The top companies in the world offer generous 401k employer matches in order to attract top talent and to encourage their employees to participate in their 401k plan.
What is 401k employer matching?
An employer match is an additional contribution made by an employer towards an employee’s 401k plan. Many employees consider it as free money on top of their regular compensations.
What is the average employer match?
The average employer match is between 4% and 6% of compensation.
What is considered a “good” match?
Anything above 5% of compensation is considered a good employer match. As you’ll see below, some companies offer employer matching up to 25% of compensation.
Of course, employees are bound by the 401k contribution limits set by the IRS each year, which is $23,000 ($30,500 if age 50+) in 2024. So the best plans usually result in around $3,000 to $10,000 in annual employer match contributions. Most of the top companies also offer immediate eligibility and vesting.
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Companies with the best 401k employer match plans
Making sense of the data below:
Each company below displays four data points: Type, Amount, Eligibility, and Vesting Period. If you’re unfamiliar with what they mean, here’s a brief explanation of each term.
TYPE: Employers can either match contributions through dollar-for-dollar (full match) or through a percentage of what employers contribute (partial match). Some companies also offer nonelective contributions where they’ll contribute to employees’ 401k plans even if employees don’t contribute anything themselves.
AMOUNT: The maximum amount that companies will contribute to an employee’s 401k through employer matches. While some companies will choose a specific dollar amount, most go with a percentage of compensation.
ELIGIBILITY: Some companies require employees to work for a certain period of time before being eligible for employer match contributions.
VESTING PERIOD: With immediate vesting, the funds employees receive through employer match contributions are immediately theirs. However, some companies have vesting periods of several years. If an employee leaves the company before the vesting period is over, then they’re only entitled to a portion of the funds received. For example, if a company has a vesting period of 4 years and an employee leaves the company after 2 years, they would be entitled to 50% of their 401k match funds.
Here are the companies with the highest 401k employer matches in 2023.
Company | Match | Type | Eligibility | Vesting |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blizzard | 25% of compensation | Full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Dollar General | 25% of compensation | Full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Uber | 10% of compensation | Full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Visa | 10% of compensation | 200% match | Immediately | Immediately |
Bosch USA | 9% of compensation | 75% partial match | Immediately | Immediately |
USAA | 4% of compensation | 200% match | Immediately | Immediately |
Samsung | 4.5% of compensation | Partial match | Immediately | Immediately |
Vimeo | 10% of compensation, max $10,000 | Full match | Immediately | 2 years |
Comcast | 6% of compensation | Full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Biogen | 6% of compensation | 200% match | Immediately | Immediately |
Amgen | 5% nonelective + 5% of compensation | Nonelective + full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Boeing | 5% nonelective + 8% of compensation | Nonelective + partial match | Immediately | Immediately |
Southwest Airlines | 9.3% of compensation | Full match | Immediately | Immediately |
BOK Financial | 6% of compensation | Full or partial match | Immediately | Immediately |
Farmers Insurance | 4% nonelective + 6% of compensation | Nonelective + full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Ultimate Software | Up to IRS contribution limit | 45% partial match | Immediately | Immediately |
AT&T | 6% of compensation | Partial or full match | 1 year of service | Immediately |
3M | 3% nonelective + 5% of compensation | Nonelective + full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Apple | 6% of compensation | Partial or full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Charles Schwab | 5% of compensation + $250 | Full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Starbucks | 5% of compensation | Full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Microsoft | Up to IRS contribution limit | 50% partial match. | Immediately | Immediately |
Walmart | 6% of compensation | Full match | 1 year of service | Immediately |
Accenture | 6% of compensation | Full match | Immediately | 2 years |
Amazon | 4% of compensation | 50% partial match | Immediately | 3 years or 3,000 hours |
Up to IRS limit, or $3,000 match | Full or partial match | Immediately | Immediately | |
Honeywell International | 7% of compensation | Partial match | 3 years of service | Immediately |
Adobe | 6% of compensation | Full match | 15 months of service | 2 years |
Netflix | 4% of compensation | Full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Meta (Facebook) | Up to 50% of IRS limit | Full match | Immediately | Immediately |
AECOM | 3% of compensation | 50% partial match | Immediately | 3 years |
Best Buy | 4% of compensation | Full + partial match | 12 months of service | Depends on role |
Black Rock | 8% of compensation up to $5,000 per year | Partial match | Immediately | 3 years |
Cisco | 4.5% of compensation | Full match | Immediately | Immediately |
Costco | Up to $500 per year if under one year of service. 3% to 9% match after 1,000 hours of service. | Partial match | 90 days of service | 5 years |
Blizzard
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 25% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Blizzard offers one of the highest employer matching contributions for their employees with full dollar-for-dollar matching up to 25% of employees’ compensations. All employees are immediately eligible for employer matching and 100% vested.
