Geography is more than maps and topographic features—it also can suggest how much work there is to do in various regions and states to increase access to retirement plans and participation in them.
There is much data available concerning access to, and participation in, retirement plans in the United States. But aggregate figures, while useful, only tell part of the story. In “How Much Does Retirement Plan Coverage Vary by State and Income?” Jimmy O’Donnell and Kenan Fikri in a study for the Economic Innovation Group (EIG) report that access and participation vary widely between states and regions.
O’Donnell and Fikri base their report on data and information from the sources such as the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Compensation Survey and the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS).
By Region
The 10 states with the highest share of workers with access to a retirement plan, in which at least 53% have such access, are as follows. The highest concentration is in the Midwest; none are in the South.
| State | Region | % of Workers with Access to a Retirement Plan |
| Minnesota | Midwest | 59.2 |
| Hawaii | Far West | 58.4 |
| New Hampshire | Northeast | 57.6 |
| Wisconsin | Midwest | 57.5 |
| Iowa | Midwest | 56.8 |
| Maine | Northeast | 56.3 |
| Colorado | West | 55.9 |
| Missouri | Midwest | 55.0 |
| Montana | West | 54.4 |
| Ohio | Midwest | 53.6 |
The 10 states with the lowest share of workers with access to a retirement plan, in which 43.7% or less have such access, are as follows. The highest concentration is in the South; none are in the Midwest.
| State | Region | % of Workers with Access to a Retirement Plan |
| California | West | 43.7 |
| Mississippi | South | 43.7 |
| Arkansas | South | 42.6 |
| New York | Northeast | 41.8 |
| Arizona | West | 40.5 |
| Georgia | South | 40.2 |
| Kentucky | South | 39.9 |
| Utah | West | 39.9 |
| Texas | South | 37.0 |
| Florida | South | 36.2 |
By Population
The 10 most populous states (2020 census) have the following access rates. Only one is among the 10 states with the highest access rates; half of them are among the 10 states with the lowest access rates.
| Population Rank | State | % of Workers with Access to a Retirement Plan | Comments |
| 1 | California | 43.7 | Among 10 states with the lowest access rates |
| 2 | Texas | 37.0 | Among 10 states with the lowest access rates |
| 3 | Florida | 36.2 | Among 10 states with the lowest access rates |
| 4 | New York | 41.8 | Among 10 states with the lowest access rates |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 50.2 | |
| 6 | Illinois | 49.7 | |
| 7 | Ohio | 53.6 | Among 10 states with the highest access rates |
| 8 | Georgia | 40.2 | Among 10 states with the lowest access rates |
| 9 | North Carolina | 48.4 | |
| 10 | Michigan | 48.5 |
The 10 least populous states (2020 census) have the following access rates. None of them are among the 10 states with the
lowest access rates; three of them are among the 10 states with the highest access rates.
| Population Rank | State | % of Workers with Access to a Retirement Plan | Comments |
| 41 | New Hampshire | 57.6 | Among 10 states with the highest access rates |
| 42 | Maine | 56.3 | Among 10 states with the highest access rates |
| 43 | Rhode Island | 49.6 | |
| 44 | Montana | 54.5 | Among 10 states with the highest access rates |
| 45 | Delaware | 51.5 | |
| 46 | South Dakota | 53.3 | |
| 47 | North Dakota | 47.3 | |
| 48 | Alaska | 46.5 | |
| 49 | Vermont | 47.7 | |
| 50 | Wyoming | 51.7 |
Measures in Common
O’Donnell and Fikri report that while there are wide disparities in access to retirement plans from state to state, there are some measure all states hold in common.
Access. In every state, they say, access to retirement plans among workers making less than $50,000 per year was 3.5 percentage points lower than for the workforce as a whole. They add that four of the 10 states with the lowest rate of access for low-wage workers are among the 10 most populous: California, Florida, New York and Texas.
Participation. O’Donnell and Fikri report that in every state, the participation rate of workers making less than $50,000 per year in a retirement plan was 6 percentage points lower than that of the workforce as a whole. And they add that the fact that an employer offers a plan does not necessarily mean that the employees will participate in it: they report that in every state, workers’ participation rate is far below their access to an employer-provided plan.
“Retirement plan access and participation vary significantly by state, but low-wage workers are disproportionately likely to be left out everywhere,” O’Donnell and Fikri write.
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