State retirement profile · Form 5500

Retirement Plans in Illinois

According to DOL Form 5500 filings (plan year 2024), employer-sponsored 401(k), pension, and other retirement plans headquartered in Illinois report the totals below.

Data updated 2026-08-06

5,440
Plans
$729.7B
Total assets
#4
By assets

$729.7B across 5,440 plans

According to DOL Form 5500 filings (plan year 2024), Illinois has 5,440 employer-sponsored retirement plans holding $729.7B in total assets for 4,176,853 participants, ranking 4th nationally by plan assets, with 75% structured as 401(k)s and an average of $134M per plan.

  • 4th nationally by plan assets
  • 75% 401(k) plans

The state in one line

Illinois hosts 5,440 employer-sponsored retirement plans holding $729.7B for 4,176,853 participants, the 4th-largest state by plan assets.

$729.7B
total plan assets
5,440
employer plans
$174,697
avg assets per participant
75%
of plans are 401(k)s
401(k) Plans
4,073
Participants
4,176,853

What the Form 5500 Data Shows for Illinois

Illinois: 5,440 employer-sponsored plans (4,073 401(k)), $729.7B aggregate assets, 4,176,853 participants. Average plan: $134M; largest is Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Plan at $48.2B. Leading sector by assets: Manufacturing (26%). These figures aggregate the 5,440 Form 5500 filings Illinois sponsors submitted for plan year 2024, counted by sponsor headquarters rather than participant residence; a plan administered in Illinois can cover workers across several states, and the methodology page details that HQ-vs-residence distinction. DOL Form 5500 methodology + HQ-vs-residence caveats →

Manufacturing leads Illinois plan assets (26%)

Among plans headquartered here, Manufacturing accounts for $187.5B across 1,129 filings, ahead of Finance & Insurance at $114.2B. Sector mix is a Form 5500-derived signal: it reflects where sponsors file from, not where every participant lives.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024

Illinois hosts 228 ESOP filings

Employee Stock Ownership Plans here hold $11.0B. ESOP density is uneven across states; when the count clears a meaningful floor, the ESOP ranking and industry pages are the better drill-downs than a 401(k)-only read.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024

Where Illinois sits in the Form 5500 corpus

Illinois sits in the top decile of U.S. states by Form 5500 plan assets (#4 of 56), so national rankings and peer comparisons are the useful next read.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024

Industry mix in Illinois

Top sectors by Form 5500 plan assets for sponsors headquartered here (plan year 2024).

Industry Plans Assets
Manufacturing 1,129 $187.5B
Finance & Insurance 440 $114.2B
Professional & Technical Services 860 $99.7B
Transportation & Warehousing 167 $97.3B
Healthcare & Social Assistance 594 $35.9B

Largest Plans in Illinois

# Plan Name Type Participants Total Assets
1 Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Plan Defined Benefit (Pension) 36,799 $48.2B
2 State Farm Insurance Companies Retirement Plan for United States Employees Defined Benefit (Pension) 41,619 $37.7B
3 Accenture United States 401(k) Match and Savings Plan 401(k) 66,965 $21.3B
4 State Farm 401(k) Savings Plan 401(k) 63,297 $19.0B
5 United Airlines Pilot Retirement Account Plan 401(k) 16,659 $16.8B
6 Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan 401(k) 38,229 $15.8B
7 Walgreens Retirement Savings Plan 401(k) 233,635 $14.5B
8 GE Healthcare Pension Plan Defined Benefit (Pension) 5,554 $13.7B
9 Abbvie Savings Plan 401(k) 26,790 $13.4B
10 GE Healthcare Retirement Savings Plan 401(k) 16,216 $10.5B
11 United Airlines 401(k) Savings Plan 401(k) 57,326 $10.3B
12 Abbott Laboratories Annuity Retirement Plan Defined Benefit (Pension) 17,875 $8.6B
13 Motorola Solutions 401(k) Plan 401(k) 9,780 $6.5B
14 Exelon Corporation Employee Savings Plan 401(k) 20,282 $6.3B
15 Exelon Corporation Retirement Program Defined Benefit (Pension) 8,898 $6.1B
16 Midwest Operating Engineers Pension Trust Fund Defined Benefit (Pension) 13,118 $6.0B
17 Northwestern Memorial Employee 401(k) Pre-Tax Savings Plan 401(k) 35,963 $5.4B
18 United Airlines Flight Attendant 401(k) Plan 401(k) 27,196 $5.3B
19 Publicis Benefits Connection 401(k) Plan 401(k) 27,733 $5.2B
20 Schneider Electric 401(k) Plan 401(k) 18,591 $5.1B
21 Abbvie Pension Plan Defined Benefit (Pension) 13,656 $5.0B
22 Bmo 401(k) Savings Plan 401(k) 20,280 $5.0B
23 Hsbc - North America (U. S.) Tax Reduction Investment Plan 401(k) 6,684 $4.9B
24 Bosch Savings Incentive Plan 401(k) 14,888 $4.6B
25 Baxter International Inc. and Subsidiaries U.S. Retirement Savings Plan 401(k) 17,271 $4.6B

Nearby States by Retirement Plan Footprint

States ranked adjacent to Illinois by total retirement plan assets.

Compare Illinois side-by-side with 3 peer states →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the largest retirement plan headquartered in Illinois? ▼
The largest Form 5500 filing by assets with a headquarters address in Illinois is Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Plan ($48.2B, 36,799 participants).
Which industry leads Illinois retirement plan assets? ▼
Manufacturing leads with $187.5B across 1,129 plans headquartered here (26% of state plan assets).
How does Illinois compare to other states for retirement plans? ▼
Illinois sits in the top decile of U.S. states by Form 5500 plan assets (#4 of 56), so national rankings and peer comparisons are the useful next read.

Next read for Illinois

Industry-mix reading

Ways to act on Illinois's numbers.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, EBSA Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Shows the top 25 plans by total assets headquartered in Illinois, out of 122,942 ERISA-covered plans nationally. Plan year 2024.

Source: DOL EFAST2 filing system (efast.dol.gov) - state is the plan sponsor's headquarters state as recorded on the Form 5500 filing.

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.