457(b) Contribution Limit 2026
Current year
For 2026, the 457(b) Contribution Limit figures are $24,500 (Deferral limit), +$8,000 (Catch-up limit, age 50 and over) and +$11,250 (Catch-up limit, ages 60 through 63).
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Notice 2025-67 (IRS)Verified 2026-09-04
Compared with 2025
| Item | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deferral limit | $23,500 | $24,500 | +$1,000 (+4.3%) |
| Catch-up limit, age 50 and over | +$7,500 | +$8,000 | +$500 (+6.7%) |
| Catch-up limit, ages 60 through 63 | +$11,250 | +$11,250 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Participants in eligible deferred compensation plans maintained by state and local government employers and tax-exempt organizations under section 457(e)(15) of the Internal Revenue Code
What changed this year, and why
Effective January 1, 2026, the annual deferral limit for eligible deferred compensation plans of state and local governments and tax-exempt organizations is $24,500. This limit, set under section 457(e)(15) of the Internal Revenue Code, was increased by a cost-of-living adjustment from the prior year.
Common questions
- Is there a catch-up provision for participants nearing retirement?
- Participants in these plans who are within three years of normal retirement age may be eligible to defer more than the standard annual limit under a separate catch-up provision.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The 457(b) contribution planner takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
Your limit is the lesser of the dollar cap and your includible compensation
For 2026, the IRS limits how much you can defer into a governmental 457(b) plan to the lesser of $24,500 or your includible compensation for the year. That means if your includible compensation is below the dollar cap, your deferral limit is that lower figure rather than the full amount. Includible compensation is generally your Form W-2 wages plus any elective deferrals already made on your behalf. It covers salaries, professional-service fees, commissions, tips, bonuses, fringe benefits, and other amounts received for personal services performed during the year. The rule applies to employees of state or local governments and tax-exempt organizations who participate in a section 457 plan. No catch-up provision - whether the age 50 catch-up or the special three-year pre-retirement catch-up - can push total deferrals above the includible compensation you actually earned.
Includible compensation. Generally, this is your Form W-2 wages plus elective deferrals.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
The special catch-up in the last 3 years before normal retirement age
A section 457 plan may offer a special catch-up in the last 3 years before you reach normal retirement age under the plan. If the plan provides this increased limit, your deferral ceiling for each of those years becomes the lesser of 2 alternative amounts. First, the limit can be twice the basic annual limit - for 2026, that means twice $24,500. Second, the limit can be the basic annual limit of $24,500 plus any portion of the basic limit that went unused in earlier years, but this second alternative is permitted only if you are not also using the age-50-or-over catch-up contributions. You may use the special 3-year catch-up for any or all of the final 3 years before normal retirement age, but you must choose whichever of the 2 formulas produces the smaller result. This catch-up is generally more valuable than the age-50 catch-up for participants close to retirement whose prior-year deferrals were low, but the plan terms govern whether it is available at all.
During any, or all, of the last 3 years ending before you reach normal re- tirement age under the plan, your plan may pro- vide that your limit is the lesser of: 1. Twice the annual limit ($47,000 for 2025), or 2. The basic annual limit plus the amount of the basic limit not used in prior years (only allowed if not using age 50-or-over catch-up contributions).
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
The age 50 catch-up, and who can use it
A governmental 457(b) plan in the United States may allow participants who are at least 50 years old to make catch-up elective deferrals on top of the regular $24,500 limit. You qualify for this age 50 catch-up if you reached age 50 by the end of the calendar year and no other elective deferrals can be made for you under the plan for that year because of limits or restrictions - meaning the regular deferral cap (or a lower plan-specific ceiling) has already been reached. When you meet both conditions, the plan may let you defer an additional amount above the regular limit. However, if you are also within three years of the plan's normal retirement age and the plan offers the special pre-retirement catch-up, that separate provision may produce a still higher limit, and the two catch-ups cannot be used together. The age 50 catch-up does not allow deferrals to exceed includible compensation.
No other elective deferrals can be made for you to the plan for the year because of lim- its or restrictions.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
The window to pull out an excess deferral closes April 15
If you defer more than the annual limit into a governmental section 457(b) plan, the excess must be removed by April 15 of the year after the deferral was made. You must notify each plan holding your excess by that plan's own deadline how much should be paid out of that particular plan. The plan returns the excess deferral together with any income it earned while in the account. You include the excess in your income for the year you made the deferral, and adjust your individual tax return accordingly. If you participate in more than one 457(b) plan, you may choose which plan (or plans) distributes the excess, as long as the plan permits these distributions. Missing the April 15 deadline triggers a harsher tax result: the excess is taxed a second time when it is eventually paid out, and it cannot be counted as after-tax investment in the contract either. Removing the excess on time ensures you are taxed only once on the over-contributed amount.