Dollar General
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 25% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately.
- Vesting period: Immediate.
Dollar General also offers full dollar-for-dollar employer matching contributions up to 25% of employee compensation, with immediate vesting.
Uber
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 10% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Uber offers one of the most generous 401k employer matches and has one of the simplest, cleanest structures as well. Employees get full employer matches dollar-for-dollar up to 10% of their compensation.
Visa
- Type: 200% match
- Amount: Up to 10% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Visa offers employees an incredible 200% employer match up to 10% of contributions. If employees contribute 5% of their compensation, Visa will contribute 10%.
Bosch USA
- Type: Partial match
- Amount: Up to 9% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Bosch USA offers employees a 75% company match on up to 9% of compensation.
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USAA
- Type: 200% match
- Amount: Up to 4% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
USAA offers one of the highest employer matches at 200% of employee contributions, up to a maximum of 8% of compensation. If employees contribute 4% of their compensation, USAA will contribute 8%.
Samsung
- Type: Full match and partial match
- Amount: Up to 4.5% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Samsung offers both full match and partial match employer matching contributions. The first 3% of contributions are matched dollar-for-dollar. The next 3% are 50% partial matched for a total of 4.5% in employer matching each year.
Vimeo
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 10% of compensation, max of $10,000 per year.
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: 2 years
Vimeo requires 2 years of vesting period, but offers a higher-than-most employer match at 10% of employee compensation. The maximum employees can receive per year is $10,000.
Comcast
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 6% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Comcast offers a simple dollar-for-dollar employer match up to 6% of compensation with immediate eligibility and vesting.
Biogen
- Type: 200% match
- Amount: Up to 6% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Biogen offers employees a 200% employer match up to 6% of contributions. If employees contribute 3% of their compensation, Biogen will contribute 6%.
Amgen
- Type: Nonelective + Full match
- Amount: Automatic nonelective contributions equal to 5% of compensation. Plus, full match on 5% of salary.
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Amgen is one of the few companies that offer nonelective contributions. Even if employees don’t contribute to their accounts, Amgen will contribute 5% of employees’ salaries into their 401k each year. Additionally, they also offer full match contributions up to 5% of compensation. The total maximum amount in employer match is 10% each year.
Boeing
- Type: Nonelective + Partial match
- Amount: Automatic nonelective contributions equal to 3% to 5% of compensation. Plus, partial match of 75% up to 8% of compensation.
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Boeing also provides nonelective contributions to employees’ 401k plans. Even if they don’t contribute at all, Boeing will still contribute 3% to 5% of employees’ salaries into their 401k. If employees do make contributions to their 401k, Boeing provides a 75% partial match up to 8% of compensation.
Southwest Airlines
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 9.3% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Noticing a pattern? Airlines have great 401k programs. Southwest Airlines offers one of the cleanest, simplest structures for their 401k employer match contributions. Employees can receive dollar-for-dollar matching up to 9.3% of their eligible compensation with immediate vesting and eligibility.
BOK Financial
- Type: Full match or partial match depending on length of employment.
- Amount: Full match up to 6% of compensation. Ranges between 50% of compensation all the way to 200% of compensation.
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
BOK Financial offers a very unique 401k employer match structure for their employees. All employees receive 401k employer matches of 6% of their compensation. Depending on the length of time employed by the company, the partial match percentage can quadruple. Employees who worked under 4 years at BOK receive a 50% partial match. Employees who worked 4-10 years receive a full dollar for dollar match. Employees who worked 10-14 years receive 150% employer match. And employees who worked over 15 years at BOK receive a 200% match.
