Department of Labor filing
Spot something wrong?Costco 401(k) plan
2 retirement plans combined · For the plan year ended Dec 31, 2025
Legal plan sponsor: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
Latest public filing 2025 · received Jul 23, 2026Current benefit source Costco 401(k) Retirement Plan — 2025 Form 11-K · dated Dec 31, 2025
Plan summary
Start with the match, vesting, and fees
Fair
This looks fair based on reviewed current plan terms. We have 6 of 7 key current terms documented. Keep checking the source links because plan rules can change.
Why: The employer contribution is documented. Check the vesting schedule before comparing offers. The latest filing also shows more employer money than most similar plans.
55Benefit score
from current terms
from current terms
6/7Strong current-term coverage
documented
documented
See what drives the benefit quality score
This separate score uses reviewed current terms only. It requires the employer contribution plus at least three other documented benefit measures. Missing terms are excluded, not treated as poor benefits.
For most eligible employees, Costco matches 50% of contributions, capped at $500 per year.
Check the source ↓Based on the published formula. Eligibility and annual limits can change the amount.
Your own contributions are always yours.
Some administration, recordkeeping, investment-management, and transaction costs are paid by the plan, and some are charged to participant accounts.
Employees can choose from the plan's investment options.
Employees age 18 or older can generally begin contributing after completing 90 days of service within 12 consecutive months.
Newly eligible employees are enrolled at 4% of pay unless they opt out or choose another rate.
Roth availability matters if you want after-tax contributions inside the workplace plan.
Up 6.2% over the filing history shown.
Participation up 10.0% · assets up 24.0% · loans 1.5% of assets
Current terms to confirm: Roth availability
These details are often kept in employee-only plan documents. We show them when there is a dated source clear enough to trust.
Before you enroll: confirm the match, vesting schedule, waiting period, and fees in the current plan documents. The filing history shows how the plan itself has changed.
Keep in mind: public filings do not show your personal investment returns. Missing information does not count against the plan. The documents supporting the current terms are linked below.
Need the raw filing detail?
The key takeaways are above. Open the full record when you want every number and source note.
The short version
What employees should know
For the year ended Dec 31, 2025, COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION reported $759,012,019 in employer contributions across its retirement plans, or $3,384 per active participant. This is the best company-wide filing average available—not a promise of what any one employee receives.
Up 10.0% across the filing years shown. The filing does not report every employee who was eligible.
Change in employer contributions per active participant.
Change in reported administrative cost per participant. Fund expenses may be separate.
Money and scale
Contributions, assets, and expenses
These totals combine every public plan record tied to this employer. They are not individual account balances.
- Employer contributions
- $759,012,019 $3,384 per active participant
- Participant contributions
- $1,193,874,064
- Other contributions
- $43,270,863 Amounts not classified as employer or participant contributions
- Employer share of contributions
- 38.0%
- Active participants
- 224,320 Very large plan
- Total participants
- 279,798 263,899 at the beginning of the year
- Ending assets
- $41,523,678,630 $148,406 per participant
- Net-asset change
- Up 24.0% Not the same as investment performance
- Beginning net assets
- $41,017,392,708
- Ending net assets
- $41,523,678,630
- Beginning liabilities
- $0
- Ending liabilities
- $0
- Total income
- $3,918,903,989
- Total expenses
- $3,412,618,067
- Administrative expenses
- $5,630,613 $20 per active participant
- Participant loans
- $614,078,224 1.5% of plan assets
Three-year filing history
How the reported figures changed
These charts combine the employer’s public plans by filing year. Missing values remain blank rather than becoming zero.
2023
$3,186
2024
$3,200
2025
$3,384
2023
$21
2024
$23
2025
$20
2023
203,973
2024
214,316
2025
224,320
2023
$33,491,792,804
2024
$41,144,558,344
2025
$41,523,678,630
2023
1.7%
2024
1.4%
2025
1.5%
| Plan year | Employer money per active participant | Active participants | Plan assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $3,384 | 224,320 | 41.5B |
| 2024 | $3,200 | 214,316 | 41.1B |
| 2023 | $3,186 | 203,973 | 33.5B |
Changes in plan assets are not the same as investment performance.
Plan health
Loans, late deposits, and other filing disclosures
- Participant loans as a share of plan assets
- 1.5%
- Independent accountant’s opinion
- Unqualified opinion Code 1
- Late participant contributions reported
- Not reportedA “yes” needs context and is not, by itself, proof of wrongdoing.
- Loan defaults reported
- 0
- Lease defaults reported
- 0Only a small number of filings report these events.
- Nonexempt transactions reported
- 0
- Public plan identifier
- 911223280-005
Insurance and supporting schedules
Additional arrangements reported
These disclosures add context. They should not be read as a score or a judgment on their own.
