Essential Utilities, Inc. 401(k): Fidelity, match 6% max
Essential Utilities, Inc. 401(k) Plan · WTRG · CIK 78128
Fidelity Investments is the recordkeeper named on the Form 5500 filed for this plan, the company that keeps the account records. Where to log in, and what the filing says.
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
6%
Essential Utilities, Inc. matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 15, 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 · who holds your account · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What Essential Utilities puts in, and what the plan costs
What Essential Utilities put into the plan, per active participant
$7,404
Essential Utilities, Inc. put $7,404 into this plan for each of its 3,448 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.
Essential Utilities put in more per active participant than 57% of plans with 1,000–4,999 participants at utilities. The middle plan in that group of 80 reported $6,417. Utilities comes from business code 221300, which Essential Utilities 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 Essential Utilities 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 231702594, plan 005 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $7,404 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Essential Utilities, Inc. 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, 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 Essential Utilities puts in
$2,970
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“● Group 8: The Company will match 100% of the first 6% of compensation contributed as deferral contributions for the Plan Year (Pre-tax deferral contributions and/or Roth deferral contributions).”
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
57.14 out of 100
How fast the employer’s money becomes yours. Higher than 5% of the 369 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: 0%, 0%, 0%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%. The score is the average of those 7 readings.
Vesting, word for word
“Each participant will always be 100% vested in the balances in their deferral contribution, voluntary contribution, discretionary contribution, employer performance contribution, and rollover contribution accounts. Group 8 and Group 9 covered employees become 100% vested in their employer matching and employer profit sharing/corporate contributions after three years of 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
95th percentile
$215.83 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 95% of plans with 1,000–4,999 participants.
What is Essential Utilities' 401(k) match formula?
Essential Utilities' 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 |
| Paid in company stock | No, paid in cash or per your investment elections |
| Conditions | The match formula varies by covered-employee group; the headline tiers above are for Group 8, the plan's default non-union, non-legacy group. Group 1: the Company matches 50% of the first 6% of eligible compensation contributed. Group 4: 50% of the first 4%. Group 6: 100% of the first 3% plus 50% of the next 2%, plus a separate non-discretionary contribution of 5.25% of eligible hourly wages. Group 9: 100% of the first 2% plus 50% of the next 4%, with a possible enhanced match up to 6% of the annual IRC 401(a)(17) compensation limit. PNG Salaried Group (non-union and USW Customer Service Representatives): 125% of the first 5%. PNG Salaried Group (IBEW collective bargaining agreement, merged into Local 612 effective October 19, 2025): 50% of the first 6%. PNG Union Group: 100% of contributions up to 6% of eligible compensation. Delta Group: 100% of contributions up to a maximum of 6% of eligible compensation. |
| Other employer contribution | The Company will make additional non-discretionary contributions of 5.25% of eligible hourly wages to the Plan for the benefit of active Group 6 participants who qualify for a Company matching contribution, defined as 100% of the first 3% and 50% of the next 2% of eligible compensation contributed. The Company made such non-discretionary contributions for 2025 of $84,046. |
| Other employer contribution | The Company may make a discretionary year-end corporate contribution, of up to 3% of an employee's eligible compensation, for participants of Groups 8, 9 and Delta Group who were employed on the last day of the Plan year. This contribution is made into participant-directed accounts. The Company made a year-end corporate contribution for 2025 in the amount of $4,031,001. |
| Other employer contribution | with respect to PNG Salaried Covered Employees that are non-union employees and USW Customer Service Representatives, an amount that is equal to 3% of a participant's eligible compensation for the Plan year; with respect to PNG Salaried Covered Employees that are covered by a collective bargaining agreement and PNG Union Covered Employees, an amount that is equal to 6% of the participant's eligible compensation for the Plan year |
| Other employer contribution | The Company may make additional discretionary contributions to the Plan for the benefit of active participants. ... The Company did not make any discretionary contributions during 2025. |
| Other employer contribution | The Company may, at its discretion, make an employer performance contribution on behalf of eligible participants if certain established performance goals are achieved. ... The Company did not make any performance contributions during 2025. |
At a $45,000 salary, contributing 6% ($2,700) earns the full employer match of $2,700 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“● Group 8: The Company will match 100% of the first 6% of compensation contributed as deferral contributions for the Plan Year (Pre-tax deferral contributions and/or Roth deferral contributions).”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 15, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Essential Utilities' 401(k) vesting schedule?
