Context The Public Plans Dataset compiles publicly-available information on major U.S. public pension plans from their annual reporting. This includes state-level plans as well as some large plans from localities such as New York City and Chicago. Content The Public Plans Dataset has data compiled from the actuarial reports and CAFRs (comprehensive annual financial reports) for major plans. It includes balance sheet (assets/liabilities), income (e.g., investment income), and cash flow (e.g., benefit payments) information. In addition, there are items such as number of beneficiaries receiving payment, the number of active participants, the number vested, etc. The current set covers fiscal years 2001 - 2016, which usually run mid-year to mid-year (this can differ by plan). Acknowledgements Data from Public Plans Data: http://publicplansdata.org/public-plans-database/ The Public Plans Data project comes out of a partnership between the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR) and the Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE). The National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA), which has been collecting and sharing public plan data since 2001, supports the partnership by providing review and assistance on the development of data models, validation of data, and development and administration of surveys. More here: http://publicplansdata.org/about/our-research/ Cover Photo by ashutosh nandeshwar on Unsplash Inspiration The Center for Retirement Research often produces research briefs based on this data, which can be found here: http://publicplansdata.org/research/issue-briefs/?category=crr Questions I have been pursuing using this data: * What has been driving decreasing funded ratios in U.S. pensions? * Which pension plans are sustainable? Which are in trouble? * Is there a link between pension fundedness and investment strategy? It may be useful to link these data sets to information on various state/local revenue amounts, in order to determine sustainability of pension costs.