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National ESOP Database

Description

The ESOP Database is a comprehensive nationwide database of ESOPs, suitable for B2B outreach, marketing, or policy research. The database includes data from plan year 2022 Form 5500 filings (or the most recent available filing before 2022) for 6,331 ESOPs. It is provided as a .xlsx spreadsheet and includes a codebook describing the fields. Each row corresponds to one ESOP and each column contains information about that plan. 

The ESOP Database combines plan data from the Department of Labor with new and exclusive additional information gathered from research by the NCEO on all ESOP companies, including a field for percentage ESOP ownership for companies that make that information public. This is not reported in the Form 5500 or other sources. 

Fields in the database include:

  • Sponsor company name
  • DBA name of the sponsor company where applicable
  • Sponsor street address
  • Sponsor industry (six-digit NAICS code, sector name, and detailed industry name)
  • Date of ESOP creation
  • Number of participants (active and total)
  • Total plan assets amount
  • Plan employer securities amount
  • Plan contributions
  • Plan distributions
  • S or C corporation indicator
  • KSOP indicator
  • Collectively bargained plan indicator
  • Leveraged/non-leveraged ESOP indicator

Additional fields:

  • Percentage ESOP ownership where available
  • Company website URL where available
  • Indicator of whether employee ownership is mentioned in the company's website
  • Indicator for publicly traded companies, including cases where the ESOP company is a subsidiary of a public company

Following DOL standard practices, the database excludes plans covering only one participant. We also exclude terminated plans. 

Download a sample of the data here.

Regional ESOP Databases 

Separate databases are available for each of the nine U.S. Census regions. These smaller lists include all of the same data fields as the 2024 national ESOP Database.

Industry ESOP Databases

Separate databases are available for each of the five largest ESOP industries. These smaller lists include all of the same data fields as the 2024 national ESOP Database.

State and Industry ESOP Slides

NCEO members can download ESOP fact sheets for each state or major industry, featuring a map of ESOP company locations, the number of ESOP plans and participants, an industry breakdown, and more. 

For questions about the ESOP database or any NCEO research, contact research@nceo.org.