McDonald's Corporation 401(k) match: 6% max
McDonald's Corporation 401(k) Plan · MCD · CIK 63908
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
6%
McDonald's Corporation matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 18, 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 McDonald's puts in, and what the plan costs
What McDonald's put into the plan, per active participant
$1,792
McDonald's Corporation put $1,792 into this plan for each of its 24,044 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.
McDonald's put in more per active participant than 94% of plans with 5,000+ participants at hotels and restaurants. The middle plan in that group of 89 reported $323. Hotels and restaurants comes from business code 722513, which McDonald's 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 McDonald's 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 362361282, plan 001 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $1,792 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. McDonald's Corporation 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 McDonald's puts in
$2,970
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“The Company matches (after one year of eligibility service and attainment of age 21) $1 for every $1 of contributions to the Plan, up to a maximum of 6% of eligible compensation (as defined under the Plan document). A "true-up" calculation will be performed at the end of each calendar year and will be posted to participant accounts in January of the following year.”
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: All contributions made under the Plan are 100% vested.”
A worker hired today collects no match for 1 year. This is a filed term, and it does not move the score above.
Eligibility, word for word
“To be eligible, an employee must be at least 21 years of age, have a valid Social Security number, and be on the U.S. payroll of the Company or a participating employer. For purposes of the eligibility and contribution description below, the term "Company" includes McDonald's Corporation and all participating employers. Restaurant management employees and staff employees (including part-time staff employees) are eligible to make before-tax or Roth after-tax contributions, up to 75% of eligible compensation beginning the first day of the month after completing one full calendar month of employment. Vice Presidents and above, crew employees and interns are eligible to make 401(k) or Roth contributions after one year of eligibility service.”
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
“The Company matches (after one year of eligibility service and attainment of age 21) $1 for every $1 of contributions to the Plan, up to a maximum of 6% of eligible compensation (as defined under the Plan document). A "true-up" calculation will be performed at the end of each calendar year and will be posted to participant accounts in January of the following year.”
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
49th percentile
$53.75 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, cheaper than 51% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is McDonald's 401(k) match formula?
McDonald's 401(k) employer match tops out at 6% of pay. 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 6% of pay |
|---|---|
| Maximum employer match | 6% of compensation |
| True-upA year-end recalculation that repays match lost to uneven contributions. | Yes, annual true-up |
| Conditions | Match begins after one year of eligibility service and attainment of age 21. Effective January 1, 2025, employees may elect to receive matching contributions as Roth contributions |
At a $45,000 salary, contributing 6% ($2,700) earns the full employer match of $2,700 for the year.
McDonald's appears in our match-change tracker. We keep a dated page for it: McDonald's raised its 401(k) automatic enrollment default, effective March 1, 2024.
What the filing says, word for word
“The Company matches (after one year of eligibility service and attainment of age 21) $1 for every $1 of contributions to the Plan, up to a maximum of 6% of eligible compensation (as defined under the Plan document). A "true-up" calculation will be performed at the end of each calendar year and will be posted to participant accounts in January of the following year.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 18, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is McDonald's 401(k) vesting schedule?
McDonald's 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 |
Vesting, word for word
“Vesting: All contributions made under the Plan are 100% vested.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 18, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join McDonald's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
McDonald's enrolls new hires automatically at 3% of pay, rising 1% a year to 6% of pay.
| Plan entry | Employees must be at least 21 years of age, have a valid Social Security number, and be on the U.S. payroll of the Company or a participating employer. Restaurant management and staff employees (including part-time staff) may contribute beginning the first day of the month after completing one full calendar month of employment; Vice Presidents and above, crew employees, and interns after one year of eligibility service. Highly compensated employees cannot contribute in their second calendar year until the first of the month on or after completing one anniversary year with at least 1,000 hours of service |
|---|---|
| Match eligibility | Participating employees begin to receive matching contributions once they reach one year of eligibility service (and attainment of age 21) |
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 3% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 6%; default investment: Age-appropriate target date fund (the Plan's qualified default investment alternatives are age-based target date funds) |
Eligibility, word for word
“To be eligible, an employee must be at least 21 years of age, have a valid Social Security number, and be on the U.S. payroll of the Company or a participating employer. For purposes of the eligibility and contribution description below, the term "Company" includes McDonald's Corporation and all participating employers. Restaurant management employees and staff employees (including part-time staff employees) are eligible to make before-tax or Roth after-tax contributions, up to 75% of eligible compensation beginning the first day of the month after completing one full calendar month of employment. Vice Presidents and above, crew employees and interns are eligible to make 401(k) or Roth contributions after one year of eligibility service.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“As of March 1, 2024, restaurant management employees are enrolled automatically at a contribution level of 3% of eligible compensation as soon as they have completed one year of service and attained age 21 (the percentage may be changed by the restaurant management employee). Prior to March 1, 2024, the applicable percentage was 1% of eligible compensation. For those auto enrolled participants who do not make investment elections for new contributions to the Plan, all contributions to the Plan, both participant and Company contributions, are invested in the age-appropriate target date fund for participants.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 18, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the McDonald's plan report on Form 5500?
The McDonald's plan reported $3.7B in assets and 32,808 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $3,740,355,629 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 32,808 |
| Recordkeeper | Empower (Recordkeeper); The Northern Trust Company (Directed Trustee) |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $53.75 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $53.75 per participant. The median across plans at hotels and restaurants is $54.65, from the 1,246 of 1,305 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
Mcdonald's Corporation 401(k) Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does McDonald's 401(k) match compare?
McDonald's Corporation'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 at hotels and restaurants, two land near McDonald's maximum match and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 2.8% of pay. Also at hotels and restaurants.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also at hotels and restaurants.
Match vests in steps, 100% after 6 years. Also at hotels and restaurants.
Maximum match 6% of pay, level with McDonald's.
Maximum match 6% of pay, level with McDonald's.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Vests immediately too, like McDonald's.
Compare McDonald's Corporation with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Empower ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 18, 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 McDonald's Corporation's 401(k) match?
McDonald's Corporation matches 100% of employee contributions up to 6% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the McDonald's Corporation 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does McDonald's Corporation's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 3% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 6%; default investment: Age-appropriate target date fund (the Plan's qualified default investment alternatives are age-based target date funds).
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “McDonald's Corporation 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0001104659-26-075561, plan year ended 2025-12-31.