Eli Lilly and Company 401(k) match: 6% max
The Lilly Employee 401(k) Plan · LLY · CIK 59478
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
6%
Eli Lilly and Company matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay.
Eli Lilly's Form 11-K filing for plan year 2025 describes two separate 401(k) plans. The terms on this page are read from the Lilly Employee 401(k) Plan. Both state the same maximum match.
From the Form 11-K filed June 23, 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: which plan you are in · 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
Which Eli Lilly 401(k) plan are you in?
Eli Lilly's Form 11-K filing for this plan year describes two plans and all of them state the same maximum employer match. The group each plan covers still differs, and so can the vesting and enrollment terms further down this page, which are read from the Lilly Employee 401(k) Plan.
The Lilly Employee 401(k) Plan (the plan this page answers for)
The filing states no limit on who this plan covers · Form 11-K ↗
6% of pay, at most
The Savings Plan for Lilly Affiliate Employees in Puerto Rico
Employees in Puerto Rico · Form 11-K ↗
6% of pay, at most
One row per plan, taken from the Form 11-K report this site has read for the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Each maximum comes from that plan’s own filing and describes only that plan.
What Eli Lilly puts in, and what the plan costs
What Eli Lilly put into the plan, per active participant
$7,928
Eli Lilly and Company put $7,928 into this plan for each of its 21,803 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.
Eli Lilly put in less per active participant than 52% 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 325410, which Eli Lilly 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 Eli Lilly 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 350470950, plan 002 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $7,928 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Eli Lilly and Company also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $2,970 a year at a $49,500 salary. 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 Eli Lilly puts in
$2,970
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“Matching contributions by the Company are currently 100% of participant pre-tax and or Roth contributions up to the 6% participant contribution level, subject to applicable regulatory limits.”
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
“All participants are vested immediately in their own contributions. All active participants vest in 100% of the Company's matching contributions after completing one hour of creditable service.”
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
56th percentile
$60.93 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 56% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Eli Lilly's 401(k) match formula?
Eli Lilly's 401(k) employer match tops out at 6% of pay. One rate up to one limit is the commonest of the four shapes a match formula takes.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay |
|---|---|
| Maximum employer match | 6% of compensation |
| Conditions | Only pre-tax and/or Roth contributions are matched, subject to applicable regulatory limits. The filing describes the formula as the current one. |
At a $75,000 salary, contributing 6% ($4,500) earns the full employer match of $4,500 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“Matching contributions by the Company are currently 100% of participant pre-tax and or Roth contributions up to the 6% participant contribution level, subject to applicable regulatory limits.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 23, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Eli Lilly's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Eli Lilly 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 |
| Year of service | Active participants vest in 100% of matching contributions after completing one hour of creditable service |
Vesting, word for word
“All participants are vested immediately in their own contributions. All active participants vest in 100% of the Company's matching contributions after completing one hour of creditable service.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 23, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Eli Lilly's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Eli Lilly's filing does not mention automatic enrollment, which is not the same as the plan having none.
| Plan entry | Full-time employees are eligible on the first day of employment; seasonal, part-time, or other special-status employees must generally complete 1,000 hours of service within a 12-consecutive-month period, or qualify as long-term part-time employees with two 12-consecutive-month periods of at least 500 hours each |
|---|---|
| Automatic enrollment | Not mentioned in the filing (not proof of absence) |
Eligibility, word for word
“Full-time employees become eligible for participation in the Plans on the first day of employment. Seasonal, part-time, or other special-status employees must generally complete 1,000 hours of service within a 12-consecutive-month period to be eligible. Additionally, for the Lilly Employee 401(k) plan, seasonal, part-time, or other special status employees who do not meet the above service criteria become eligible for participation in the 401(k) Plan upon completing two 12-consecutive-month periods with at least 500 hours of service in each 12-month period as a long-term part-time employee.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 23, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Eli Lilly plan report on Form 5500?
The Eli Lilly plan reported $13.1B in assets and 30,472 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $13,056,609,955 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 30,472 |
| Recordkeeper | Alight Solutions, LLC |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $60.93 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $60.93 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.
The Lilly Employee 401(k) Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does Eli Lilly's 401(k) match compare?
Eli Lilly and Company's maximum 401(k) match of 6% 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 Eli Lilly's maximum match and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also in pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also in pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also in pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Maximum match 6% of pay, level with Eli Lilly.
Maximum match 6% of pay, level with Eli Lilly.
Employer match vests immediately. Vests immediately too, like Eli Lilly.
Compare Eli Lilly and Company with any company, side by side
What do Eli Lilly's other 401(k) plans say?
The Savings Plan for Lilly Affiliate Employees in Puerto Rico
Employees in Puerto Rico
Eli Lilly and Company matches 100% of employee contributions up to 6% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
- Employer match vesting
- Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed
- Automatic enrollment
- Not mentioned in the filing (not proof of absence)
What the filing says, word for word
“Matching contributions by the Company are currently 100% of participant pre-tax and or Roth contributions up to the 6% participant contribution level, subject to applicable regulatory limits.”
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Alight ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 23, 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 Eli Lilly and Company's 401(k) match?
Eli Lilly and Company matches 100% of employee contributions up to 6% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the Eli Lilly and Company 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does Eli Lilly and Company's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Not mentioned in the filing (not proof of absence).
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “Eli Lilly and Company 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000059478-26-000063, plan year ended 2025-12-31.