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Property & Casualty Insurance
State Farm, Progressive, Travelers
Actuaries
Actuaries turn messy real-world data into prices, reserves, and risk estimates for insurance and retirement products. The work is unusually quantitative even by finance standards, and the main tradeoff is accuracy versus uncertainty: a small modeling mistake can mean premiums are too low, reserves are too thin, or a product is priced out of the market.
Also known as Pricing ActuaryReserving ActuaryLife ActuaryP&C ActuaryActuarial Consultant
Median Salary
$125,770
Mean $134,990
U.S. Workforce
~28K
2.4K openings per year
10-Year Growth
+21.8%
33.6K to 40.9K
Entry Education
Bachelor's degree
+ None experience
What This Role Looks Like in Practice
Actuaries sits in the Finance category. In practical terms, this role combines day-to-day execution, cross-team coordination, and consistent decision-making under real business constraints.
U.S. employment is currently about ~28K workers, with a median annual pay of $125,770 and roughly 2.4K openings each year. Based on BLS projections, total employment is expected to grow from 33.6 K in 2024 to 40.9K in 2034.
Most hiring paths start with Bachelor's degree in actuarial science, mathematics, statistics, or finance, and employers typically expect none of related experience. Many careers in this track begin around Actuarial Analyst and can progress toward Chief Actuary. High-value skills usually include Mathematical Modeling & Probability, Risk Analysis, Forecasting & Decision Modeling, and Excel, VBA & Spreadsheet Modeling, paired with soft skills such as Critical thinking, Judgment and decision making, and Reading comprehension.
Core Responsibilities
- Study claims and population data to estimate how likely people are to die, get injured, become disabled, retire, or file other types of claims.
- Set premium prices and calculate how much money the company needs to hold back for future payouts and liabilities.
- Build probability charts for events like fires, natural disasters, and unemployment using historical and statistical data.
- Work with programmers, underwriters, claims staff, and managers to design new insurance products or improve existing ones.
Keep exploring: more Finance careers or browse all job titles.
A Day in the Life
01 Study claims and population data to estimate how likely people are to die, get injured, become disabled, retire, or file other types of claims.
02 Set premium prices and calculate how much money the company needs to hold back for future payouts and liabilities.
03 Build probability charts for events like fires, natural disasters, and unemployment using historical and statistical data.
04 Work with programmers, underwriters, claims staff, and managers to design new insurance products or improve existing ones.
05 Explain pricing, reserve, and risk findings to executives, regulators, shareholders, policyholders, and sometimes the public.
06 Help define policy terms, decide how surplus earnings are shared, and negotiate reinsurance arrangements with other insurers.
Industries That Hire
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Life Insurance & Annuities
MetLife, New York Life, Northwestern Mutual
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Consulting & Advisory
Milliman, Mercer, Willis Towers Watson
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Health Insurance & Managed Care
UnitedHealth Group, Cigna, Elevance Health
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Reinsurance
Munich Re, Swiss Re, Hannover Re
Pros and Cons
Advantages
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The pay is strong, with a mean annual wage of $134,990 and a median of $125,770.
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The job has solid growth prospects, with employment projected to rise 21.8% from 2024 to 2034.
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There are about 2.4K annual openings, so the field should keep producing regular hiring opportunities.
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You can enter with a bachelor's degree and no prior work experience, which keeps the path relatively clear at the start.
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The work combines math, data, and business judgment, so it is intellectually demanding without being purely academic.
Challenges
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The exam and training path is long, and employers expect long-term on-the-job training before you are fully established.
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A lot of the work sits in insurance and related financial services, so the career market is narrower than many other analytics jobs.
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Pricing and reserving decisions are unforgiving: if assumptions are off, the company can misprice products or understate liabilities by a lot.
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Routine modeling, reporting, and data-cleaning tasks are structured enough that software and automation can absorb part of the work over time.
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You often have to defend complicated statistical conclusions to nontechnical leaders, and business pressure can push against the numbers.
Career Progression
Actuarial Analyst
0-2 years
$70K-$94K
Supports pricing, reserve, and data analysis work while learning the tools, methods, and exams needed for the profession.
Associate Actuary
2-5 years
$95K-$119K
Handles more complex models and begins owning pieces of pricing, reserving, or product support with light supervision.
Actuary THIS ROLE
5-9 years
$120K-$160K
Builds and reviews models, sets assumptions, and explains risk findings to business leaders and regulators.
Senior Actuary
9-15 years
$161K-$210K
Leads major projects, signs off on assumptions, and advises on product strategy, capital planning, and reinsurance.
Chief Actuary
15+ years
$211K-$300K
Oversees the actuarial function, sets standards for risk decisions, and represents the company on high-stakes financial and regulatory issues.
Education Paths
Bachelor's degree in actuarial science, mathematics, statistics, or finance
The most common entry point, held by 78.57% of workers in this role.
First professional degree
A smaller but real pathway, held by 10.71% of workers in this role.
Post-baccalaureate certificate plus actuarial exams
Another alternative route, held by 10.71% of workers in this role.
Professional actuarial exams and employer training
Not a formal degree path, but many employers expect long-term on-the-job training and exam progress after hiring.
Key Skills
Technical
Mathematical Modeling & Probability 85%
Risk Analysis, Forecasting & Decision Modeling 85%
Excel, VBA & Spreadsheet Modeling 83%
SQL & Data Querying 82%
R, Python & SAS Statistical Analysis 82%
Actuarial Pricing, Reserving & Forecasting Software (Prophet, AXIS) 80%
Soft Skills
Critical thinkingJudgment and decision makingReading comprehensionActive listeningComplex problem solvingSpeaking Job Outlook and Trends
+21.8%
Projected growth (2024-2034)
2.4K
Annual job openings
Employment is projected to rise from 33.6K to 40.9 K over the next decade, representing 21.8% growth. Around 2.4 K openings per year include both newly created roles and replacement hiring from turnover.
Remote availability is currently Moderate. Demand remains strongest where employers need practical domain knowledge plus modern workflow and data skills.