Is Your Public Pension
Financially Secure?
Funded ratios, unfunded liabilities, ARC coverage, member counts, and 24-year financial histories for 197 US state and local public pension plans, drawn from the Public Plans Database (Boston College CRR, MissionSquare Research, NASRA).
- Plans tracked
- 197
- Avg funded ratio
- 75.5%
- Combined unfunded
- 1.9T
- Members covered
- 31.2M
According to the Public Plans Database, compiled by the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, aggregate unfunded liabilities across the 197 tracked plans total more than $1,833 billion. Plan-card funded ratios report each plan’s FY2023 valuation year; the national funded-ratio chart includes FY2024 rows where PPD published them; this site’s database copy was last loaded in July 2026. See our methodology for the full source and update cadence.
The national picture
Across 197 tracked US public pension plans, the average funded ratio is 75.5%, but 28 plans (14%) carry a D or F health grade, and the combined unfunded liability tops $1.9T.
- 75.5%
- Average funded ratio
- $1.9T
- Combined unfunded liability
- 28
- Plans graded D or F
- 31.2M
- Members covered
How the portfolio grades
Health grades and the national average funded ratio use the same FY2023 plan-card snapshot as the hero KPIs, not a separate query.
Plans by health grade
Count of 197 tracked plans in each funded-ratio grade band
Health-grade counts from the same plans table as the hero KPIs
Pension Guides
Understanding Funded Ratios
The key metric for pension financial health
Check Your Pension Health
Step-by-step guide to evaluating your plan
Pension Crisis Explained
Why plans are underfunded and what it means
Is My Pension Safe?
How to assess your personal retirement security
What If a Pension Runs Out?
Legal protections and realistic scenarios
National pension funding trend
Average funded ratio across the 197 public pension plans in the Public Plans Database, by fiscal year (through FY2024 where published).
Most At-Risk Plans
All rankings →Most at-risk plans
The lowest funded ratios in the tracked set: assets as a share of benefits already promised. A low ratio describes a reporting position, not an imminent missed payment.
| Plan | Funded Ratio | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Louisiana Teachers Retirement System | 21.8% | F |
| Sioux Falls Fire | 22.8% | F |
| Providence Employees Retirement System | 23.4% | F |
| City of Miami Firefighters and Police Officers Retirement Trust | 24.3% | F |
| Des Moines Water Works | 26.3% | F |
A low funded ratio doesn't mean a plan is still sinking
The 10 lowest funded ratios tracked here, plotted against how much of the actuarially required contribution each plan actually pays. 8 of 10 are paying above 100% ARC and actively closing their gap, while 2 are underpaying ARC and compounding the shortfall further -- funded ratio alone doesn't say which direction a plan is headed.
Browse by State
All states →Pension Funding FAQs
What is a funded ratio for a pension?
A funded ratio measures how much of a pension's promised benefits are backed by current assets. A 100% funded ratio means the plan has enough assets to pay all promised benefits. Below 80% is generally considered underfunded; below 60% is critical.
Which plans have the lowest funded ratios?
In our Public Plans Database sample, the most underfunded individual plans are Louisiana Teachers Retirement System (21.8% funded), Sioux Falls Fire (22.8%), and Providence Employees Retirement System (23.4%). 11 plans are funded below 50%, meaning they hold less than half the assets needed to cover promised benefits on an actuarial basis. See our lowest-funded rankings.
Where does this data come from?
PlainPension uses data from the Public Plans Database (PPD), a research collaboration by Boston College Center for Retirement Research and NASRA. The PPD tracks 197 US public pension plans with historical data back to 2001.
What is an unfunded liability?
Unfunded liability (pension debt) is the gap between what a plan has in assets and what it has promised in future benefits. High unfunded liabilities often lead to higher taxes, reduced public services, or benefit cuts.
PlainPension presents Public Plans Database figures compiled by Boston College Center for Retirement Research. This site does not offer investment, actuarial, or retirement planning advice. Consult your pension fund administrator or a qualified financial advisor for decisions about your public pension benefits.
Live snapshot + research
Figures below are derived from the same Public Plans Database snapshot as the hero. Essays keep their original analysis date. See all research.
Louisiana Teachers Retirement System 21.8% funded
Lowest funded in this snapshot: Louisiana Teachers Retirement System (21.8%), Sioux Falls Fire (22.8%), and Providence Employees Retirement System (23.4%). 11 plans sit below 50%.
Teacher systemsTeacher pension funding by state
Every separately tracked teacher retirement system in the Public Plans Database, ordered by reported funded ratio with one-year change.
Live liabilityNew York State and Local Retirement Systems: 210.0B unfunded
Largest single-plan unfunded liabilities: New York State and Local Retirement Systems (210.0B), then California Public Employees Retirement System (187.9B).
Research essayState pension burden: how unfunded totals stack
Essay on state-level unfunded aggregates. Cross-check any named dollar figure against the live state pages before citing it as current.
About this data
How PlainPension works, and why you can trust these numbers
What this site is
PlainPension tracks the funded status of 197 US public pension plans across 51 states, using the Public Plans Database (PPD), a collaboration between the Boston College Center for Retirement Research and the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. Every funded ratio, unfunded liability, and health grade on this site traces back to a plan's own actuarial valuation or annual financial report.
Editorial process
- Source. Use the PPD release represented in our database, compiled by the Center for Retirement Research from plan CAFRs and actuarial valuations.
- Verify. Extract plan-level actuarial assets, accrued liabilities, and contribution rates directly from the PPD dataset; no financial figure is fabricated or modified.
- Publish. Compile per-plan health cards, historical funded-ratio trends back to 2001, and state-level aggregates, always linking back to the source PPD record so readers can verify our numbers against it.
Editorial independence & corrections
PlainPension is an independent publisher and is not affiliated with the Center for Retirement Research, NASRA, or any covered pension plan. We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from any plan or state. Found a figure that looks wrong? Use the contact page with the page URL and the value that looks off, we compare it against the published PPD source and correct our pipeline (not just the single page) if the error is on our side. See our editorial & corrections policy and methodology for the full process and source attribution.
Frequently asked
What data does PlainPension track?
Funded ratios, unfunded liabilities, and financial health grades for 197 US public pension plans across 51 states, sourced from the Public Plans Database.
What is the Public Plans Database?
The PPD is the most comprehensive longitudinal database of US public pension plans, compiled by the Boston College Center for Retirement Research from annual financial reports and actuarial valuations submitted by plans.
How often is the data updated?
PPD publishes interim updates as plan financial reports become available. PlainPension checks the release history and API on a recurring 90-day clock, then validates and publishes a new snapshot when the upstream data changes. Individual plan records can lag the current date.
Download the plan-level funded-ratio extract (same CSV as /statistics): public-pension-landscape.csv (CC0; plan-card funded ratios and liabilities from the Public Plans Database rebuild, not investment advice).