Sacramento County Employees Retirement System (SCERS)
public plan · Sacramento County · Sacramento, CA
The plan is moderately funded (80%). $11.6B in assets back $14.5B in projected obligations, leaving $2.9B to close through future contributions and investment returns.
Sacramento County Employees Retirement System (SCERS) is a government pension plan administered by Sacramento County. Unlike private corporate plans, the benefit guarantee flows from the sponsoring government's ongoing tax authority and contribution obligations rather than from federal insurance. The plan remains active — accruing new benefits for current employees and accepting new participants. Among private-sector single-employer plans, the active status is increasingly rare as employers freeze accruals while continuing to fund existing obligations; public-sector plans are more often still actively accruing.
Sacramento County Employees Retirement System (SCERS) is among the larger U.S. pension plans by asset base ($11.6B). The participant pool of 27,000 divides into 13,000 actives and 14,000 retirees, a mix that shapes both cash-flow profile and investment-horizon choices. The participant mix runs roughly even between 13,000 active workers and 14,000 retirees — a balanced demographic profile that gives the plan time to compound investment returns before payouts dominate cash flow. Annual cash flows: $580M in sponsor contributions versus $720M in benefit payments. Investment performance over the most recent year ran 5.9%, against the plan's assumed long-term return of 6.8%.
On PBGC risk classification: low — the plan's funded status and solvency trajectory are favorable enough that PBGC intervention is not on the near-term horizon. Public plans like Sacramento County Employees Retirement System (SCERS) are not PBGC-insured. The benefit guarantee rests on the sponsoring government's ability and willingness to make required contributions, which interacts with state and local tax-base dynamics.
Source: DOL EFAST2 Form 5500 filings and Boston College CRR Public Plans Database.
Funding History
What This Means for You
Sacramento County Employees Retirement System (SCERS) is in good financial health at 80% funded. This means for every dollar the plan owes in future benefits, it has 80 cents in assets to cover it. As a public pension, benefits are typically backed by the taxing authority of the sponsoring government. Participants in this plan have relatively low risk of benefit reductions.
Year-by-Year Funding
| Year | Assets | Liabilities | Funding Ratio | Contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $11.6B | $14.5B | 80.2% | $580.0M |
| 2022 | $11.3B | $14.2B | 79.0% | $562.6M |
| 2021 | $10.9B | $13.3B | 82.0% | $545.2M |
| 2020 | $10.6B | $13.9B | 76.0% | $527.8M |
| 2019 | $10.2B | $13.1B | 78.0% | $510.4M |
Frequently Asked Questions
Sacramento County Employees Retirement System (SCERS) is 80% funded, meaning it has 80 cents in assets for every dollar in future benefit obligations. This is considered healthy by actuarial standards.
Sacramento County Employees Retirement System (SCERS) has 27,000 total participants, including 13,000 active employees and 14,000 retirees currently receiving benefits.
Sacramento County Employees Retirement System (SCERS) is not covered by the PBGC. Benefits depend entirely on the plan's assets and the sponsor's ability to fund it.
The Pension Health Score (0-100, A-F) measures a pension plan's financial strength based on funding ratio (50%), funding trend over 3 years (30%), and PBGC risk level (20%). Higher scores indicate more secure retirement benefits.
Pension Health Score is calculated from funding ratio, 3-year funding trend, and PBGC risk classification.