What Do We Know About the Universe of State and Local Plans?

Introduction

Several surveys report data on public pension plans, but they tend to focus on the 120 major state systems and some include a sampling of locally administered plans.  The Census of Governments is the only source that reports on the entire universe of state administered plans, in addition to more than 2,000 locally administered plans.  This brief describes that population, reports on the investment performance of different types of public plans, and compares the investment performance of public and private plans.