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12 Cities Where Most Workers Don't Have a 401(k)

If you participate in a traditional pension or 401(k) plan through your job, consider yourself to be among the more fortunate half of the population. Only about half (49 percent) of full-time private sector workers use a workplace retirement plan, according to a Pew Charitable Trust analysis of Census Bureau data. And 40 percent of full-time employees aren't even provided with the opportunity to participate in a retirement plan at work.

[Read: A Guide to Getting a Pension.]

However, some areas of the country have considerably better retirement benefits than others. The proportion of workers with access to a retirement plan varies form 71 percent in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Scranton, Pennsylvania, to 23 percent in McAllen, Texas. Cities with low access to retirement benefits are largely concentrated in just three states: Florida, Texas and California.

Here are the metropolitan areas where full-time employees are the least likely to be eligible to participate in a retirement plan at work.

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McAllen, Texas. Only 23 percent of workers in the McAllen metro area, which includes Edinburg and Pharr, are provided with an employer-based retirement plan, the lowest of any metropolitan area in the country. And just 18 percent of workers participate in a retirement plan. "In McAllen, Texas, the metropolitan statistical area with the lowest retirement plan access rate among those analyzed, 95 percent of private sector workers are Hispanic," according to the Pew Charitable Trust report. "Hispanic workers also have lower average incomes and are more likely to work in industries in which retirement plans are less common."

Fort Myers, Florida. Almost a third (32 percent) of workers in the Fort Myers and Cape Coral metro area have the opportunity to participate in a retirement plan, but only about a quarter (26 percent) use the benefit.

Miami, Florida. In the Miami metro area, which also includes Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach, 31 percent of workers use a retirement plan, compared to 37 percent of employees who have an opportunity to participate. Among part-time workers, just 19 percent are eligible for a retirement plan, which is among the lowest of all the major metro areas in the study, Pew found.

El Paso, Texas. Many workers in El Paso don't take advantage of a retirement plan, even when one is offered. While 41 percent of workers have the option to join a retirement plan, only 30 percent save in the plan.

Sarasota, Florida. The Florida metro area that includes Sarasota, Bradenton and Venice has a 36 percent rate of retirement benefit participation, compared to 42 percent of workers who are offered retirement plans.

Los Angeles, California. In the Los Angeles metro area, which includes Long Beach and Santa Ana, 45 percent of workers are eligible for a retirement plan and 39 percent participate. Far fewer part-time workers (24 percent) have the option to participate in a retirement plan. People who live outside the city (49 percent) are more likely to have retirement benefits than those who reside in the city center (42 percent).

[See: The Best Cities for Retirement Jobs.]

Lakeland, Florida. In the Lakeland and Winter Haven metro area 39 percent of full-time workers save in a retirement plan, compared to 47 percent of workers who have the option to use a 401(k) or pension.

San Antonio, Texas. Some 47 percent of full-time employees in San Antonio are provided with retirement benefits through their job, and 41 percent take advantage of the retirement plan. However, only about a quarter (26 percent) of part-time employees are eligible for retirement benefits.

Deltona, Florida. There's an 11 percentage point gap between the proportion of Deltona area workers who are offered a retirement plan (48 percent) and the employees who elect to participate (37 percent).

Bakersfield, California. While almost half (48 percent) of full-time employees in Bakersfield have jobs that provide a retirement plan, just 38 percent sign up for the benefit. Only 20 percent of part-time employees have access to retirement benefits, which is among the lowest in the country.

Oxnard, California. Almost half (48 percent) of employees in the Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Ventura metro area work for employers that provide a retirement plan, and almost as many employees (43 percent) take advantage of it.

Riverside, California. Just under half (49 percent) of full-time workers in the California metro area that includes Riverside and San Bernardino have the opportunity to participate in a retirement plan, but only 41 percent use a 401(k), pension or similar type of workplace retirement benefit.

On the other end of the spectrum, employers in a few cities provide retirement benefits to 70 percent or more of their full-time workers, including Grand Rapids, Wyoming; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Portland, Maine; Madison, Wisconsin; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

[See: 10 Alternatives to Full-Time Retirement.]

Workers who have retirement benefits are much more likely to be preparing for retirement. A 2016 Employee Benefit Research Institute survey found that 38 percent of workers without a retirement plan say they are not at all confident about their financial security in retirement, compared to 11 percent of workers who have a pension, 401(k), IRA or other type of retirement account. Only 10 percent of workers without retirement benefits say they feel very confident about their retirement prospects. "There is a clear dichotomy between those who have some type of retirement plan and those who do not," says Craig Copeland, a senior research associate for the Employee Benefit Research Institute. "Nearly half of those without a plan think they will have to wait until at least age 70 to retire or not retire at all."

Emily Brandon is the author of "Pensionless: The 10-Step Solution for a Stress-Free Retirement."



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