Paychex, Inc. 401(k) match: 4% max
Paychex, Inc. 401(k) Incentive Retirement Plan · PAYX · CIK 723531
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
4%
Paychex, Inc. matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 12, 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 · what it used to be · when the money becomes yours · who can join · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What Paychex puts in, and what the plan costs
What Paychex put into the plan, per active participant
$2,484
Paychex, Inc. put $2,484 into this plan for each of its 15,000 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.
Paychex put in less per active participant than 60% of plans with 5,000+ participants at law, consulting and engineering firms. The middle plan in that group of 168 reported $2,987. Law, consulting and engineering comes from business code 541214, which Paychex 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.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
What this figure cannot separate: how much Paychex 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 161124166, plan 001 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $2,484 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Paychex, Inc. also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $1,980 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 Paychex puts in
$1,980
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“The Company provides a matching contribution in the amount of 100% of the first 3% and 50% on the next 2% of eligible pay that an employee contributes to the Plan for a total matching contribution of 4%. Effective January 1, 2026, the Company's matching contribution is in the amount of 100% of the first 4% of eligible pay that an employee contributes to the Plan. The Company may also elect to make an additional discretionary contribution to the Plan but has not done so for 2025 and 2024.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 4% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $1,980 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 fully vested as to their elective contributions, rollover contributions, and company matching contributions, as well as any earnings or losses on those amounts. Within the ESOP Fund, dividends received are fully vested, regardless of years of service.”
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
“Eligible Employees: All new employees of the Company and its participating subsidiaries are eligible to participate in the salary deferral portion of the Plan immediately. Employees must be employed for one year in which a minimum of 1,000 hours have been worked to be eligible to receive a Company matching contribution, when such matching contribution is in effect.”
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
22nd percentile
$27.96 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, cheaper than 79% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Paychex's 401(k) match formula?
Paychex's 401(k) employer match tops out at 4% 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 4% of pay |
|---|---|
| Maximum employer match | 4% of compensation |
| Conditions | Match eligibility requires one year of employment with at least 1,000 hours worked; catch-up contributions are included in the match calculation if the employee's regular contribution is less than the allowable percentage of eligible pay |
| Current formula effective | January 1, 2026 |
| Other employer contribution | The Company may elect to make an additional discretionary contribution to the Plan but has not done so for 2025 and 2024 |
At a $90,000 salary, contributing 4% ($3,600) earns the full employer match of $3,600 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“The Company provides a matching contribution in the amount of 100% of the first 3% and 50% on the next 2% of eligible pay that an employee contributes to the Plan for a total matching contribution of 4%. Effective January 1, 2026, the Company's matching contribution is in the amount of 100% of the first 4% of eligible pay that an employee contributes to the Plan. The Company may also elect to make an additional discretionary contribution to the Plan but has not done so for 2025 and 2024.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 12, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What did Paychex's 401(k) match used to be?
Paychex changed its 401(k) match on January 1, 2026. The formula in force now is 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay.
| Since January 1, 2026 | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay |
|---|---|
| Before | For the 2025 plan year the matching contribution was 100% of the first 3% and 50% of the next 2% of eligible pay, for a total matching contribution of 4%; effective January 1, 2026 the formula became 100% of the first 4% of eligible pay |
What is Paychex's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Paychex 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 | Dividends received within the ESOP Fund are fully vested regardless of years of service |
Vesting, word for word
“Vesting: Participants are fully vested as to their elective contributions, rollover contributions, and company matching contributions, as well as any earnings or losses on those amounts. Within the ESOP Fund, dividends received are fully vested, regardless of years of service.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 12, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Paychex's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Paychex's filing does not mention automatic enrollment, which is not the same as the plan having none.
| Plan entry | All new employees of the Company and its participating subsidiaries may participate in the salary deferral portion immediately |
|---|---|
| Match eligibility | Employed for one year in which a minimum of 1,000 hours have been worked |
| Automatic enrollment | Not mentioned in the filing (not proof of absence) |
Eligibility, word for word
“Eligible Employees: All new employees of the Company and its participating subsidiaries are eligible to participate in the salary deferral portion of the Plan immediately. Employees must be employed for one year in which a minimum of 1,000 hours have been worked to be eligible to receive a Company matching contribution, when such matching contribution is in effect.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 12, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Paychex plan report on Form 5500?
The Paychex plan reported $2.3B in assets and 19,991 participants for plan year 2024.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
| Plan named in the DOL record | Paychex, Inc. 401(k) Incentive Retirement Plan |
|---|---|
| Total plan assets | $2,259,114,984 |
| Participants | 19,991 |
| Recordkeeper | Fidelity Investments |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $27.96 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $27.96 per participant. The median across plans at law, consulting and engineering firms is $152.18, from the 7,159 of 7,635 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
The plan reports Fidelity Investments as its recordkeeper, one of 10,593 plans it runs in the data we publish. Of those, the 10,022 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $97.71 per participant.
How does Paychex's 401(k) match compare?
Paychex, Inc.'s maximum 401(k) match of 4% 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 law, consulting and engineering firms, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Also at law, consulting and engineering firms.
Maximum match 4.5% of pay. Also at law, consulting and engineering firms.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also at law, consulting and engineering firms.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Vests immediately too, like Paychex.
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 12, 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 Paychex, Inc.'s 401(k) match?
Paychex, Inc. matches 100% of employee contributions up to 4% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the Paychex, Inc. 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does Paychex, Inc.'s 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Not mentioned in the filing (not proof of absence).
Did Paychex, Inc. change its 401(k) match?
Yes. For the 2025 plan year the matching contribution was 100% of the first 3% and 50% of the next 2% of eligible pay, for a total matching contribution of 4%; effective January 1, 2026 the formula became 100% of the first 4% of eligible pay The current terms took effect January 1, 2026.
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “Paychex, Inc. 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0001193125-26-269509, plan year ended 2025-12-31.