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Public Pension Assets

Quarterly Update (Q2 2026)

The Federal Reserve publishes data on state and local defined benefit assets on a quarterly basis. As of the second quarter of 2026 (June 30), aggregate public pension assets were an estimated $7.26 trillion, an increase of 7.1 percent from the (revised) $6.78 trillion reported for the prior quarter. The second quarter value is higher than the same quarter one year ago by some $716 billion, or 10.9 percent. 

This value is subject to revision in future reports. The next release is scheduled for December 2026.

Quarterly Change in State & Local Defined Benefit Assets, 2003-2026 


Annual Update

The Federal Reserve reported in March 2025 that the combined value of defined benefit plan assets held by state and local governments as of Q4 2025 increased by 11.1 percent, to $6.85 trillion, from $6.17 trillion as of Q4 2024.

Annual Change in State & Local Defined Benefit Assets, 2003-2025


Become A Member

Becoming a member of NASRA offers a unique opportunity to join a community committed to the sound, efficient, and innovative stewardship of public retirement systems. Membership connects you with a network of professionals and experts, providing valuable insights into managing public retirement systems with a focus on sustainability and risk-averse strategies.

By joining NASRA, you gain the tools and resources to enhance the management of public retirement systems, ensuring their long-term success and reliability for generations to come.

What's New at NASRA: Government Spending Issue Brief

NASRA’s March 2026 update on government spending makes a basic but important point: public pension benefits are not paid out of a government’s day-to-day operating budget. They are paid from trust funds that employees and employers contribute to during an employee’s working years. Those trusts distribute more than $400 billion each year to retirees and beneficiaries in communities across the country. On a national basis, employer contributions to pension trusts in FY 2023 equaled 5.16 percent of direct general spending by state and local governments, which shows that pension contributions remain a limited share of overall public spending even though the level varies from one state to another. 
The brief also shows that pension costs should be viewed in the context of the changes governments have made over the past 15 years to strengthen plan funding. Following the 2008–09 market decline, nearly every state and many local governments adjusted contributions, benefits, or both to improve pension sustainability. More recent data show that employer contributions increased from FY 2022 to FY 2023, but pension spending as a share of total government spending remained broadly stable. The updated brief provides FY 2023 figures and also projects the aggregate pension spending rate for FY 2024, offering a useful snapshot of both current costs and the longer funding trend.