Farmers Insurance
- Type: Nonelective + full match
- Amount: Automatic nonelective contributions equal to 4% of eligible compensation. Plus, full match up to 6% of compensation.
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Farmers Insurance provides up to 10% 401k employer matching. They contribute 4% automatically as a base match through nonelective contributions. Additionally, they also offer a full dollar-for-dollar match up to 6% of compensation.
Ultimate Software
- Type: Partial match of 45%.
- Amount: Up to the IRS contribution limit.
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
It’s rare for a company not to set a cap on the amount of employer 401k contribution matching. Ultimate Software offers employees a 45% partial match up to the yearly contribution limits set by the IRS. While it may sound lucrative, the total amounts to around $10,000 per year. The total matching contributions are on par with other companies ranking in this list.
AT&T
- Type: Partial match or full match
- Amount: Up to 6% of compensation
- Eligibility: After 12 months of service.
- Vesting period: Immediately
Employees at AT&T who have worked for at least one year can start receiving an 80% partial match to their 401k plans. However, it appears that they offer full match once you get promoted to a managerial position. Managers at AT&T have reported that they receive dollar-for-dollar matches up to 6% of compensation.
3M
- Type: Nonelective + Full match
- Amount: Up to 8% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
3M offers employees a nonelective base contribution of 3% of compensation for all employees. In additional, they also offer dollar-for-dollar matching up to 5% of compensation.
Apple
- Type: Partial match or full match, depending on length of employment
- Amount: Up to 6% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Apple offers a 50% partial employer match for employees with under 2 years of service. Employees with 2-5 years of service receive 75%, employees with more than 5 years of service receive a full dollar-for-dollar match up to 6% of compensation.
Charles Schwab
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 5% of compensation + $250
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Charles Schwab will first contribute $250 to your 401k when you contribute your first $1 into your plan. Additionally, they also offer full match contributions up to 5% of compensation.
Starbucks
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 5% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Starbucks offers a simple employer match structure. They’ll match employee contributions dollar-for-dollar up to 5% of compensation.
Microsoft
- Type: Partial match of 50%.
- Amount: Up to the IRS contribution limit for employees.
- Eligibility: Immediately upon starting employment.
- Vesting period: Immediate.
Microsoft doesn’t set a cap on employer matched contributions. Instead, they offer 50% partial matches up to the IRS contribution limit for the year. When employees maximize their contributions, the total amount received from employer matching is usually around the range of $10,000 per year.
Walmart
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 6% of compensation
- Eligibility: After one year of service
- Vesting period: Immediately after becoming eligible for employer matching.
Walmart requires that employees work at least for one year at the company before becoming eligible for employer matching. After a year, employees can start receiving full match contributions up to 6% of their salary with immediate vesting.
Accenture
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 6% of compensation.
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: 2 years
Accenture has a longer vesting period of 2 years, but immediate eligibility for employees to start receiving employer matches to their 401k. Employees can receive full match contributions up to 6% of their eligible compensation.
Amazon
- Type: Partial match of 50%.
- Amount: Up to 4% of compensation.
- Eligibility: Immediately upon starting employment.
- Vesting period: three years, or 3,000 hours of service.
Amazon employees can immediately start receiving 50% matches to their 401k plan up to 4% of their compensation. However, the vesting period lasts 3 years or 3,000 hours of service, whichever comes first.
- Type: Full match or partial match of 50%.
- Amount: The greater of 100% of employee contributions up to $3,000, or 50% partial match up to the IRS contribution limit.
- Eligibility: Immediately upon starting employment.
- Vesting period: Immediate.
Google employees can either receive 100% of dollar-for-dollar matched contributions up to $3,000, or 50% matches up to the IRS contribution limit. If employees want to maximize their company 401k contributions, they can receive a larger employer match. Google also sets a fair structure for those who wish to invest their money elsewhere by offering dollar-for-dollar matching up to $3,000 per year.
