Inside the Gravity Payments Retirement Plan
By a compensation analyst covering employer retirement plans
Last reviewed: July 10, 2026
Gravity Payments’ 401(k) held $12,352,700 at the end of the 2023 plan year, according to a database derived from federal Form 5500 filings. The same record shows 284 year-end participants and an average account value of $43,495. Gravity’s later company report says employee contributions have since reached an average of $6,700 a year and participation has risen to 84%.
The federal record partly supports the company’s retirement narrative. A filing-derived estimate places Gravity’s average 2023 employer contribution at $2,449 per participant, close to the $2,400 produced by applying the company’s stated 3% contribution to its $80,000 salary floor. The filing does not establish that every current worker receives the same amount or that the plan terms have remained unchanged.
What the 2023 filing data confirms
The Department of Labor calls Form 5500 the primary public source for information about the operations, funding and investments of approximately 800,000 retirement and welfare plans. Gravity Payments sponsors a large defined-contribution plan identified as Gravity Payments 401(k) Plan, established in 2007.
| 2023 plan measure | Reported or derived result | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Total plan assets | $12,352,700 | Includes assets for eligible participants, not only current employees |
| Year-end participants | 284 | May include former workers retaining balances |
| Average assets per participant | $43,495 | Arithmetic average, not median account value |
| Estimated employee contribution | $5,542 per participant | Filing-derived estimate, not an individual saving rate |
| Employer contributions | $695,661 total | Does not reveal each worker’s allocation |
| Estimated employer contribution | $2,449 per participant | Database labels it a match, while Gravity calls it a nonelective contribution |
| Plan asset growth | 39.11% during 2023 | Includes contributions, withdrawals and investment returns |
| Estimated plan expenses | 0.32% of assets | Third-party calculation based on filing fields |
Source: MyPlanIQ’s profile of the Gravity Payments 401(k) Plan, using 2023 Form 5500 data.
The filing-derived profile also marks the plan as using automatic enrollment and a default investment for participants who do not select investments. Those features could help explain rising participation, although the public profile does not disclose the automatic contribution percentage, escalation schedule or current default fund.
A Summary Plan Description would carry more weight on those terms. No current Gravity SPD was located in the reviewed public sources.
Why one source says 275 participants and another says 284
ERISA360 summarizes Gravity’s 2023 filing as containing 275 participants and $12,352,700 in assets. MyPlanIQ reports 284 participants at the end of the same plan year. Both identify the same employer, plan and asset total.
The apparent conflict likely reflects different Form 5500 lines rather than nine missing people.
Department of Labor instructions distinguish participants with balances at the beginning of the year from participants with balances at the end. They also require certain terminated employees to be counted when those former workers retain plan benefits. The 275 figure appears consistent with a beginning-of-year count, while 284 appears to be the year-end count. That is an inference from the two summaries and the federal reporting instructions, not a direct transcription of Gravity’s complete filing.
The difference matters because neither number can be treated as Gravity’s 2023 active workforce.
Form 5500 participant totals may include active employees, retired or separated participants receiving benefits, former workers entitled to future benefits and beneficiaries of deceased participants. Gravity’s later statement that it employs more than 200 full-time workers can therefore coexist with a retirement plan containing 284 year-end participants.
The 3% employer payment has outside support
Gravity describes its retirement contribution as 3% of each employee’s paycheck regardless of whether that person contributes. The company explicitly says this is “not a match.”
At the published $80,000 salary floor, a 3% contribution equals $2,400 annually.
The filing-derived 2023 average employer contribution was $2,449, only $49 higher. That is a difference of approximately 2%. The close result supports the broad size of Gravity’s employer contribution, although it does not prove the company applied a uniform 3% rate to every participant.
| Employer contribution comparison | Amount |
|---|---|
| 3% of Gravity’s $80,000 salary floor | $2,400 |
| Filing-derived 2023 participant average | $2,449 |
| Difference | $49 |
| Percentage difference | Approximately 2% |
The terminology deserves attention. MyPlanIQ calls the $2,449 figure an estimated employer “match.” Gravity says employees receive the 3% even when they contribute nothing. If the company description is accurate, the payment functions as a nonelective employer contribution rather than a conventional match.
That structure is more accessible to workers who cannot afford to defer part of their paycheck. It also means an employee can receive the employer contribution without first meeting a personal savings threshold.
Employee contributions rose after 2023
Gravity’s 2025 retrospective says average employee retirement contributions increased from $1,900 in 2015 to $6,700, an increase the company rounds to 250%. It reports that the contribution rate rose from 2.6% to 7.5% of pay.
The filing-derived average for 2023 was $5,542. Gravity’s later $6,700 figure is $1,158 higher, representing an increase of approximately 20.9%. The comparison is directionally consistent with continued saving growth between the 2023 filing year and the 2025 company report.
It is not a clean time series. MyPlanIQ describes its number as an estimate per plan participant, while Gravity does not explain whether its $6,700 average covers all employees, only employees contributing to the plan or another population.
The company’s percentage also reveals an unstated pay figure. If $6,700 equals exactly 7.5% of compensation, the implied average compensation base is approximately $89,333. Gravity does not publish that number as its current mean or median salary, so the calculation should not be treated as a verified payroll average.
At the $80,000 salary floor, a $6,700 employee contribution equals 8.375% of pay rather than 7.5%. The difference suggests that the dollar average and percentage may use employees with salaries above the minimum, different populations or rounded figures.
What the IRS limit adds to the comparison
The IRS raised the basic employee deferral limit for most 401(k) plans to $24,500 for 2026. The general catch-up limit for workers age 50 or older is $8,000, while qualifying workers ages 60 through 63 may contribute an additional $11,250.
