MAY 14, 2026 — Public pensions in the nation totaled over $6 trillion in 2025, according to the Annual Survey of Public Pensions (ASPP) released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The ASPP provides revenues, expenditures, financial assets and membership information about defined-benefit public pension systems. Defined-benefit plans provide a specified benefit in retirement.

A separate unit file provides detailed actuarial data for state and locally administered defined-benefit public pension systems. Actuarial data shows how systems act today to pay tomorrow’s benefits.

• In 2025, state and local governments invested $6.49 trillion in short- and long-term assets in pension plans, up 8.46% from $5.98 trillion in 2024.
• More than 37 million people (including inactive employees not currently contributing to pensions but eligible for future benefits) participated in state and local pension plans in 2025.
• Employees contributed 24.83% and governments (on behalf of employees) contributed 75.17% of the total $315.02 billion invested in state and local government pension plans in 2025.
• State and local government pension plans in 2025 provided $418.25 billion in benefit payments to beneficiaries (retirees as well as their spouses or dependent children), up 3.40% from $404.46 billion in 2024.

Statistics are available at the national level and for individual states. State and locally administered defined benefits are also available.

Visit the Annual Survey of Public Pensions webpage for more information.

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