State and Local Government Pension Plans

There are over 3,400 state and local pension systems in the United States, according to the most recent Census Bureau Survey of State and Local Public-Employee Retirement Systems. Most large plans are state plans, and more state and local employees are covered by state-administered plans than by locally-administered plans (about 24 million members and beneficiaries compared with about 3 million). However, there are more local government employees than state government employees (about 14 million compared with about 5 million), and while local governments sometimes participate in plans administered by states, the local governments generally retain responsibility for contributing the employer's share of funding to the plans for their employees. As a result, local governments contribute more to pension plans each state fiscal year, overall, than do state governments.