Police & Fire Pension Plans

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44 police & fire plans · Avg funded ratio: 73.9%

What the Data Says About Police & Fire Pension Plans

The Public Plans Database (PPD), maintained by the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, tracks 44 Police & Fire pension plans across the United States, covering a broad range of state and local retirement systems that share the police & fire occupational category. These plans report a weighted average funded ratio of 73.9%, based on each plan's most recent CAFR and actuarial valuation. Individual plan health varies widely within this category, from plans graded A for strong funding discipline to plans graded F that face severe structural shortfalls requiring legislative intervention.

The 73.9% category average for Police & Fire plans falls near the national public-pension average of 75.5%, indicating moderate funding gaps that vary significantly by state and sponsoring entity. Each plan's trajectory depends on contribution adequacy (whether employers pay the full Annual Required Contribution), investment returns relative to the assumed rate, and demographic trends such as the ratio of active contributors to retirees drawing benefits.

Public pension plans, including these police & fire systems, differ from private-sector pensions governed by ERISA and backstopped by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Public plans rely on the full faith and credit of the sponsoring state or local government, meaning funding shortfalls are resolved through state and local budget decisions rather than federal insurance. This information summarizes official Public Plans Database disclosures and is provided for research and educational purposes only. It is not financial, legal, or retirement-planning advice; active and retired members with specific benefit questions should consult their plan administrator.

Plan Funded Ratio Grade
Jacksonville Police and Fire 128.1% B
Baltimore Fire and Police Employees Retirement System 103.0% B
Iowa Municipal Fire and Police 100.0% B
Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System 98.9% B
Kansas City Police 98.6% B
New York City Fire 97.6% B
Charlotte Firefighters' Retirement System 96.1% B
St. Louis Police 95.5% B
Pittsburgh Fire 94.9% B
Chicago Police 92.5% B
Louisiana Municipal Police 89.7% B
St. Louis Firemen 86.2% B
Atlanta Police Fund 85.1% B
Dallas Police and Fire 84.3% B
Austin Police 80.5% C
New York City Police 79.9% B
Oklahoma Fire 78.0% C
Detroit Police and Fire Retirement System 77.4% B
Kansas City Fire 76.7% B
Birmingham Police and Fire 75.1% C
Little Rock Firemen 73.7% C
Omaha Police and Fire Pension Fund 72.4% C
Houston Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund 72.0% C
Chicago Fire 71.6% C
Houston Police 70.4% C
New Orleans Firefighters 70.1% C
Anchorage Police and Fire Retirement System 69.3% C
Arkansas Police and Fire 69.1% C
Bismarck Police Plan 69.0% C
Greenville Fire Pension Plan 68.6% C
Charleston, WV Firemen's Pension 68.3% C
Charleston (WV) Police 67.9% C
Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System 66.8% C
Marion County Law Enforcement 64.3% C
Austin Fire 62.7% C
Los Angeles Fire and Police 59.3% C
Atlanta Fire 58.8% C
Charlotte (NC) Law Enforcement 54.0% D
Pittsburgh Policemen's Relief and Pension Fund 53.9% D
Fairfax County Police 48.4% D
Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund 43.8% D
Lexington-Fayette County Policemen's and Firefighters' Retirement Fund 32.0% D
City of Miami Firefighters and Police Officers Retirement Trust 24.3% F
Sioux Falls Fire 22.8% F

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

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Data sourced from official Public Plans Database and actuarial valuations from federal and state pension systems. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPension

Every figure on PlainPension is rendered directly from the Public Plans Database (Boston College Center for Retirement Research), no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates every tracked plan of this type, live from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.