The plan must then pay you the amount of the ex- cess, along with any income earned on that amount, by April 15 of the following year.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
There is no form to file - your employer reports it on your W-2
You do not file a separate form with the IRS to report your 457(b) elective deferrals. Instead, your employer handles the reporting. Your employer generally should not include elective deferrals in your wages in box 1 of Form W-2. Instead, your employer marks the "Retirement plan" checkbox in box 13 of your W-2 and shows the total amount deferred in box 12. This means the deferral is reported to the IRS through your employer's payroll records, and you simply see it reflected on the W-2 you receive. You do not need to file any additional paperwork to report the deferral itself.
Reporting by employer. Your employer gen- erally shouldn’t include elective deferrals in your wages in box 1 of Form W-2. Instead, your em- ployer should mark the “Retirement plan” checkbox in box 13 and show the total amount deferred in box 12.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
A 457(b) limit does not share room with a 401(k) or 403(b)
IRS Publication 525 groups elective deferral plans into two sets for the annual limit. The first three plan types on its list - a section 401(k) plan, the Thrift Savings Plan, and a salary reduction SEP - share one combined limit. A section 457 plan is the seventh type on that same list, grouped instead with a SIMPLE plan, a section 403(b) plan, and a section 501(c)(18)(D) plan, each of which the publication says has its own specific plan limit rather than a share of the first group's combined figure. Because the publication treats a section 457 plan's limit as one of these separate, specific plan limits rather than folding it into the combined figure for the first group, a worker who defers into both a section 401(k) plan and a governmental section 457 plan in the same year is measured against two separately stated limits rather than one shared figure split between the two accounts. The same separation holds between a section 457 plan and a section 403(b) plan, since a section 403(b) plan is also one of the specific-limit plan types rather than part of the combined group.
of contributions to the plans listed in (1) through (3), earlier, unless you are age 50 or older. The specific plan limits for the plans listed in (4) through (7), earlier, are discussed later.
Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income (IRS)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Notice 2025-67 (IRS)
- Deferral limit
The limitation on deferrals under section 457(e)(15) concerning deferred compensation plans of state and local governments and tax-exempt organizations is increased from $23,500 to $24,500.
- Catch-up limit, age 50 and over
The limitation under section 414(v)(2)(B)(i) for catch-up contributions to an applicable employer plan other than a plan described in section 401(k)(11) or section 408(p) that generally applies for individuals aged 50 or over is increased from $7,500 to $8,000.
- Catch-up limit, ages 60 through 63
The limitation under section 414(v)(2)(E)(i) for catch-up contributions to an applicable employer plan other than a plan described in section 401(k)(11) or section 408(p) that applies for individuals who attain age 60, 61, 62, or 63 in 2026 remains $11,250.
By year
Every published year
11 years on record, 2026 back to 2016. Each year links to its own page, its own document and its own verification date.
Oldest year at the left. Every line spans the same run of years, with a tick under each year it has a figure for, so a line that starts late is a column the law added late. The vertical axis is scaled to the values plotted rather than to zero, so a line shows the shape of the change and not the size of the amount. The table states every value.
| Year | Deferral limit | Catch-up limit, age 50 and over | Catch-up limit, ages 60 through 63 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $24,500 | +$8,000 | +$11,250 |
| 2025 | $23,500 | +$7,500 | +$11,250 |
| 2024 | $23,000 | +$7,500 | -1 |
| 2023 | $22,500 | +$7,500 | -1 |
| 2022 | $20,500 | +$6,500 | -1 |
| 2021 | $19,500 | +$6,500 | -1 |
| 2020 | $19,500 | +$6,500 | -1 |
| 2019 | $19,000 | +$6,000 | -1 |
| 2018 | $18,500 | +$6,000 | -1 |
| 2017 | $18,000 | +$6,000 | -1 |
| 2016 | $18,000 | +$6,000 | -1 |
- SECURE 2.0 Act § 109 added § 414(v)(2)(E), a larger catch-up limit for participants who turn 60 through 63 during the year, effective for taxable years beginning after 2024. No earlier year's law had this age band at all
Download every year as a csv. One row per published figure, each carrying the document it was read from and the date it was checked.