Insurance Underwriters
FinanceO*NET 13-2053.00United States
Review individual applications for insurance to evaluate degree of risk involved and determine acceptance of applications.
- Median annual earnings
- $81,247
- Projected change
- +1.2%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 128.42K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
73.3% of the workforce
Growing to 130K by 2035
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These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What insurance underwriters do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Examine documents to determine degree of risk from factors such as applicant health, financial standing and value, and condition of property.
- Decline excessive risks.
- Write to field representatives, medical personnel, or others to obtain further information, quote rates, or explain company underwriting policies.
- Evaluate possibility of losses due to catastrophe or excessive insurance.
- Review company records to determine amount of insurance in force on single risk or group of closely related risks.
- Decrease value of policy when risk is substandard and specify applicable endorsements or apply rating to ensure safe, profitable distribution of risks, using reference materials.
- Authorize reinsurance of policy when risk is high.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $55,398
- 25th percentile
- $64,507
- 50th percentile
- $81,247
- 75th percentile
- $110,447
- 90th percentile
- $145,309
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $81,247 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+1.2%average or slower
2025128,423 jobs
2035 projected129,995 jobs
1,572 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 73.3%
- High school diploma or less
- 10%
- Associate degree
- 10%
- Some college
- 6.7%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Underwriters3,048 postings
- 02Commercial Underwriters835 postings
- 03Underwriting Executives807 postings
- 04Underwriting Associates696 postings
- 05Credit Underwriters392 postings
- 06Underwriting Consultants387 postings
- 07Loss Mitigation Underwriters369 postings
- 08Middle Market Underwriters363 postings
- 09Stop Loss Underwriters353 postings
- 10Consumer Underwriters328 postings
- 11Insurance Underwriters327 postings
- 12Group Underwriters317 postings
- 13Commercial Credit Underwriters312 postings
- 14Excess Casualty Underwriters308 postings
- 15Underwriting Managers307 postings
- 16DE Underwriters275 postings
- 17Underwriting Specialists271 postings
- 18Inland Marine Underwriters269 postings
- 19Underwriting Directors264 postings
- 20Production Underwriters247 postings
Top employers
- 01Zurich Insurance1,111 postings
- 02The Hartford771 postings
- 03Ally490 postings
- 04Liberty Mutual476 postings
- 05Guardian Life433 postings
- 06PNC381 postings
- 07First American Financial379 postings
- 08Elevance Health351 postings
- 09Berkley347 postings
- 10Carrington282 postings
- 11Travelers279 postings
- 12Chubb259 postings
- 13Prime Therapeutics215 postings
- 14Mutual of Omaha214 postings
- 15Ryan Specialty Holdings206 postings
- 16QBE Insurance Group186 postings
- 17AON185 postings
- 18Great American Insurance Group178 postings
- 19Daley And Associates177 postings
- 20Old National Bank176 postings
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