Dow Inc. 401(k) match: 5% max
The Dow Chemical Company Employees' Savings Plan · DOW · CIK 1751788
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
5%
Dow Inc. matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay, then 50% of the next 2% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 5% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026 ↗, covering the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Page data last updated July 28, 2026, when the Form 5500 bulk data was last refreshed. Why filings lag
On this page: what the employer actually paid in · the formula, word for word · when the money becomes yours · who can join · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What Dow puts in, and what the plan costs
What Dow put into the plan, per active participant
$13,291
Dow Inc. put $13,291 into this plan for each of its 17,215 active participants in plan year 2024. This is the whole employer side of the plan: matching money, profit sharing, non-elective and safe-harbor contributions, and reallocated forfeitures. The Form 5500 does not separate them, so this is what the employer put in and not the match.
Dow put in more per active participant than 82% of plans with 5,000+ participants in pharmaceuticals and chemicals. The middle plan in that group of 63 reported $8,101. Pharmaceuticals and chemicals comes from business code 325100, which Dow entered on its own Form 5500. Sponsors pick that code themselves, so a code that does not describe what the employer does ranks the plan against the wrong companies.
What this figure cannot separate: how much Dow pays, and how much it puts in
This is dollars, not a rate. A Form 5500 carries no payroll, so the figure reflects both how much the employer puts in and how much the employer pays: two plans running the same formula report different amounts when one pays better. Crossing the peer group with industry holds most of that difference still, and none of it disappears.
This is one plan year, not an average. A true-up, a plan merger or a one-off contribution moves a single year on its own.
Source: DOL Form 5500 for the plan year ended December 31, 2024, EIN 381285128, plan 002 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $13,291 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Dow Inc. also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $2,475 a year at a $49,500 salary, and the same filing states employer contributions made outside the match. That second figure is what the formula pays one worker on that salary, and not an amount either filing reports. The two figures cover different plan years and measure different things, so neither one is the other one corrected.
What Dow puts in
$2,475
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“In general, the Company’s matching contribution provides a 100% match on the first 4% of eligible pay deferrals and a 50% match on the next 2% of eligible pay deferrals. Eligible U.S. employees receive an automatic non-elective contribution to the Plan of 4% of their eligible compensation. The Company offers a student debt retirement savings match, which provides Company matching contributions on a participant's eligible student debt payments in the same manner as the match on pay deferrals.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 6% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $2,970 a year at a $49,500 salary, and it scales with your own.
Vesting score
100 out of 100
How fast the employer’s money becomes yours. Higher than 48% of the 253 schedules we have scored.
It measures vesting speed and nothing else. It says nothing about the size of the match, what the plan charges, or the funds inside it.
Share of the employer's money that is the worker's at hire and at each of the first 6 anniversaries: 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%. The score is the average of those 7 readings.
Vesting, word for word
“Vesting - Participants are immediately vested in all amounts credited to their Plan account, including employee contributions, Company contributions and investment earnings.”
The plan tops the match up after year end, so contributing unevenly through the year does not cost the worker part of it.
The same match paragraph, word for word
“In general, the Company’s matching contribution provides a 100% match on the first 4% of eligible pay deferrals and a 50% match on the next 2% of eligible pay deferrals. Eligible U.S. employees receive an automatic non-elective contribution to the Plan of 4% of their eligible compensation. The Company offers a student debt retirement savings match, which provides Company matching contributions on a participant's eligible student debt payments in the same manner as the match on pay deferrals.”
The wait before the match starts and the year-end true-up appear above when the filing states them. Neither is part of the score, and a filing that is silent on one of them is not a plan without it.
What the plan costs, against plans of its size
40th percentile
$45.15 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, cheaper than 60% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Dow's 401(k) match formula?
