If you are searching for where to find the 401k contribution limit the IRS publishes, the answer is two specific pages on IRS.gov, not a financial institution's blog post or a payroll calculator. The IRS publishes the current-year number two ways: an annual newsroom announcement issued each fall for the following year, and an evergreen "Retirement Topics" reference page the IRS updates once the new limit takes effect. As of the date this was checked, September 18, 2026, the IRS's own pages state the 2026 employee elective deferral limit at $24,500. That figure moves every year, so confirm the number that applies to your plan year directly on irs.gov before you rely on it for anything.
Where to Find the 401(k) Contribution Limit: The Two IRS Pages
The IRS does not publish contribution limits in one single place; it publishes them twice, in two different formats, and knowing which one you are reading matters.
The first is the annual newsroom release. Each fall, the IRS issues a cost-of-living-adjustment notice and a matching press release announcing the following year's limits across every plan type: 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457 plans, the federal Thrift Savings Plan, SIMPLE plans and IRAs. For 2026, that release is titled 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500, on irs.gov, read September 18, 2026, and it is built on IRS Notice 2025-67, issued in November 2025. This is the page to search for by year, because it is the IRS stating the number in its own words, not a summary of it.
The second is the standing reference page, Retirement topics – 401(k) and profit-sharing plan contribution limits, on irs.gov, read September 18, 2026. This page does not carry a year in its title because the IRS keeps it current, replacing the old figures with the new ones once a notice takes effect. It is the better bookmark for a plan participant, because it explains the mechanics (elective deferrals, catch-up eligibility, the combined employer-and-employee ceiling) in one continuous page rather than a year-by-year press release archive.
What the IRS Currently States, With Its Date
Treat the following as a snapshot, not a standing fact, and confirm each figure on the IRS pages above before acting on it.
| 2026 figure (per IRS Notice 2025-67) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Employee elective deferral limit (401(k), 403(b), governmental 457) | $24,500 |
| Catch-up limit, age 50 and over | $8,000 |
| Catch-up limit, ages 60 to 63 (SECURE 2.0) | $11,250 |
| Combined employee plus employer limit (Section 415(c)) | $72,000 |
Every one of those numbers can be revised, corrected or superseded by a later IRS release, and they apply only to the calendar year named. Do not carry this year's figure into next year's return, next year's payroll election or a different plan type without checking the page again.
Why a Number You See Elsewhere Might Not Match
Search results for a contribution limit query surface plenty of pages that are not the IRS: payroll providers, brokerages, benefits consultants and calculator sites. Most of these mirror the IRS figure accurately and cite it, and several, including major brokerages, publish clean summaries worth reading for context. But a secondary source can lag the IRS by days or weeks after a notice is issued, round a number, or describe a plan type that is not yours. A 403(b) limit, a SIMPLE 401(k) limit and a standard 401(k) limit are not automatically identical, even though headlines sometimes flatten them into one number.
There is a second, more common reason the number you see does not match what lands in your paycheck: the IRS limit is a ceiling, not a plan's actual limit. Some employers configure their plan below the IRS maximum, whether for administrative reasons or nondiscrimination testing tied to how much higher-paid employees can defer. Your plan's own limit is stated in your Summary Plan Description or your payroll system's election screen, and it is the number that governs your paycheck, even in a year when the IRS ceiling is higher.
How to Read the Notice Once You Find It
An IRS cost-of-living-adjustment notice, such as Notice 2025-67 for the 2026 year, lists dozens of dollar figures in one document: elective deferral limits, catch-up limits by plan type, the annual compensation limit, IRA limits, income phase-out ranges for Roth eligibility and the saver's credit, and more. The newsroom release condenses this into the handful of figures most participants care about, but the notice itself is the primary legal source if a plan administrator, CPA or attorney needs the underlying citation.
