401(k) Monitor

PepsiCo, Inc. 401(k) match: 4% max

The PepsiCo Savings Plan · PEP · CIK 77476

Maximum employer match, as a share of pay

4%

PepsiCo, Inc. matches 50% of the first 8% 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 PepsiCo puts in, and what the plan costs

What PepsiCo put into the plan, per active participant

$3,078

PepsiCo, Inc. put $3,078 into this plan for each of its 134,629 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.

0 · least per person100 · most per person

PepsiCo put in more per active participant than 54% of plans with 5,000+ participants in food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing. The middle plan in that group of 72 reported $2,804. Food, beverage and tobacco comes from business code 311400, which PepsiCo 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 PepsiCo 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 131584302, plan 203 · DOL EFAST2

The $3,078 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. PepsiCo, 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 PepsiCo puts in

$1,980

a year, at a $49,500 salary.

The match paragraph, word for word
In general, for eligible employees, the Company matches 50% of employee contributions up to a limit ranging from 4% to 8% of eligible pay based on years of service, which is invested in accordance with employee elections. Company non-matching contributions are based on age and years of service regardless of employee contribution, up to a maximum of 9% of eligible employee pay. Company non-matching contributions are invested in accordance with the employee's investment elections; however, they may not be invested in the self-directed brokerage option or the PepsiCo Common Stock Fund. Certain eligible hourly employees who are participants in a Company-sponsored defined benefit plan will receive Company non-matching contributions ranging from 6% to 8% of eligible pay above a certain threshold depending on years of service. Eligible union employees may receive different Company matching and other Company contribution amounts.

What you contribute to collect all of it

Contribute at least 8% of your pay to collect the full match.

That is $3,960 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 4% 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.

Vesting scheduleCliff, 3 years

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
Participants are immediately vested in their own contributions and associated investment earnings/losses. In general, participants are fully vested in the Company contributions and associated investment earnings/losses 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.

The formula, the six-year window and a worked example

What the plan costs, against plans of its size

8th percentile

$11.58 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, cheaper than 92% of plans with 5,000+ participants.

What is PepsiCo's 401(k) match formula?

PepsiCo'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 formula50% of the first 8% of pay
Maximum employer match4% of compensation
Paid in company stockNo, paid in cash or per your investment elections
ConditionsThe matched limit ranges from 4% to 8% of eligible pay based on years of service. Salaried employees actively accruing benefits (or in a waiting period to accrue benefits) under a Company-sponsored defined benefit pension plan were not eligible for Company matching or non-matching contributions; those pension benefits were frozen effective December 31, 2025 and such employees became eligible for matching and non-matching contributions as of January 1, 2026. Eligible union employees may receive different Company matching and other Company contribution amounts.
Other employer contributionCompany non-matching contributions based on age and years of service regardless of employee contribution, up to a maximum of 9% of eligible employee pay (may not be invested in the self-directed brokerage option or the PepsiCo Common Stock Fund)
Other employer contributionCertain eligible hourly employees who are participants in a Company-sponsored defined benefit plan receive Company non-matching contributions ranging from 6% to 8% of eligible pay above a certain threshold depending on years of service

At a $45,000 salary, contributing 8% ($3,600) earns the full employer match of $1,800 for the year.

PepsiCo appears in our match-change tracker. We keep a dated page for it: PepsiCo widened 401(k) match eligibility, effective January 1, 2026.

What the filing says, word for word
In general, for eligible employees, the Company matches 50% of employee contributions up to a limit ranging from 4% to 8% of eligible pay based on years of service, which is invested in accordance with employee elections. Company non-matching contributions are based on age and years of service regardless of employee contribution, up to a maximum of 9% of eligible employee pay. Company non-matching contributions are invested in accordance with the employee's investment elections; however, they may not be invested in the self-directed brokerage option or the PepsiCo Common Stock Fund. Certain eligible hourly employees who are participants in a Company-sponsored defined benefit plan will receive Company non-matching contributions ranging from 6% to 8% of eligible pay above a certain threshold depending on years of service. Eligible union employees may receive different Company matching and other Company contribution amounts.

Source: Form 11-K filed June 18, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC

What is PepsiCo's 401(k) vesting schedule?

