TEGNA INC 401(k) match: 4% max
TEGNA 401(k) Savings Plan · CIK 39899
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
4%
TEGNA INC matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 27, 2025 ↗, covering the plan year ended December 31, 2024. 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 TEGNA puts in, and what the plan costs
What TEGNA put into the plan, per active participant
$3,131
TEGNA INC put $3,131 into this plan for each of its 5,976 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.
TEGNA put in less per active participant than 59% of plans with 5,000+ participants in media, telecom and information. The middle plan in that group of 62 reported $3,707. Media, telecom and information comes from business code 515100, which TEGNA 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 TEGNA 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 160442930, plan 002 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $3,131 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. TEGNA INC also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2024: 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 measure different things, so neither one is the other one corrected.
What TEGNA puts in
$1,980
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“The employer's Safe Harbor match is 100% of the first 4% of compensation that a participant contributes.”
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
“All company contributions made after this date also become immediately 100% vested.”
Contributing unevenly through the year, or hitting the annual limit early, can cost the worker part of the match.
The same match paragraph, word for word
“The employer's Safe Harbor match is 100% of the first 4% of compensation that a participant contributes.”
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
$61.20 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 56% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is TEGNA's 401(k) match formula?
TEGNA's 401(k) employer match tops out at 4% of pay. The match is deposited each payroll and the plan pays no true-up. 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 |
| True-upA year-end recalculation that repays match lost to uneven contributions. | No true-up |
| Deposited | Each payroll |
| Paid in company stock | Yes |
| Other employer contribution | Sliding scale contributions to certain participants whose benefit under the Company's frozen (as of August 1, 2008) defined benefit plan satisfy certain service, age and other requirements; calculated as a percentage of compensation (specific rate not disclosed) |
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 employer's Safe Harbor match is 100% of the first 4% of compensation that a participant contributes.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 27, 2025, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What is TEGNA's 401(k) vesting schedule?
TEGNA 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 | Not disclosed in the filing |
| Other employer contributions | Company contributions (including sliding-scale contributions) made after January 1, 2018 become immediately 100% vested, per the same Safe Harbor plan design provision covering match vesting. |
Vesting, word for word
“All company contributions made after this date also become immediately 100% vested.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 27, 2025, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join TEGNA's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
TEGNA enrolls new hires automatically at 4% of pay, rising 1% a year to 10% of pay.
| Excluded groups | Certain collective bargaining agreements and personal service contracts may exclude or restrict some employees' participation in the Plan. Certain business units may also be determined to be ineligible for plan participation. |
|---|---|
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 4% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 10% |
Eligibility, word for word
“Certain collective bargaining agreements and personal service contracts may exclude or restrict some employees' participation in the Plan. Certain business units may also be determined to be ineligible for plan participation.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“This feature sets all eligible employees to be automatically enrolled at a pretax election of 4% of compensation (unless they decide to opt out) as of the earliest practicable payroll period after the enrollment date. The Plan also has automatic escalations. This annual feature sets all eligible employees to have their salary deferral election increased annually, each April 1st, by 1%, up to a maximum of 10% of compensation (unless they decide to elect a different auto-increase percentage or opt out).”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 27, 2025, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the TEGNA plan report on Form 5500?
The TEGNA plan reported $995.4M in assets and 10,097 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $995,406,171 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 10,097 |
| Recordkeeper | Fidelity Investments |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $61.20 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $61.20 per participant. The median across plans in media, telecom and information is $121.00, from the 1,035 of 1,108 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.
Tegna 401(k) Savings Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does TEGNA's 401(k) match compare?
TEGNA 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 media, telecom and information, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also in media, telecom and information.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also in media, telecom and information.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also in media, telecom and information.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Vests immediately too, like TEGNA.
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 27, 2025, 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 TEGNA INC's 401(k) match?
TEGNA Inc. matches 100% of employee contributions up to 4% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2024).
When does the TEGNA INC 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does TEGNA INC's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 4% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 10%.
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “TEGNA INC 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000950170-25-090746, plan year ended 2024-12-31.