plan scale
25,223
Participants Very large workforce
100th
Percentile by assets National rank
$405,388
Avg per participant High balance/head
PlainRetire home → About this data RSS: change history

Official DOL plan name: Merck US Pension Plan · Sponsored by Merck & Co., Inc. · New Jersey · Manufacturing

$10.2B in assets, 25,223 participants

Merck & Co., Inc.'s Merck US Pension Plan reported $10.2B in total assets and 25,223 participants in its 2023 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 100th percentile by assets among filed plans. Figures are as reported by the plan sponsor to the Department of Labor, not audited or endorsed by PlainRetire.

  • #18,670 in Manufacturing (18,722 peers)

Coverage in New Jersey

Merck US Pension Plan covers 25,223 participants in New Jersey, 30x the typical New Jersey plan (state average ~844 per filing). Assets: $10.2B.

#18,670
in Manufacturing (18,722 peers)
+6.8%
assets growth YoY
103×
vs typical plan assets (national mean)

Merck US Pension Plan's outsized position by total assets

Merck US Pension Plan vs every filed plan by assets

End-of-year total assets · plan year 2023 · DOL Form 5500

$10,225,093,330 Highest reported value at or above every one of 127,068 filed plans

This plan $0 $2,050,000,000 every filed plan with reported assets, bucketed by value

Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.

Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2023

Merck US Pension Plan's mega-plan peer group by participant headcount

Plan-year 2023 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. Merck US Pension Plan is a mega filing (25,223 participants), the rightmost band on the breakdown.

What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings

plan year 2022 → plan year 2023

  • Merck US Pension Plan reported net income rose from -$3.8B in the plan year 2022 filing to $655M in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • Merck US Pension Plan end-of-year assets rose from $9.6B in the plan year 2022 filing to $10.2B in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • Merck US Pension Plan reported participants rose from 23,981 in the plan year 2022 filing to 25,223 in the plan year 2023 filing.

See the national 2022→2023 release diff →

EBSA filing schedule strip

Filing strip 221918501 · Merck & Co., Inc. PY 2023 · Defined Benefit (Pension)

Merck US Pension Plan · $10.2B · 25,223 · 100th

  • TYPE $10.2B
  • TYPE 25,223
  • TYPE 100th
  • TYPE Defined Benefit (Pension)
  • TYPE near Retirement Security Plan
  • TYPE ind #18670

Stamps derive from this plan's Form 5500 line items (assets, participants, type, EIN, cohort placement) - not a quality rating of the sponsor. Read with Manufacturing retirement plans → · Plans in New Jersey →

Merck US Pension Plan in the asset neighbourhood

The Citigroup Pension Plan$10.6BConsolidated Cash Balance Program of Mass General Brigham and Member OrganizationsConsolidated Cash Balance Pr…$10.3BMerck US Pension Plan$10.2BRetirement Security Plan$10.2BDisney Salaried Pension Plan DDisney Salaried Pension Plan…$10.1B
End-of-year total assets ($B) among Merck US Pension Plan and nearest nationwide Defined Benefit (Pension) peers. Source: DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023.

New Jersey filing particulars

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)$9.6B
Net Assets (End of Year)$10.2B
Net Income$655M
Employer EIN221918501
Plan Effective Date1956-01-01
Filing StatusFILING RECEIVED

Sponsor Plan History (Merck & Co., Inc.)

Sponsor-wide plan assets over time

All Merck & Co., Inc. plans reported in each filing year

Latest sponsor-wide plan assets
$26.3B 18.13047230036898% vs 2022
2024 filing year
$20B$22B$24B$26B$28B 202220232024 $22.2B $26.3B ▲ +18.1%
Year Plans Participants Total Assets
2022 4 55,803 $22.2B
2023 4 57,497 $24.8B
2024 4 59,874 $26.3B

Nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) Plans in New Jersey

Peer Defined Benefit (Pension) plans, same state, same plan type, ranked by total assets.

Merck US Pension Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in New Jersey, assets vs. participants Scatter plot of 6 data points. 020000400006000080000100000 510152025 Total assets ($B) Participants Merck US Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 10.22509333 · Participants: 25223Merck US Pension PlanRetirement Plan of Johnson and Johnson, Total assets ($B): 21.174819996 · Participants: 37749Retirement Plan of Johnson and JohnsonJPMorgan Chase Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 16.279006871 · Participants: 90644JPMorgan Chase Retirement PlanNokia Retirement Income Plan, Total assets ($B): 13.864923 · Participants: 7492Nokia Retirement Income PlanThe Prudential Merged Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 12.225782081 · Participants: 16230The Prudential Merged Retirement PlanVerizon Pension Plan for Associates, Total assets ($B): 10.930667796 · Participants: 23778Verizon Pension Plan for Associates
Merck US Pension Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in New Jersey, assets vs. participants
Compare Merck US Pension Plan side-by-side with 3 peers →

Scale composition for Merck US Pension Plan

Merck US Pension Plan reports $10.2B in end-of-year assets across 25,223 participants (0.083% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.027% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $405,388 per participant (2.9x the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2023 was $655M.

This plan identity (EIN 221918501, plan #003) has 3 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $9.6B to $10.1B (+5.4%) while covered participants moved from 23,981 to 26,843 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.

Plan year Participants EOY assets Filing
2022 23,981 $9.6B Open filing
2023 25,223 $10.2B This page
2024 · index core 26,843 $10.1B Open filing

The same sponsor also keeps 4 other index-core plans on PlainRetire:

Merck US Pension Plan's out-of-state Defined Benefit (Pension) peers by assets and headcount

Outside New Jersey, the nearest Defined Benefit (Pension) by assets is Retirement Security Plan in VA ($10.2B); by covered participants it is The Southern Company Pension Plan in GA (25,241 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.

Closest by plan assets

Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($10.2B here).

Similar participant headcount

Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (25,223 participants); asset peers above are excluded.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Merck US Pension Plan assets move in 2023? ▼
Merck US Pension Plan grew at a solid clip - up 6.8% during 2023, from $9.6B to $10.2B. Reported net income was $655M.
How have Merck & Co., Inc. plan assets changed over time? ▼
Across 3 plan years on file (2022-2024), Merck & Co., Inc.'s sponsor-wide assets grew 18.1%, from $22.2B to $26.3B.
Where does Merck US Pension Plan rank by assets among Form 5500 filers? ▼
Merck US Pension Plan ranks in the 100th percentile by end-of-year assets among 127,072 plans that reported assets for plan year 2023 (among the largest 1% of all filed plans).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans are similar in size to Merck US Pension Plan? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by assets is Retirement Security Plan in VA ($10.2B, 54,171 participants).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans cover a similar participant headcount to Merck US Pension Plan? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by covered participants is The Southern Company Pension Plan in GA (25,241 participants, $15.6B in assets).

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Plan year 2023.

Source: DOL EFAST2 filing system (efast.dol.gov) - original filing retrieval by EIN 221918501.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA). See our methodology for details.