When you open either page, match your plan type first. A 401(k) figure does not automatically apply to a 403(b) or a governmental 457 plan even though several of the dollar amounts happen to be the same for a given year. Then match your age bracket, since the standard catch-up and the age 60 to 63 catch-up are two different figures with two different eligibility windows. Reading the wrong row is the most common way this kind of page gets misread.
What This Means for a Paycheck Election
None of this is a suggestion about how much to defer from your own paycheck; a contribution limit is a ceiling, not a target, and how much of it you use depends on your own budget, other savings and goals that this article does not know. What the limit does affect is the mechanics: it caps how much your payroll system will let you elect for the calendar year, and most payroll systems stop your own deferrals automatically once you hit whichever limit, IRS or plan-specific, applies to you. If your plan allows a mid-year change to your deferral percentage, that change interacts with whichever limit is lower. Questions about how a specific limit applies to your own paycheck, your specific plan's design or a mid-year correction belong with your plan administrator or HR benefits contact, who can see your actual plan document; a CPA or enrolled agent is the right contact for how the limit interacts with your broader tax return.
When the Number Changes and How Often to Check
The IRS adjusts most retirement plan dollar limits annually for cost of living, and the adjustment is not automatic or predictable in size from one year to the next; some years carry a larger increase than others, and in a low-inflation year a limit can stay flat. The announcement for a given calendar year is typically issued in the preceding fall, which is why a November notice governs the following January's payroll elections. A reasonable habit is to check the IRS reference page once at the start of each plan year, and again anytime you change employers, change plan types, or turn an age that unlocks a different catch-up bracket, rather than relying on last year's number carried forward from memory or from an old article.
Retirement Accounts Are a Family, Not One Rule
A 401(k) is one member of a family of tax-advantaged retirement accounts that includes 403(b) plans for many nonprofit and public-sector employees, governmental 457 plans, and Individual Retirement Accounts opened outside of any employer. Each carries its own contribution limit, its own eligibility rule and, in some cases, its own catch-up structure, so a figure that is accurate for one account type is not a safe substitute for another. The habit of checking a primary source rather than trusting a remembered number applies just as much to a retirement account as it does to checking a medical bill for errors against what was actually billed. Because every one of these dollar limits is adjusted on its own annual schedule, the safest single habit is the same one this whole article has described: go to the IRS's own current page for the specific account type in question, note the date you read it, and treat everything else, including this article, as a pointer to that page rather than a replacement for it. Naming a beneficiary on the account once it exists deserves the same care; see how a life insurance beneficiary designation works for the same logic applied to a different account type.
FAQ
Where exactly on IRS.gov is the 401(k) contribution limit published?
Two places: the annual newsroom announcement for the year in question, issued each fall, and the standing "Retirement topics – 401(k) and profit-sharing plan contribution limits" reference page, which the IRS updates to reflect the current figure once a new notice takes effect.
Is the 401(k) limit the same as the IRA contribution limit?
No. They are separate limits set in the same annual IRS notice. A 401(k) elective deferral limit and an IRA contribution limit are different dollar figures, and contributing the maximum to one does not affect your room under the other, though income can affect IRA deductibility separately.
What if my employer's plan limit is lower than the IRS maximum?
Then your plan's limit governs your paycheck election, not the IRS ceiling. Ask your plan administrator or HR benefits contact for your plan's own limit, which is also stated in your Summary Plan Description.
How often does the IRS update the contribution limit?
Generally once a year, through a cost-of-living-adjustment notice issued in the fall for the following calendar year. The size of the increase, if any, varies by year and is not guaranteed.
Does the age 50 catch-up limit change every year too?
Yes, and separately from the standard limit. The IRS also sets a distinct, higher catch-up figure for participants aged 60 to 63 under the SECURE 2.0 Act, so check both figures by age bracket rather than assuming one catch-up number covers everyone 50 and older.
General information only. This article does not provide individualized financial, tax or legal advice, and it names no specific contribution amount as a recommendation. Confirm the current-year figures and how they apply to your own plan with your plan administrator, a CPA or enrolled agent, or directly on irs.gov.