Gravity’s reported average employee contribution of $6,700 equals 27.3% of the standard $24,500 deferral ceiling. The comparison does not indicate inadequate saving because the statutory maximum is not a recommended contribution level and employees have different ages, incomes and financial circumstances.
It does show that the average employee is not approaching the federal limit.
Combining Gravity’s stated 7.5% employee rate with its 3% employer contribution produces an implied total retirement-saving rate of 10.5% of pay. At the $89,333 compensation base implied by Gravity’s figures, that would equal approximately $9,380 annually, split between $6,700 from the employee and about $2,680 from the employer. These are arithmetic illustrations rather than published account records.
Gravity’s 84% participation is high by national standards
Gravity says 62% of employees had a retirement plan in 2015 and 84% did so by 2025. The company does not define whether “had a retirement plan” means enrollment, a positive account balance or active employee contributions.
BLS reported that 70% of private-industry workers had access to defined-contribution plans in March 2025, while 50% participated. Among workers offered such a plan, the take-up rate was 71%.
Gravity’s reported 84% rate is:
- 34 percentage points above the private-industry defined-contribution participation rate of 50%.
- 13 points above the national take-up rate of 71%.
- 14 points above the 70% share of private-industry workers with access.
These are broad comparisons. Gravity’s workforce is relatively well paid, and BLS reports that retirement participation rises substantially with wages and establishment size. Private employers with 100 to 499 workers provided access to some form of retirement benefit to 86% of workers in March 2025. Gravity reports more than 200 employees, placing it in that size category for a rough benchmark.
The company’s 84% participation is strong. It is less unusual when compared with access at similarly sized employers rather than the entire private economy.
Where the average account figure misleads
Dividing $12,352,700 in plan assets by 284 year-end participants produces the reported $43,495 average. That figure does not represent the balance of a typical Gravity employee.
A few long-tenured workers with large accounts can pull an average upward. Former employees with small retained balances can pull it downward. The filing-derived profile does not publish the median, age distribution, tenure distribution or number of participants with zero balances.
The Federal Reserve’s Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2019 to 2022 reported a median of $86,900 among families holding retirement accounts in 2022. Its mean was $334,000. Those are household totals across multiple account types, not individual balances in a single employer plan, making direct comparison with Gravity’s $43,495 average inappropriate.
The contrast illustrates why retirement statistics require precise units. Gravity’s number concerns one plan and each reported participant. The Federal Reserve measures families and may combine 401(k)s, IRAs and other retirement accounts owned by multiple household members.
Asset growth does not equal employee gains
MyPlanIQ estimates that Gravity’s plan assets increased 39.11% during 2023 and that aggregate investment gains contributed 19.91%. It also reports approximately $695,661 in employer contributions.
Total asset growth can come from several sources:
- Employee contributions.
- Employer contributions.
- Investment gains.
- Rollovers entering the plan.
- Distributions and withdrawals leaving it.
- Changes in participant count.
The 39.11% result should not be described as the investment return earned by every employee. Workers hold different allocations, enter and leave at different times and may keep balances of very different sizes.
The filing-derived 0.32% expense ratio carries a similar limitation. It is a plan-level estimate based on reported investment and administrative expenses, not a complete accounting of every fund’s expense ratio or every fee charged to an individual account.
Where the retirement headline remains incomplete
Gravity’s public materials disclose an employer contribution rate, average employee contribution, participation increase and aggregate Form 5500 data. They do not disclose several provisions that determine the plan’s practical value:
- Eligibility waiting period.
- Vesting schedule for employer contributions.
- Automatic-enrollment percentage.
- Automatic-escalation policy.
- Current recordkeeper and investment lineup.
- Target-date fund fees.
- Loan and hardship-withdrawal rules.
- Roth 401(k) availability.
- Median account balance.
- Participation by age, income or tenure.
A current Summary Plan Description would answer many of those questions. Form 5500 provides plan-level financial transparency, but it is not a substitute for the document governing employee rights.
FAQ
Does Gravity Payments offer a 401(k)?
Yes. Federal filing databases identify the Gravity Payments 401(k) Plan as a defined-contribution plan established in 2007.
How much does Gravity contribute?
Gravity says it contributes 3% of each employee’s paycheck regardless of whether the employee contributes. At the $80,000 salary floor, that equals $2,400 annually.
Is the 3% contribution a match?
Gravity says no. Its description indicates a nonelective contribution because employees receive it without making a personal contribution. A filing-derived database uses the generic label “match,” creating a terminology conflict.
How many people are in the Gravity Payments 401(k)?
MyPlanIQ reports 284 participants at the end of 2023. An ERISA360 summary shows 275, likely reflecting a beginning-of-year count. Form 5500 totals may include former employees and beneficiaries, not only active workers.
How much money was held in the plan?
The 2023 filing-derived total was $12,352,700, equal to an average of $43,495 across 284 year-end participants. Individual balances are not public.
What percentage of Gravity employees participate?
Gravity reports that 84% of employees now have a retirement plan, up from 62% in 2015. The company does not publish the denominator or explain whether that means enrollment, positive balances or active contributions.
How much do employees contribute?
Gravity reports an average of $6,700 annually, equal to 7.5% of pay under its calculation. A filing-derived 2023 estimate placed the average employee contribution at $5,542.
Gravity’s retirement claims have more external support than many of its workforce statistics. The federal filing confirms a sizable established plan, and its employer-contribution data closely match the stated 3% policy. The unresolved questions concern distribution: who participates, what balances look like across the workforce and which plan rules determine when employer money fully belongs to the employee.
