California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) vs State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio)
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio) are meaningfully apart on the PensionRisk pension-health rubric: California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) grades C while State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio) grades A. Funding ratios: 67% vs 80%.
State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio) comes out ahead on the composite rubric. For a participant in either plan, the spread is informative but not directly actionable — pension participation is not portable, so the relevant question is what each plan's funded-status trajectory means for that participant's benefit security.
Verdict
State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 80/100 (A) compared to California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) at 58/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 12.9 percentage points (80.2% vs 67.3%). State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio) covers 507,000 participants.
| Metric | California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) | State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio) |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 58/100 (C) | 80/100 (A)* |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 67.3% | 80.2%* |
| Total Assets | $473.0B | $90.0B |
| Total Liabilities | $703.0B | $112.2B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $230.0B | $22.2B* |
| Participants | 2,050,000 | 507,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 5.8% | 6.0%* |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | moderate | low |
| Sponsor | State of California | State of Ohio |
State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 80/100 (A) compared to California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) at 58/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 12.9 percentage points (80.2% vs 67.3%). State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio) covers 507,000 participants.
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