State retirement profile · Form 5500
According to DOL Form 5500 filings (plan year 2024), employer-sponsored 401(k), pension, and other retirement plans headquartered in South Carolina report the totals below.
Data updated 2026-08-25
$55.2B across 1,490 plans
According to DOL Form 5500 filings (plan year 2024), South Carolina has 1,490 employer-sponsored retirement plans holding $55.2B in total assets for 549,146 participants, ranking 33rd nationally by plan assets, with 76% structured as 401(k)s and an average of $37M per plan.
The state in one line
South Carolina hosts 1,490 employer-sponsored retirement plans holding $55.2B for 549,146 participants, the 33rd-largest state by plan assets.
South Carolina: 1,490 employer-sponsored plans (1,128 401(k)), $55.2B aggregate assets, 549,146 participants. Average plan: $37M; largest is Michelin 401(k) Savings Plan at $4.5B. Leading sector by assets: Manufacturing (36%). These figures aggregate the 1,490 Form 5500 filings South Carolina sponsors submitted for plan year 2024, counted by sponsor headquarters rather than participant residence; a plan administered in South Carolina can cover workers across several states, and the methodology page details that HQ-vs-residence distinction. DOL Form 5500 methodology + HQ-vs-residence caveats →
Among plans headquartered here, Manufacturing accounts for $19.7B across 251 filings, ahead of Professional & Technical Services at $11.9B. 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
Employee Stock Ownership Plans here hold $273M. 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
South Carolina sits mid-pack by plan assets (#33 of 56). Peer states with similar totals are the fairest comparison set; national leaders will dominate any unfiltered ranking.
DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024
South Carolina's place in the national asset distribution
All states with reported Form 5500 plan assets · plan year 2024
$55,214,970,789 43rd percentile higher than 43% of 56 states with reported plan assets
Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among states with reported plan assets.
Source U.S. Department of Labor, EBSA Form 5500 public disclosure dataset · plan year 2024
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, EBSA Form 5500 public disclosure dataset · plan year 2024.
Top sectors by Form 5500 plan assets for sponsors headquartered here (plan year 2024).
| Industry | Plans | Assets |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 251 | $19.7B |
| Professional & Technical Services | 179 | $11.9B |
| Healthcare & Social Assistance | 182 | $8.4B |
| Finance & Insurance | 85 | $4.7B |
| Wholesale Trade | 64 | $2.2B |
States ranked adjacent to South Carolina by total retirement plan assets.
Two DOL Form 5500-derived peer sets for South Carolina, each a different nationwide metric so the neighborhoods are not geographic containment (the asset-ranked nearby list above stays regional).
Nearest other states by reported employer plan filings (1,490 here).
Nearest other states by aggregate plan assets ($55.2B here).
Industry-mix reading
Ways to act on South Carolina's numbers.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, EBSA Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Shows the top 25 plans by total assets headquartered in South Carolina, out of 130,145 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.