2027 401(k) Contribution Limits
Updated · 2026 figures official · 2027 figures projected until the agency publishes
Projected 2027 elective deferral, total annual additions and compensation limits for 401(k), 403(b), TSP and 457(b) plans.
The 2027 401(k) contribution limit is projected at $25,500 for employee deferrals, traditional and Roth combined: $34,000 with the age-50+ catch-up, and $37,250 in the years you turn 60 to 63. The table below has every 2027 figure beside its 2026 value.
Projected The agency has not published 2027 yet. Every 2027 figure below is our projection under the statutory formula (+3.06% C-CPI-U), shown so you can plan before the announcement — and replaced here the day the official number lands.
| Item | 2026 | 2027 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 401(k) / 403(b) / TSP elective deferral limitPer employee, all elective deferrals combined | $24,500 | $25,500 | Projected |
| 457(b) deferral limit (state/local government and tax-exempt plans)Per participant | $24,500 | $25,500 | Projected |
| Defined-contribution annual additions limit (§415(c))Per participant: employee + employer + after-tax additions (catch-ups excluded) | $72,000 | $75,000 | Projected |
| Defined-benefit annual benefit limit (§415(b))Per participant, annual benefit | $290,000 | $300,000 | Projected |
| Annual compensation limit (§401(a)(17))Maximum compensation countable for plan contributions/benefits | $360,000 | $375,000 | Projected |
2026 figures as published by IRS Notice 2025-67 — source, retrieved 2026-09-19. Every figure on this page is read from a dataset at build time; none is typed into the page.
What a 2027 401(k) contribution saves you in tax
Enter what you would defer pre-tax. The tax engine figures your 2027 federal and state return with and without it. Leave the amount blank for your maximum at your age.
2027 federal tax is the tax engine’s projection of the law as written, its dollar amounts indexed at the September 2025 to August 2026 chained-CPI window (+3.06% year on year) (until the official 2027 brackets replace it); the state line uses each state’s 2026 rules, the latest the state engine has. Your own wages only, no other income, the standard deduction. The cap is the projected 2027 limits (the official 2027 figures are not out yet) shown in the table above, with the age-50 catch-up and, in the years you turn 60 to 63, the higher catch-up.
No Social Security or Medicare tax is saved. An elective deferral “isn’t included in wages subject to income tax at the time contributed. However, it’s included in wages subject to social security and Medicare taxes” (IRS Publication 525) — unlike a health FSA or HSA through a cafeteria plan. If your 2026 Social Security wages from the employer were over $155,000, catch-up contributions must be Roth (the 2027 threshold is our projection; the 2026 rule is in IRS Notice 2025-67; 26 U.S.C. §414(v), subsection (v)(7)), so that part saves no tax now. The Saver’s Credit does not cover 2027 retirement contributions: from 2027 it is replaced by the Saver’s Match (26 U.S.C. §6433 (Saver’s Match)), a federal deposit into the account rather than a cut in your tax, which is not modelled here.
State treatment: Pennsylvania taxes employee contributions to any retirement plan as compensation (PA Personal Income Tax Guide: Gross Compensation); New Jersey excludes only 401(k) deferrals and taxes 403(b), 457, Thrift Savings Plan and SIMPLE IRA contributions (NJ Division of Taxation: NJ Income Tax – Wages). Those get no state saving here; every other state is treated as following the federal exclusion, and city or county income taxes are not included. Not modelled: employer contributions, and whether Roth would beat pre-tax for you, which depends on your tax rate in retirement.
Pre-tax now or Roth later? See the Roth Conversion Planner → Every dollar deferred here is taxed when it comes out; the planner works out the years and brackets that happens in.
Estimate your 2026 return
The return you file in early 2027 is for tax year 2026. Free calculators:
- Tax refund calculator — your 2026 federal and state refund or amount owed, from your wages, filing status, children and the tax withheld.
- Federal income tax calculator — your 2026 federal income tax, your tax bracket and your effective rate.
- No tax on overtime calculator — how much of your overtime pay is deductible on your 2026 return and the federal tax it saves.
- No tax on tips calculator — how much of your tip income you can deduct on your 2026 return and the federal tax it saves.
Thanks — you’re on the list. One email, once the official figures are on this page.
Maxing the deferral is one lever — whether it beats a Roth conversion depends on your whole retirement tax path. QuantCalc runs your whole retirement — withdrawals, taxes, Medicare surcharges — year by year, on 2026 and 2027 figures.
Run the free tax-aware simulation →How this figure is set
Set under IRC §402(g)(1),(4). Indexed to CPI-U (CUUR0000SA0), Q3 average. increase rounded down to the next lowest $500 Base $15,000 grown by the ratio of the Q3-2026 CPI-U average to the Q3-2005 average; the increase rounds down to a $500 step. The unrounded central figure sits close to the $25,500 step edge, so the low end of the band stays at $25,000 — this is the least settled projection on the page (IRS Notice 2025-67, retrieved 2026-09-19)
Common questions
What is the 401(k) contribution limit for 2027?
The 2027 401(k) elective deferral limit is $25,500 (projected until the agency announces it), up from $24,500 in 2026.
Are the 2027 employer plan elective deferrals, overall plan limits figures final?
No. The agency publishes in the autumn. Until then the 2027 column here is a projection produced by applying the statutory indexing formula — CPI-U (CUUR0000SA0), Q3 average, increase rounded down to the next lowest $500 — to the statute's own base-year amount, rounded once, not by growing the rounded 2026 figure; chained-CPI amounts use the September 2025 to August 2026 C-CPI-U window (+3.06% year on year). It is labelled as a projection on every row, and this page is regenerated from the dataset the day the official figure lands.
When will the official 2027 401(k) contribution limits be announced?
The IRS publishes the official 2027 401(k) contribution limits in its annual cost-of-living notice for retirement plans. The 2026 figures came in Notice 2025-67, released on November 13, 2025 (IRS news release IR-2025-111). Until then, the 2027 figures on this page are our projection; the published figures replace them here.
What sets these numbers?
They are set under IRC §402(g)(1),(4). Indexed to CPI-U (CUUR0000SA0), Q3 average. increase rounded down to the next lowest $500 The 2026 figures are taken from the agency's own publication (IRS Notice 2025-67, retrieved 2026-09-19).
What changed from 2026?
The table shows both years side by side so the change is readable directly. Where a row says unchanged, that is a statutory result, not an omission.
Related
2027 catch-up contributions → 2027 TSP contribution limits → 2027 403(b) contribution limits → 2027 457(b) contribution limits → All 2027 contribution limits → 2026 figures: 401(k) limits (official) → Free Monte Carlo simulation calculator →
Every figure here with its status and source: JSON. QuantCalc is calculation software, not tax advice.