California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) vs Washington State Department of Retirement Systems
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and Washington State Department of Retirement Systems are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) grades C while Washington State Department of Retirement Systems grades A. Funding ratios: 67% vs 88%.
Washington State Department of Retirement Systems 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
Washington State Department of Retirement Systems has a stronger Pension Health Score of 82/100 (A) compared to California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) at 58/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 20.5 percentage points (87.8% vs 67.3%). Washington State Department of Retirement Systems covers 528,000 participants.
| Metric | California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) | Washington State Department of Retirement Systems |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 58/100 (C) | 82/100 (A)* |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 67.3% | 87.8%* |
| Total Assets | $473.0B | $108.0B |
| Total Liabilities | $703.0B | $123.0B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $230.0B | $15.0B* |
| Participants | 2,050,000 | 528,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 5.8% | 6.7%* |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | moderate | low |
| Sponsor | State of California | State of Washington |
Washington State Department of Retirement Systems has a stronger Pension Health Score of 82/100 (A) compared to California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) at 58/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 20.5 percentage points (87.8% vs 67.3%). Washington State Department of Retirement Systems covers 528,000 participants.