NCPERS Research Roundup: New Compensation Data Available, Public Retirement Systems Study Now Open

By: Matt Eckel, Director of Research, NCPERS

Autumn brings with it many things: shorter days, lower temperatures, pumpkin-spicier lattes, and of course new compensation data from NCPERS. On September 24, NCPERS released the results from its latest annual Public Pension Compensation Survey. Produced in ongoing partnership with CBIZ, the Compensation Survey aims to provide detailed, up-to-date information on the latest trends in pay and benefits across the industry.

Public pensions require talented, dedicated professionals with a wide range of skills and experience, from IT specialists to investment managers to front-line benefits administrators. Navigating a complex and evolving labor market requires good data. That’s what the Public Pension Compensation Survey provides. The 2026 edition has seen the most robust participation yet, capturing data from 173 systems that collectively manage $5.9 trillion in assets on behalf of more than 26 million public servants. This year’s survey also provides more granular detail than ever before, breaking down pay and benefits for 100 different positions commonly found at public pension funds.

Some highlights from the 2026 survey include:

• Recruitment and retention challenges continue to ease. A majority of public pensions (62.0%) now report no difficulty attracting and retaining skilled staff, up 4.8 percentage points from last year and nearly 20 points from 2022. This improvement also aligns with the broader “low-hire, low-fire” labor market environment, where hiring, quits, and layoffs have all remained relatively subdued.
• Flexible and remote work are now standard. Eighty percent of systems offer flexible schedules, and 72% provide remote work options, with in-office requirements averaging three days per week for hybrid arrangements.
• Projected salary increases are keeping pace with inflation, but just barely. Survey participants projected average salary increases at 3.7% for the coming fiscal year, against a CPI reading of 3.5%. Communications and Administration departments saw the largest actual increases over the past year, averaging 9.1% and 7.7% respectively.
• Defined benefit and deferred compensation offerings remain core recruitment tools. The vast majority of respondents offer employees a defined benefit plan (87.3%), while deferred compensation plans (78.3%) are growing increasingly common, up 5.2 percentage points from the prior year.

Of course, an industry-wide view only goes so far in establishing useful compensation benchmarks. That’s why, beyond the report itself, NCPERS makes available key cuts of the underlying data through an interactive dashboard. Administrators can narrow their statistical summaries by factors like geography, assets under management, plan membership, and more, giving plan administrators the tools they need to make data-driven decisions based on trends among their true peers.

Plans that provided data to this year’s survey may access the report free of charge, and participating NCPERS members also receive complimentary access to the interactive dashboard. Those that didn’t participate can purchase access with this order form (contact research@ncpers.org with any questions).

2027 Public Retirement Systems Study: Participate by October 23

Even as the 2026 Compensation Survey results land, it’s time to look toward future research. NCPERS has opened data collection for the 2027 Public Retirement Systems Study. The deadline to participate is October 23.

Conducted annually since 2011, the Public Retirement Systems Study is the public pension community’s most comprehensive benchmark of fiscal health, of latest investment practices, and of operational priorities. Each year, the study draws on responses from public pension systems of all sizes, from local funds to the largest statewide plans. The survey captures data on funded status, contribution practices, investment returns and asset allocation, administrative expenses, governance structures, and a range of operational and strategic priorities. This gives plan leaders a detailed, apples-to-apples picture of where their system stands relative to peers across the country. The breadth of what the study tracks, and the consistency of that tracking over more than a decade, makes it an invaluable tool for executive directors, trustees, and board members alike.

All NCPERS members receive complimentary access to the full report and interactive dashboard upon release. With just a few weeks remaining before the October 23 deadline, now is the time to complete your submission. Look for the survey invitation in your inbox, or contact NCPERS Director of Research Matt Eckel at research@ncpers.org with questions about participation.