403(b) contribution limits 2026 for schools, hospitals and charities
A 403(b) has the same personal deferral limit as a 401(k), and the two are counted together. The calculator gives your 2026 figure from your birth year and pay; the 15-year service increase is explained below, since only the employer's records can settle it.
Your 2026 deferral limit
$32,500
age 50 catch-up, age 52 on December 31, 2026.
| Base limit | $24,500 |
| Catch-up (age 50 catch-up) | $8,000 |
| Catch-up must be Roth | no |
| Per month to reach it | $2,708 |
Roth catch-up rule: required when 2025 FICA wages from the employer exceed $150,000 (Notice 2025-67).
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · limits read on irs.gov · not personal financial advice
In 2026 an employee of a public school, a college, a hospital, a church or another 501(c)(3) organization can defer up to $24,500 of salary into a 403(b) plan. From the year you turn 50 the limit rises by $8,000 to $32,500, and in the years you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 by $11,250 to $35,750. That limit is personal: deferrals to a 401(k) at a second job in the same year count against it. Some plans also offer a 15-year rule for long-serving staff, worth up to $3,000 more a year, which can lift the base to $27,500. A nurse born in 1974 earning $92,000 can defer $32,500 in 2026; a teacher born in 1984 is limited to $24,500. A governmental 457(b), if your employer also offers one, has a separate limit of its own.
Who has a 403(b) and what the 2026 numbers are
Section 403(b) plans are open to employees of public schools and state colleges, of organizations exempt under section 501(c)(3) such as hospitals, charities, private schools and research institutes, and to ministers and church employees. The deferral limit comes from the same section 402(g) amount that governs a 401(k), and Notice 2025-67 raised it for 2026 (Notice 2025-67).
| Your situation in 2026 | Salary deferral limit |
|---|---|
| Under 50 on December 31 | $24,500 |
| 50 to 59, or 64 and over | $32,500 |
| Turning 60, 61, 62 or 63 (born 1963 to 1966) | $35,750 |
| 15-year rule only, plan permitting | up to $27,500 |
Deferrals can be pre-tax or Roth if the plan has a Roth option, and both kinds share the one limit. Contributions from the employer, such as a hospital match or a school district's fixed percentage, do not use any of it. They fall under the total cap of section 415(c), $72,000 or 100 % of includible compensation if lower, where catch-ups are left out.
Age catch-ups in a 403(b)
Age is read on December 31: a social worker born in 1976 turns 50 in 2026 and can add the $8,000 from January, even before the birthday. The larger $11,250 applies only in the four calendar years in which you turn 60 to 63. A hospital pharmacist born in 1965 is 61 at the end of 2026 and has $35,750 of room. The jump ends in the year you turn 64, when the standard amount returns.
The Roth catch-up rule reaches 403(b) plans as it does 401(k) plans. If your FICA wages from the employer sponsoring the plan were above $150,000 in 2025 (box 3 of the W-2), your 2026 catch-up must be designated Roth. The pharmacist above, with $158,000 of 2025 wages, therefore puts the $11,250 in as Roth. A plan with no Roth option cannot accept catch-ups from someone above that line. Many public school plans added a Roth feature for this reason; check the plan's summary.
Your 403(b) limit at your age
Your 2026 deferral limit
$35,750
| Base limit | $24,500 |
| Catch-up (age 60 to 63 catch-up) | $11,250 |
| Catch-up must be Roth | no |
| Per month to reach it | $2,979 |
The 15-year rule: an extra amount computed by your employer
This increase exists only in 403(b) plans and only when the plan document allows it. You need at least 15 years of service with the same qualifying employer: Publication 571 describes it for an educational organization, a hospital, a home health service agency, a health and welfare service agency, a church or a convention or association of churches (Publication 571). The limit then increases by the least of three amounts:
- $3,000 for the year;
- $15,000, minus the 15-year increases already used in earlier years, which makes $15,000 a lifetime ceiling;
- $5,000 times your years of service with that employer, minus all the elective deferrals it made for you in earlier years.
The third test is the one that usually decides. Someone who has deferred heavily for 15 years has no unused amount left, while a librarian who started saving late may qualify for the full $3,000. When both the 15-year increase and the age 50 catch-up apply, Publication 571 says to allocate amounts first to the 15-year rule and then to the catch-up, so a 52 year old with the full increase could defer $35,500. Because years of service and past deferrals live in the employer's payroll records, this site does not compute the increase: ask the benefits office or the plan's vendor for the maximum includible amount calculation.
One limit with a 401(k), a separate one with a 457(b)
The $24,500 is a limit on you, not on each plan. A nurse who works at a nonprofit hospital with a 403(b) and picks up shifts at a for-profit clinic with a 401(k) has one shared deferral room for both. If the two employers each let her defer the full amount, the excess must come back out by April 15, 2027, or it is taxed twice: once in 2026 and again when withdrawn.
A governmental 457(b) is different. Its limit under section 457(e)(15) is counted apart, so a school district employee offered both plans can defer the full amount in each. The nurse born in 1974 earning $92,000 would reach $65,000 with a 403(b) and a governmental 457(b) together, catch-ups included. The 457(b) page shows that stacking in detail.
A 403(b) plus a 457(b): your combined room
403(b) and 457(b) together in 2026
$65,000
| 403(b) or 401(k) deferral | $32,500 |
| Governmental 457(b) deferral | $32,500 |
| Catch-up in each plan | $8,000 |
| Share of pay | 71 % |
Pay, timing and common errors
A deferral cannot exceed your includible compensation for the year, which matters for part-time staff and adjuncts: a teacher born in 1984 with a $68,000 salary can still defer $24,500, but someone earning less than the limit is capped at pay. Deferrals must come out of paychecks dated within the calendar year, so a teacher on a ten-month contract who spreads pay over twelve months should check which checks fall in 2026.
Three mistakes come up often. Some pages still print the limit of a past year as if it were current, which makes people under-save. Others say the 15-year rule adds $3,000 to everyone with long service, without the lifetime and past-deferral tests. And some readers believe a 403(b) has a lower limit than a 401(k) because it is a nonprofit plan; it does not. For the general rules see the 401(k) limit page and the catch-up guide; the Roth catch-up page covers the wage test.