Honeywell International
- Type: Partial match of 87.5%.
- Amount: Up to 7% of compensation
- Eligibility: After 3 years of service
- Vesting period: Immediately after becoming eligible for employer matching.
While the employer match amount is slightly higher than the average company in this list at 7% of compensation, Honeywell requires employees to work for 3 years before becoming eligible for receiving employer match contributions.
Adobe
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 6% of compensation
- Eligibility: After 15 months of service
- Vesting period: 2 years
Most large tech companies have immediate eligibility, but Adobe requires at least 15 months of service before employees can start receiving employer match contributions. Vesting period is longer than most as well at 2 years. However, once employees become eligible they can start receiving full dollar-for-dollar matches to their 401k up to 6% of their compensation.
Netflix
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 4% of compensation
- Eligibility: Immediately
- Vesting period: Immediately
Not the highest employer match, but a very simple structure that employees appreciate. Netflix offers dollar-for-dollar matching up to 4% of compensation with no vesting period and immediate eligibility.
Meta (Facebook)
- Type: Full match
- Amount: Up to 50% of the IRS contribution limit for employees.
- Eligibility: Immediately upon starting employment.
- Vesting period: Immediate.
Meta provides full employer matching up to 50% of the IRS contribution limit for the year. All employees are eligible for employer matching immediately upon employment and are 100% vested.
AECOM
- Type: Partial match
- Amount: Up to 50% of the first 6% of eligible compensation you contribute.
- Eligibility: Immediately upon starting employment.
- Vesting period: 3 years.
AECOM offers their employers a 50% match on the first 6% of eligible contributions made to their 401k, whether it’s to pre-tax or Roth. All employees, including part-time and temporary employees are immediately eligible for participation, but vesting requires 3 years services.
Best Buy
- Type: Full + Partial match
- Amount: 100% match up to 3% of compensation, then 50% up to 5% of compensation.
- Eligibility: Immediately upon starting employment.
- Vesting period: Depends
Best Buy doesn’t offer a consistent 401k match program for all of its employees and it depends on the role, time of service, and whether you work full-time or part-time.
Black Rock
- Type: Partial match
- Amount: 50% match up to 8% of compensation, up to a maximum of $5,000 per plan year.
- Eligibility: Immediately upon starting employment.
- Vesting period: 3 years
Black Rock offers their employees a 50% up to 8% of their compensation, up to a maximum of $5,000 per plan year. All employees are immediately eligible to start participating in the 401k match program, but it takes 3 years for it vest.
Cisco
- Type: Full match
- Amount: 100% match up to 4.5% of compensation.
- Eligibility: Immediately upon starting employment.
- Vesting period: Immediate
Cisco employees receive 100% match up to 4.5% of compensation and employees have expressed that they’re satisfied with the company’s retirement plan. They’re one of the few companies that offer immediate vesting of 401k match funds, and all employees are allowed to participate in the program at the start of their employment. Cisco takes it further to make participation in the program easy by implementing automatic enrolment for new hires.
Costco
- Type: Partial match
- Amount: $500 per year if not in California, $250 per year if in California. 3% to 9% match after 1,000 hours of service (equivalent to one year of service).
- Eligibility: After 90 days of service for $500 and $250 matches. 1,000 hours of service to receive 3% to 9% matches.
- Vesting period: 5 years
Costco doesn’t offer the best 401k match program out of the gate. You need to work at least one year before you get full match benefits. New employees can join the 401k match program after 90 days of service, but they’ll only get up to $500 per year if not in California, and up to $250 as a California Union employee. After 1,000 hours of service, which is equivalent to one year full-time at the company, employees receive discretionary contributions of 3% to 9% of compensation depending on their years of service. For all employees, it takes 5 years to fully vest.
Additional resources
- If you have a side hustle in addition to your day job, you can open a solo 401k plan and contribute more money for retirement.
- Learn more about solo 401k contribution limits and deadlines.
- If you’re interested in opening a solo 401k, compare the best plan providers.
- Learn more about the Carry Solo 401k.
FREE PDF DOWNLOAD
The Solo 401k Handbook
Everything you need to know in a handy ebook format.