Dow's 401(k) employer match tops out at 5% of pay. The match is deposited each payroll and the plan pays an annual true-up. What an annual true-up repays is the arithmetic behind that line: it matters most in a year when contributions land unevenly.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay |
|---|---|
| then | 50% of the next 2% of pay |
| Maximum employer match | 5% of compensation |
| True-upA year-end recalculation that repays match lost to uneven contributions. | Yes, annual true-up |
| Deposited | Each payroll |
| Conditions | The Company also offers a student debt retirement savings match: matching contributions on a participant's eligible student debt payments in the same manner as the match on pay deferrals. A true-up contribution of $8.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 was paid in the first quarter of 2026. |
| Other employer contribution | Automatic non-elective contribution of 4% of eligible compensation for eligible U.S. employees |
At a $45,000 salary, contributing 6% ($2,700) earns the full employer match of $2,250 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“In general, the Company’s matching contribution provides a 100% match on the first 4% of eligible pay deferrals and a 50% match on the next 2% of eligible pay deferrals. Eligible U.S. employees receive an automatic non-elective contribution to the Plan of 4% of their eligible compensation. The Company offers a student debt retirement savings match, which provides Company matching contributions on a participant's eligible student debt payments in the same manner as the match on pay deferrals.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Dow's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Dow vests the employer match immediately: 100% is yours as soon as it is paid in. Nothing is forfeited when you leave, which is not true of the two schedules that vest over time.
| Employer match vesting | Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed |
|---|---|
| Your own contributions | Immediate: always 100% yours |
| Other employer contributions | Participants are immediately vested in all amounts credited to their Plan account, including all Company contributions |
Vesting, word for word
“Vesting - Participants are immediately vested in all amounts credited to their Plan account, including employee contributions, Company contributions and investment earnings.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Dow's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Dow enrolls new hires automatically at 6% of pay, rising 1% a year to 15% of pay.
| Plan entry | Any person who is or becomes an eligible employee of The Dow Chemical Company or of certain of TDCC's subsidiaries |
|---|---|
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 6% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 15%; default investment: Applicable BlackRock LifePath Fund based on the employee's date of birth |
Eligibility, word for word
“The Plan covers any person who is or becomes an eligible employee of The Dow Chemical Company (the "Company" or “TDCC”) or of certain of TDCC's subsidiaries, including former employees with balances in the Plan.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“Newly hired eligible employees not electing to enroll within a reasonable period of time are automatically enrolled to contribute 6% of their eligible pay to the Plan unless the employee elects to opt out. The automatic contributions will increase by 1% each year effective April 1, until the contribution rate reaches 15%, unless the employee designates otherwise. The contributions default to the applicable BlackRock® LifePath® Fund based on the employee's date of birth, unless otherwise designated by the employee.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Dow plan report on Form 5500?
The Dow plan reported $10.8B in assets and 33,287 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $10,768,606,712 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 33,287 |
| Recordkeeper | Fidelity Investments Inst. Op. Co. |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $45.15 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $45.15 per participant. The median across plans in pharmaceuticals and chemicals is $128.47, from the 870 of 942 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
How does Dow's 401(k) match compare?
Dow Inc.'s maximum 401(k) match of 5% of pay compares with a median of 4.5% across the 181 companies in our data with a computable formula.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, three file in pharmaceuticals and chemicals, two land near Dow's maximum match and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Also in pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Also in pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Also in pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Maximum match 5% of pay, level with Dow.
Maximum match 5% of pay, level with Dow.
Maximum match 3.5% of pay. Vests immediately too, like Dow.
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Fidelity NetBenefits ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026, SEC EDGAR. Every match fact on this page comes from it.
- Changed jobs? Find an old 401(k) ↗
The Department of Labor's Retirement Savings Lost & Found, a free government database.
- This year's IRS contribution limits ↗
The official deferral and catch-up limits every formula operates under.
- Download this data (CSV)
Formula, vesting and source references for this company, one file.
Questions this filing answers
What is Dow Inc.'s 401(k) match?
Dow Inc. matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay, then 50% of the next 2% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 5% of compensation (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the Dow Inc. 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does Dow Inc.'s 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 6% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 15%; default investment: Applicable BlackRock LifePath Fund based on the employee's date of birth.
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “Dow Inc. 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0001751788-26-000138, plan year ended 2025-12-31.