How much do claims managers make in 2026?
BLS OEWS May 2025 reports a national median of $78,000 a year, or $37.50 an hour, for SOC 13-1031, claims adjusters, examiners and investigators, with a P10 to P90 range of $48,850 to $117,040 across 324,230 workers, and that is the row a claims manager is counted in. The pooling is worth stating plainly, because it works against this title specifically. The code is dominated by individual contributors, so its median describes an experienced adjuster or examiner rather than someone running a unit. A claims manager with a team, a loss ratio and a litigation budget is realistically operating in the upper part of this band, and the largest carrier claims leadership roles sit outside it entirely, in general management codes that OEWS reports separately. Within the band, what moves a manager is span and stakes: the number of examiners supervised, the total indemnity authority delegated to the unit, and whether the line of business is standardised personal lines or contested commercial and specialty work. BLS projects the occupation to shrink 5.1% through 2034 while generating roughly 21,100 openings a year, and unit management is the part of it least exposed to that decline. → Full claims manager career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $78,000 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Claims Managers earn a national median $78,000/yr ($37.50/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-1031); the P10 to P90 range is $48,850 to $117,040.
- The BLS row pools claims managers with the adjusters and examiners they supervise, so the published median understates the title; read the 75th and 90th percentiles as the relevant range and treat the largest carrier leadership roles as sitting above the row entirely.
- Span of control and delegated unit authority move pay more than years of service, and specialty or commercial lines pay above standardised personal lines at the same span.
- Because this is a wage-and-salary series, the annual bonus tied to loss ratio and cycle-time targets that most claims managers carry is not fully reflected in these figures.
US Claims Manager Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do claims managers earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 13-1031; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-1031, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a claims manager earn at each career stage?
Claims management pay tracks the size of the book the unit controls. Each median below is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 13-1031, which pools managers with senior individual contributors.
By State
Which states pay claims managers the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates, not BLS state observations: the national median for SOC 13-1031 scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index. Claims operations are deliberately sited in lower-cost states by many carriers, so a management role in a claims hub can pay competitively against a coastal figure that this model would rank higher.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($89,700), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay claims managers the most?
Metro figures are modeled, national median times state wage index times published metro index, and are not BLS metropolitan observations. For claims leadership the relevant question is where the carrier's claims centre sits, which frequently is not the metro where its head office is.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a claims manager’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does claims manager pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Claims Managers sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify claims manager wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a claims manager actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Claims Manager Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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