How 401(k) matching works

For every dollar you put into the plan, up to some limit, the company puts in a dollar, or fifty cents, or occasionally three dollars. The exact terms live in the plan document, and for public companies whose plan offers company stock, in an annual SEC filing called a Form 11-K. That filing is where every number on this page comes from, with the source sentence quoted on each company’s page.

Single tier: one rate up to one limit. Citigroup matches 100% of contributions up to 6% of eligible pay: put in 6%, the bank puts in 6%. Wells Fargo discloses the same headline rate, but with fine print: matching starts after one year of service, and the match is deposited once a year, generally only if you’re still employed on December 15. Same formula, different deal.

Tiered: the rate steps down as you contribute more. Coca-Cola matches 100% of your first 1% of pay, then 50% of the next 5%: a maximum of 3.5% of pay, collected by contributing 6%. Deere runs the steepest formula in our data: 300% of the first 2% plus 100% of the next 4%, so a 6% contribution triggers an employer deposit worth 10% of pay.

Threshold: all or nothing at a set contribution rate. Exxon Mobil contributes 7% of pay for employees who contribute at least 6% themselves. Below 6%, no match; above 6%, no extra.

Dollar-capped or discretionary: the ceiling is a dollar figure, or the board decides each year. Costco matches the lesser of 50% of your deferrals or $500 a year. Publix’s match is set annually by its board; for 2025 it approved 50% of contributions up to 3% of pay, capped at $750 per person.

And one company can have no match at all: IBM ended its 401(k) contributions effective January 1, 2024, moving employer money into a cash-balance account inside its pension plan instead.

Every formula above has the same mechanic: the employer’s money only appears on contributions you actually make. At Coca-Cola, someone earning $60,000 who contributes 6% ($3,600) triggers the full employer deposit of $2,100 a year. The same person contributing 1% triggers just $600; the other $1,500 the formula offers is simply never paid.

Most plans compute the match paycheck by paycheck. If your contributions are uneven (you front-load early in the year, or hit the IRS annual limit in October), some paychecks have no contribution to match, and the yearly total comes up short. A true-up fixes that: after year-end the plan recomputes the match on annual figures and deposits the difference. In our data Bank of America, Capital One, Intel, McDonald’s and Walmart all disclose one. In a plan without a true-up, the timing of your contributions changes how much match you receive.