Pharmaceuticals and chemicals 401(k) plans
The median 401(k) plan in pharmaceuticals and chemicals paid $128.47 per participant per year in plan-paid administrative fees, computed from 870 of the 942 pharmaceuticals and chemicals plans published here, form year 2024.
Computed from DOL EFAST2 Form 5500 bulk data, not surveys. The 57,824 plans published so far are a subset of the 57,824 large plans in the form-year-2024 data, so this median describes the published subset, not the whole industry.
$128.47
Median plan-paid administrative cost per participant per year among 870 pharmaceuticals and chemicals plans with usable fee data, form year 2024.
$6.30 above the $122.17 median across all published plans.
How do pharmaceuticals and chemicals 401(k) fees compare?
Plan size drives fees more than industry does: bigger plans pay less per head. See median fees by plan size before reading an industry gap as an industry effect.
52 of the biggest pharmaceuticals and chemicals 401(k) plans
| Plan | Sponsor | Active participants | Assets | Fee ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Sherwin-Williams Company 401(k) Plan | The Sherwin-Williams Company | 47,319 | $10.6B | 41.66 |
| Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan | Abbott Laboratories | 38,001 | $15.8B | n/a |
| The Procter & Gamble Savings Plan | The Procter & Gamble Company | 30,424 | $5.4B | 72.35 |
| Pfizer Savings Plan | Pfizer Inc. | 29,469 | $22.0B | 158.34 |
| Merck US Savings Plan | Merck & Co., Inc. | 29,178 | $15.0B | 3.06 |
| AbbVie Savings Plan | AbbVie Inc. | 28,506 | $13.4B | 112.83 |
| The Lilly Employee 401(k) Plan | Eli Lilly And Company | 21,803 | $13.1B | 60.93 |
| U.S. Roche 401(k) Savings Plan | Genentech, Inc. | 21,619 | $14.3B | 34.90 |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Savings And Investment Program | Bristol-Myers Squibb Company | 20,913 | $11.6B | n/a |
| Ecolab Savings Plan And ESOP | Ecolab Inc. | 19,704 | $4.2B | 43.76 |
| CSLB Holdings Inc. 401(k) Plan | CSLB Holdings Inc. | 19,635 | $1.2B | 37.44 |
| AstraZeneca Savings And Security Plan | AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Lp | 17,843 | $8.6B | 19.45 |
| Bayer Corporation Savings And Retirement Plan | Bayer Corporation | 17,218 | $10.8B | 82.65 |
| The Dow Chemical Company Employees' Savings Plan | The Dow Chemical Company | 17,215 | $10.8B | 45.15 |
| Amgen Retirement And Savings Plan | Amgen Inc. | 14,965 | $7.7B | 484.62 |
| Sanofi U.S. Group Savings Plan | Sanofi-Aventis US LLC | 13,179 | $8.5B | 37.50 |
| GSK 401(k) Plan | Glaxosmithkline LLC | 12,254 | $8.8B | 340.68 |
| Valvoline 401(k) Plan | Valvoline Inc. | 12,249 | $318.8M | 38.22 |
| Novartis Corporation Investment Savings Plan | Novartis Corporation | 11,986 | $9.9B | 7.61 |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 401(k) Savings Plan | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 11,960 | $2.6B | 42.71 |
| Ppg Industries, Inc. Employee Savings Plan | Ppg Industries, Inc. | 11,668 | $4.3B | 143.19 |
| Basf Corporation Retirement Savings Plan | Basf Corporation | 11,393 | $6.3B | n/a |
| Linde Retirement Savings Plan | Linde Inc. | 11,323 | $2.9B | 44.36 |
| Gilead Sciences 401(k) Plan | Gilead Sciences, Inc. | 10,903 | $4.3B | 9.12 |
| Westlake Savings Plan | Westlake Management Services, Inc. | 10,686 | $2.0B | 125.09 |
| Eastman Investment & Employee Stock Ownership Plan | Eastman Chemical Company | 10,253 | $3.5B | 39.91 |
| Rpm International Inc. 401(k) Trust And Plan | Rpm International Inc. | 9,590 | $1.4B | 54.21 |
| Retirement Savings Plan | Corteva Agriscience, LLC | 9,508 | $7.0B | 41.58 |
| Simplot Retirement Savings Plan | J.R. Simplot Company | 9,014 | $1.6B | 85.99 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation & Its Affiliates Retirement Savings Plan | Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation | 8,966 | $3.1B | n/a |
| L'Oreal USA, Inc. Employee Retirement Savings Plan | L'Oreal USA, Inc. | 8,887 | $2.0B | 52.01 |
| Novo Nordisk Inc. 401(k) Savings Plan | Novo Nordisk Inc. | 8,783 | $2.5B | 87.41 |
| Catalent Pharma Solutions, Inc. 401(k) Plan | Catalent Pharma Solutions, Inc. | 8,355 | $870.8M | 0.91 |
| Henkel 401(k) And Defined Contribution Plan | Henkel Of America, Inc. | 6,972 | $2.4B | 54.47 |
| Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. Retirement Savings Plan | Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. | 6,914 | $2.7B | 50.11 |
| Zoetis Savings Plan | Zoetis Inc. | 6,788 | $1.9B | 58.78 |
