Costco Wholesale 401(k) match, vesting and fees
What Costco Wholesale's 401(k) plan says about matching contributions
(2) Other eligible employment The Company matches the lesser of 50% of each employee’s contribution or $500 per year.
Quoted directly from the filing. Plan terms may have changed; check your current Summary Plan Description.
Plan features
Indented passages are quoted word for word from the audit report; plan terms may have changed since, so check your current Summary Plan Description.
| Employer match | Quoted from the filing above | 2023 audit report, p. 29 ↗ |
| Automatic enrollment | All newly-eligible participants entering the Plan are automatically enrolled at a salary contribution rate of 4%. On an active participant’s employment anniversary date and each anniversary date thereafter the percentage deferred into the Plan automatically increases by one percentage point, to a maximum of 20%. Employees may opt out of automatic enrollment and increases. | 2023 audit report, p. 29 ↗ |
| Loans | A participant may borrow between $1,000 up to the lesser of $50,000 or 45% of their vested account balance, reduced by the highest outstanding balance in the previous 12 months minus the outstanding balance of all loans on the date on which the loan is made, provided this amount is available in the participant's pre-tax and rollover accounts. Loans are repaid through payroll deductions over a period ranging up to four years or, if for the purchase of a principal residence, up to 15 years. | 2023 audit report, p. 31 ↗ |
| Recordkeeper | T Rowe Price Rps Inc | 2025 Schedule C ↗ |
| Independent auditor | Crowe LLP (unmodified opinion) | 2025 Schedule H ↗ |
| Plan type and status | 401(k) · Active | 2025 Form 5500 ↗ |
Match, vesting and other plan features are from the plan year 2023 filing's audit report (the latest one extracted so far). Rows cited to the Form 5500 and its schedules are from the plan year 2025 filing.
How the plan compares
Plan year 2025 medians for 40 defined-contribution plans with 50,000 or more participants.
| Costco Wholesale: employer contribution per participant | $2,802 | |
| Peer median | $2,694 |
| Costco Wholesale: average balance | $153,297 | |
| Peer median | $150,340 |
| Costco Wholesale: admin expenses ÷ assets | 0.01% | |
| Peer median | 0.03% |
Admin expenses are the plan's reported administrative expenses divided by its assets; they do not include fund expense ratios.
Plan history
Plan assets went from $31.4B at the end of plan year 2021 to $41.5B at the end of plan year 2025.
| Plan year | Participants | Assets | Employer contributions | Per participant | Admin expense ratio | Match formula | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 279,798 | $41.5B | $759M | $2,802 | 0.01% | Not published | Form 5500 ↗ |
| 2024 | 263,899 | $41B | $681M | $2,669 | 0.02% | Not published | Form 5500 ↗ |
| 2023 | 245,768 | $33.4B | $645M | $2,765 | 0.02% | Quoted in the audit report, p. 29 ↗ | Form 5500 ↗ |
| 2022 | 239,355 | $25.9B | $579M | $2,502 | 0.02% | Not published | Form 5500 ↗ |
| 2021 | 220,841 | $31.4B | $519M | $2,413 | 0.02% | Not published | Form 5500 ↗ |
Other Costco Wholesale plans (1)
Each plan files its own Form 5500. Figures are from each plan's latest filing.
Costco Puerto Rico Retirement Plan
Plan features
Match, vesting and enrollment details have not been published from this plan's audit report yet. The figures below come from the structured filing.
| Recordkeeper | T Rowe Price Rps Inc | Schedule C ↗ |
| Independent auditor | Crowe LLP (unmodified opinion, limited scope) | Schedule H ↗ |
| Plan type and status | 401(k) · Active | Form 5500 ↗ |
Common questions
Does Costco Wholesale match 401(k) contributions?
The audit report attached to the Costco 401k Retirement Plan's plan year 2023 Form 5500, page 29 says: “(2) Other eligible employment The Company matches the lesser of 50% of each employee’s contribution or $500 per year.” Plan terms may have changed; check your current Summary Plan Description.
When is the Costco Wholesale 401(k) match vested?
The vesting schedule for the Costco 401k Retirement Plan is not in the data published so far. Your Summary Plan Description states it.
Who manages the Costco Wholesale 401(k)?
The recordkeeper listed on Schedule C of the plan year 2025 filing is T Rowe Price Rps Inc. The plan administrator is Costco Wholesale Corporation.
I left Costco Wholesale. How do I find my old 401(k)?
Your account stays in the plan until you move it. Contact the plan administrator (Costco Wholesale Corporation, (425) 313-8100) or the recordkeeper, T Rowe Price Rps Inc. The Costco Wholesale old 401(k) page lists the contacts from every plan filing. Find an old Costco Wholesale 401(k)
Data from the public Form 5500 annual reports Costco Wholesale filed with the U.S. Department of Labor (plan years 2021 and 2022 and 2023 and 2024 and 2025) and, where noted, the attached independent auditor's report. Plan terms may have changed since the filing; check your current Summary Plan Description. PlanFacts is not affiliated with Costco Wholesale. Not financial advice. Report a correction · Methodology