- Additional paid service providers
- 2$5,629,529 in separately reported direct compensation
- Pooled investment entities
- 27$18,591,531,134 reported at year end
Reported plan details
Identity and filing status
- Plan type
- Retirement plan
- Employer arrangement
- Single-employer plan
- Plan effective date
- Dec 1, 2001
- Industry
- Industry group 452
- Amended filing
- No
- Final filing for this plan
- No
- Short plan year
- No
- 401(k) feature reported
- Yes
Show DOL characteristic codes
2E2F2G2I2J2K2S2T3C3H
Companies paid by the plans
Service providers named in the latest filings
Amounts are combined when the same provider and role appear in more than one plan. Form 5500 filings do not standardize every provider’s job, so treat the role labels as tentative; the provider name and compensation come directly from the filing.
| Provider | Possible role | How certain? | Plan year | Direct compensation | Indirect compensation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMERICAN FUNDS | other | Tentative | 2024 | Not reported | unknown |
| PIMCO FUNDS DIST INST | other | Tentative | 2024 | Not reported | unknown |
| T. ROWE PRICE RPS, INC. | other | Tentative | 2024 | Not reported | unknown |
| THE CAPITAL GROUP | other | Tentative | 2024 | Not reported | unknown |
| VANGUARD MARKETING CORP | other | Tentative | 2024 | Not reported | unknown |
| WELLINGTON TRUST COMPANY | other | Tentative | 2024 | Not reported | unknown |
All plans from this employer
2 public plan records roll up to this profile
The employer totals above combine these records by year. Open an individual plan for its own filing details.
Current plan terms
What the source documents say
Each item below comes from the dated source linked in this section. Anything the source does not establish is left blank.
- Employer contribution
- For most eligible employees, Costco matches 50% of contributions, capped at $500 per year. After one year, Costco may also add 4% to 9% of pay based on years of service. Teamsters-covered employees follow a separate hourly contribution formula.
- Eligibility
- Employees age 18 or older can generally begin contributing after completing 90 days of service within 12 consecutive months.
- Vesting
- Your own contributions are always yours. Employees working on or after August 1, 2024 are also 100% vested in employer contributions.
- Investment information
- Employees can choose from the plan's investment options. If no choice is made, money goes into an age-based retirement trust. The plan limits Costco stock to 50% of an account.
- Automatic enrollment
- Newly eligible employees are enrolled at 4% of pay unless they opt out or choose another rate. The rate normally rises by 1 percentage point each year, up to 20%.
- Participant fees
- Some administration, recordkeeping, investment-management, and transaction costs are paid by the plan, and some are charged to participant accounts. Borrowers also pay loan setup and annual maintenance fees.
Not covered by the source: 1 item
roth contributions. Check the latest summary plan description or enrollment materials for these details.
Source: Costco 401(k) Retirement Plan — 2025 Form 11-K ↗ · dated Dec 31, 2025
Filing evidence
Open the selected public records
We use the latest valid received filing for each year after resolving amendments and duplicate records. Open the source to check the original filing.
Quick answers
Costco 401(k) questions
What is Costco's 401(k) match?
The reviewed current source says: For most eligible employees, Costco matches 50% of contributions, capped at $500 per year. After one year, Costco may also add 4% to 9% of pay based on years of service. Teamsters-covered employees follow a separate hourly contribution formula.
How much employer money did Costco report adding?
For 2025, the selected filing reports $759,012,019 in employer contributions, or $3,384 per active participant. This is a plan-level historical figure, not a personal match quote.
What is Costco's 401(k) vesting schedule?
The reviewed current source says: Your own contributions are always yours. Employees working on or after August 1, 2024 are also 100% vested in employer contributions.
What are Costco's 401(k) fees?
The reviewed current source says: Some administration, recordkeeping, investment-management, and transaction costs are paid by the plan, and some are charged to participant accounts. Borrowers also pay loan setup and annual maintenance fees.
Can I use this page to compare Costco with another job offer?
Yes, as a starting point. Compare the documented match, vesting, eligibility, fees, investments, and the filing history, then confirm the current terms before assigning a dollar value to an offer.
Source evidence
What recent SEC filings may add
These snippets come from official SEC filings connected to the employer. They are useful clues, but we keep them separate from fully reviewed current plan terms.
Vesting
1,000 and the lesser of (a) $ 50,000 , reduced by the highest outstanding loan balance in the previous 12 months minus the outstanding balance of all loans on the date on which the loan is made, or (b) or 45 % of their vested account balance (50% when measured at the time the loan is made), provided this amount is available in the partici…
Match
Costco says its 401(k) plan matches a portion of participant wage-deferral contributions; the 10-K does not state the formula.
Filing ACK_IDEMPLOYER-2025
Data sourceDOL Form 5500 bulk data ↗
Filing searchEFAST2 ↗