Essential Utilities vests the employer match on a cliff schedule: nothing is yours until three years of service, then 100% at once. Leave a day early and the employer money goes back to the plan, the edge a three-year cliff creates.
| Employer match vesting | Cliff: 100% vested after 3 years of service |
|---|---|
| Your own contributions | Immediate: always 100% yours |
| Year of service | Effective July 1, 2022, a "year of service" for vesting purposes is based on anniversary date. |
| Other employer contributions | Vesting also varies by group: Group 1 and Group 4 employer matching contributions vest on a graded schedule (0% under 2 years, then 20% per year from 2 up to 6 years of service, 100% at 6 or more years). Group 6 covered employees become 100% vested in their employer non-discretionary contribution upon completing a year of service. PNG Salaried and PNG Union covered employees become 100% vested in their employer matching contribution and profit-sharing accounts after three years of service. Delta covered employees become 100% vested in their Essential 401(k) Plan matching contribution accounts after three years of service, while Delta Plan matching contribution accounts (predecessor plan) follow a graded schedule reaching 100% at 5 or more years, and Delta Plan profit sharing contribution accounts follow a graded schedule reaching 100% at 6 or more years. |
Vesting, word for word
“Each participant will always be 100% vested in the balances in their deferral contribution, voluntary contribution, discretionary contribution, employer performance contribution, and rollover contribution accounts. Group 8 and Group 9 covered employees become 100% vested in their employer matching and employer profit sharing/corporate contributions after three years of service*.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 15, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Essential Utilities' 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Essential Utilities enrolls new hires automatically at 6% of pay, rising 1% a year to 10% of pay.
| Excluded groups | Covered employees are any employees of the Company other than: (i) bargaining unit employees unless their union contract provides for participation in the Plan, (ii) leased employees, (iii) nonresident aliens, and (iv) persons performing services who are classified by the Company as other than common law employees. |
|---|---|
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 6% of pay; 30-day opt-out window; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 10%; default investment: a retirement date fund |
Eligibility, word for word
“Covered employees are any employees of the Company other than: (i) bargaining unit employees unless their union contract provides for participation in the Plan, (ii) leased employees, (iii) nonresident aliens, and (iv) persons performing services who are classified by the Company as other than common law employees.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“Any newly hired or rehired eligible employee is automatically enrolled in the Plan into a retirement date fund at a deferral of 6%, as soon as practical following a 30-day period, unless they elect otherwise.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 15, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who holds your account
Schedule C of the Form 5500 filed for plan year 2024 reports Fidelity Investments, filed as “FIDELITY INVESTMENTS INSTITUTIONAL”. That is the company paid to keep the account records: what is in an account, what went into it, and usually the site a participant signs in to. The trustee that holds the plan’s assets can be a different company, and this filing does not name it.
10,593 plans on file name Fidelity Investments as their recordkeeper. Of those, the 10,022 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $97.71 per participant.
Participants log in at Fidelity NetBenefits ↗. 401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with Fidelity Investments or with any other recordkeeper, and takes nothing for this link. It is here because that is where the account is.
| Recordkeeper | Fidelity Investments |
|---|---|
| Recordkeeper EIN | 042647786 |
What does the Essential Utilities plan report on Form 5500?
The Essential Utilities plan reported $623.8M in assets and 4,138 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $623,786,494 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 4,138 |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $215.83 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $215.83 per participant. The median across plans at utilities is $138.21, from the 387 of 407 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
Read from the Form 5500 filing of Essential Utilities, Inc. 401(k) Plan, which has no page of its own here.
How does Essential Utilities' 401(k) match compare?
Essential Utilities, Inc.'s maximum 401(k) match of 6% of pay compares with a median of 4% across the 269 companies in our data with a computable formula.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, three file at utilities, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also at utilities.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also at utilities.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also at utilities.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Employer match vests in full after 3 years. Same 3-year cliff as Essential Utilities.
Compare Essential Utilities, Inc. with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 15, 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.
Questions this filing answers
What is Essential Utilities, Inc.'s 401(k) match?
Essential Utilities, Inc. matches 100% of employee contributions up to 6% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the Essential Utilities, Inc. 401(k) match vest?
Cliff: 100% vested after 3 years of service.
Does Essential Utilities, Inc.'s 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 6% of pay; 30-day opt-out window; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 10%; default investment: a retirement date fund.
Who is the recordkeeper for Essential Utilities, Inc.'s 401(k)?
Fidelity Investments is named as the recordkeeper on the Form 5500 filed for Essential Utilities, Inc. 401(k) Plan for plan year 2024. That is the company paid to keep the account records: what is in an account, what went into it, and usually the site a participant signs in to.
Source
The match formula, the vesting schedule and the enrollment rules on this page were read from one document: the Form 11-K annual report that Essential Utilities, Inc. filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Each of those fields carries the filing sentence it was read from, expandable where the field appears. Nothing on this page was supplied by the employer to this site.
The plan assets, the participant counts, the plan-paid fees and the recordkeeper come from a different document, the plan’s DOL Form 5500 annual return, and the section that reports them links it. Comparisons with other employers are computed across the filings named in the section they appear in.
Read the filing on SEC EDGAR ↗
| Document | Form 11-K annual report |
|---|---|
| Filed with | US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) |
| Filed by | Essential Utilities, Inc. |
| SEC CIK | 78128 |
| Accession number | 0000078128-26-000059 |
| Plan | Essential Utilities, Inc. 401(k) Plan |
| Period of report | December 31, 2025 |
| Filed | June 15, 2026 |
401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with Essential Utilities, Inc., with the Securities and Exchange Commission or with this plan’s recordkeeper, and publishes this page without their involvement. It republishes a public filing and says where it came from.
Cite this page
401(k) Monitor, “Essential Utilities, Inc. 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000078128-26-000059, plan year ended December 31, 2025.