| Olin Corporation Retirement Savings Plan | Olin Corporation | 6,731 | $1.4B | 115.19 |
| Unicare Savings Plan | Unilever United States, Inc. | 6,410 | $2.1B | 50.33 |
| Syensqo USA 401(k) Plan | Syensqo USA LLC | 6,393 | $1.7B | 57.77 |
| Colgate-Palmolive Company Employees Savings & Investment Plan | Colgate-Palmolive Company | 6,041 | $3.3B | 375.65 |
| The Clorox Company 401(k) Plan | The Clorox Company | 5,521 | $2.3B | 140.36 |
| Veralto Corporation & Subsidiaries Savings Plan | Veralto Corporation | 5,508 | $1.2B | 125.30 |
| International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. Retirement Investment Fund Plan | International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. | 5,363 | $979.7M | 122.79 |
| Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc. Retirement Savings Plan | Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc. | 5,266 | $810.6M | 119.33 |
| The Lonza US Savings Plan | Lonza USA Inc. | 5,125 | $1.2B | 75.93 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals Retirement Savings Plan | Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 5,037 | $2.3B | 89.28 |
| Chevron Phillips Chemical Company Lp 401(k) Savings And Profit Sharing Plan | Chevron Phillips Chemical Company Lp | 4,981 | $1.9B | 242.69 |
| Ineos Retirement Savings Plan | Ineos USA, LLC. | 4,979 | $1.4B | 33.55 |
| The Savings Investment Plan For Employees Of Reckitt Benckiser LLC | Reckitt Benckiser LLC | 4,929 | $1.3B | 36.06 |
| Perrigo Company Profit-Sharing And Investment Plan | Perrigo Company | 4,775 | $1.0B | 56.79 |
| Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. Savings Plan | Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. | 4,755 | $454.6M | 90.85 |
| Evonik Corporation 401(k) Savings Plan | Evonik Corporation | 4,694 | $1.5B | 196.38 |
All 942 pharmaceuticals and chemicals plans on file are listed below by size, and every one of them is searchable from the home page.
Every Pharmaceuticals and chemicals plan, by size
The table above is the top of the list. These 6 pages hold all 942 plans on file in pharmaceuticals and chemicals, split by how many people are in them, each ranked by active participants.
- 100 to 499 participants · 576 plans
- 500 to 999 participants · 136 plans
- 1,000 to 4,999 participants · 164 plans
- 5,000 or more participants · 66 plans
Which pharmaceuticals and chemicals companies disclose their 401(k) match?
For these 13 employers we also read the SEC Form 11-K and extracted the match terms, matched to this industry by the plan’s EIN.
- Abbott Laboratories
5% of pay if you contribute at least 2%
- AbbVie Inc.
100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay
- Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
50% of the first 6% of pay
- Amgen Inc.
100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 5% of pay
- Balchem Corporation
100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay
- Colgate-Palmolive Company
A rate set at the sponsor's discretion on the first 6% of pay (partly disclosed)
- Dow Inc.
100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay, then 50% of the next 2% of pay
- Eli Lilly and Company
100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay
- INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS & FRAGRANCES INC
100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay
- Linde plc
100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 5% of pay
- Merck & Co., Inc.
75% of the first 6% of pay
- The Clorox Company
100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay
Which employers count as pharmaceuticals and chemicals here?
Chemical manufacturing (codes 325100 to 325998), which includes pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing (325410). Sponsors here include Novo Nordisk, Novartis and Procter & Gamble.
The code is the IRS principal business activity code the sponsor itself puts on Form 5500, line 2d. Medians count only plans whose Schedule H shows a positive plan-paid administrative expense (870 of 942 plans here). Plan-paid expenses exclude fund expense ratios and employer-paid bills, so every figure is a floor, not the all-in cost. Latest filing in this group received by the DOL July 23, 2026; source dataset last refreshed July 28, 2026. Full methodology
Cite this page
401(k) Monitor, “Pharmaceuticals and chemicals 401(k) plans: median plan-paid administrative cost per participant”, computed from DOL EFAST2 Form 5500 bulk data, form year 2024.