New Jersey Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) vs Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS)
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
New Jersey Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) and Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: New Jersey Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) grades C while Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) grades A. Funding ratios: 52% vs 86%.
Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) 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
Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 81/100 (A) compared to New Jersey Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) at 54/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 33.9 percentage points (86.2% vs 52.3%). Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) covers 385,000 participants.
| Metric | New Jersey Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) | Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 54/100 (C) | 81/100 (A)* |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 52.3% | 86.2%* |
| Total Assets | $34.0B | $39.5B |
| Total Liabilities | $65.0B | $45.8B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $31.0B | $6.3B* |
| Participants | 425,000 | 385,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 5.1% | 6.6%* |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | high | low |
| Sponsor | State of New Jersey | Texas Counties |
Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 81/100 (A) compared to New Jersey Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) at 54/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 33.9 percentage points (86.2% vs 52.3%). Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) covers 385,000 participants.