Small Business Retirement Plan Adoption Jumps 64% to 31% Since 2019
Updated
Updated · The 401(k) Specialist · Aug 18
Small Business Retirement Plan Adoption Jumps 64% to 31% Since 2019
3 articles · Updated · The 401(k) Specialist · Aug 18
Summary
31% of small businesses offered an active retirement plan by June 2026, up from 19% in 2019, according to Gusto payroll data covering private firms with 2 to 99 employees.
Hourly workers drove much of the shift: workplace plan access rose 79% from 21% to 38%, and the share actually saving through work more than doubled from 7% to 17%.
Hospitality showed the sharpest industry gain, with active plans tripling from 4% to 12%; recreation rose 147% and agriculture 122%, while white-collar sectors approached 45% adoption.
57% of workers with access participated, up from 54%, but the median deferral rate slipped to 4.5% from 4.8% as lower-wage hourly workers made up a larger share of savers; employer matches stayed near 3%.
Auto-IRA states posted bigger gains among the smallest firms, and Gusto said SECURE laws, tax credits and tight post-pandemic hiring all helped expand coverage faster than savings levels.