PepsiCo 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 vestingCliff: 100% vested after 3 years of service
Your own contributionsImmediate: always 100% yours
Accelerated vestingIn the event the Plan is terminated, participants would become 100% vested in any Company contributions
Other employer contributionsCompany non-matching contributions are also fully vested after three years of service (all Company contributions vest after three years)
Vesting, word for word
Participants are immediately vested in their own contributions and associated investment earnings/losses. In general, participants are fully vested in the Company contributions and associated investment earnings/losses after three years of service.

Source: Form 11-K filed June 18, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC

Who can join PepsiCo's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?

PepsiCo enrolls new hires automatically at 4% of pay.

Plan entryFull-time eligible employees paid in U.S. dollars from a U.S. payroll are immediately eligible on their first day of service; part-time eligible employees after 1,000 hours of service during a 12-month period, or two consecutive 12-month periods of at least 500 hours of service
Match eligibilitySalaried employees actively accruing benefits, or in a waiting period to accrue benefits, under a Company-sponsored defined benefit pension plan were not eligible for Company matching or non-matching contributions (eligible as of January 1, 2026 following the pension freeze)
Excluded groupsCertain employees who are part of a collective bargaining unit and certain other employees, as defined in the Plan document
Automatic enrollmentYes: default deferral 4% of pay; default investment: Target date fund based on a target date closest to the employee's 65th birthday
Eligibility, word for word
All eligible employees who are paid in U.S. dollars from a U.S. payroll and classified as full time, and certain other employees as defined in the Plan document, are immediately eligible on their first day of service. Part-time eligible employees who are paid in U.S. dollars from a U.S. payroll who have completed 1,000 hours of service during a 12-month period are eligible to participate in the Plan. Part-time eligible employees who have completed two consecutive 12-month periods of at least 500 hours of service are eligible to participate in the Plan. Certain employees who are part of a collective bargaining unit and certain other employees, as defined in the Plan document, are not eligible to participate in the Plan.
Automatic enrollment, word for word
The Plan has an automatic enrollment program for full-time and part-time hires. Under the program, eligible employees automatically make pre-tax contributions in the amount of 4% to 10% of earnings. Employees that are automatically enrolled have their contribution invested in a target date fund, based on a target date closest to the employee's 65th birthday. An employee may elect out of the automatic enrollment program at any time, as well as make changes to (or maintain) the level of contributions and may re-direct how those contributions are invested.

Source: Form 11-K filed June 18, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC

What does the PepsiCo plan report on Form 5500?

The PepsiCo plan reported $14.9B in assets and 174,823 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.

DOL Form 5500 filing for plan year 2024, EIN 131584302, plan 203.
Plan named in the DOL recordThe PepsiCo Savings Plan
Total plan assets$14,936,950,700
Participants174,823
RecordkeeperFidelity Invts. Instl. Ops. Co LLC
Plan-paid admin cost per participant$11.58

How that cost compares

This plan pays $11.58 per participant. The median across plans in food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing is $108.05, from the 1,292 of 1,356 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.

The PepsiCo Savings Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials

How does PepsiCo's 401(k) match compare?

PepsiCo, 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 in food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing, two land near PepsiCo's maximum match and one vests on the same schedule.

Kraft Heinz

Maximum match 4% of pay. Also in food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing.

Brown-Forman

Maximum match 5% of pay. Also in food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing.

Campbell's

Maximum match 4% of pay. Also in food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing.

Paychex

Maximum match 4% of pay, level with PepsiCo.

Prudential Financial

Maximum match 4% of pay, level with PepsiCo.

Morgan Stanley

Maximum match 5% of pay. Same 3-year cliff as PepsiCo.

Compare PepsiCo, Inc. with any company, side by side

What can you do next?

Check your own balance and contribution rate at Fidelity NetBenefits, the recordkeeper this plan reports.

Questions this filing answers

What is PepsiCo, Inc.'s 401(k) match?

PepsiCo, Inc. matches 50% of employee contributions up to 8% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).

When does the PepsiCo, Inc. 401(k) match vest?

Cliff: 100% vested after 3 years of service.

Does PepsiCo, Inc.'s 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?

Yes: default deferral 4% of pay; default investment: Target date fund based on a target date closest to the employee's 65th birthday.

Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “PepsiCo, Inc. 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000077476-26-000030, plan year ended 2025-12-31.