How much do insurance brokers make in 2026?
Insurance brokers are counted in SOC 41-3021, insurance sales agents, which BLS OEWS May 2025 reports at a national median of $62,280 a year, or $29.94 an hour, with a P10 to P90 range of $37,330 to $138,140 across 479,100 workers. The distinction between an agent and a broker is legal and economic rather than cosmetic: a broker represents the client and shops the market, an agent represents the carrier under an appointment. That difference shows up in compensation as fee arrangements alongside commission, contingent and profit-sharing income at the brokerage level, and, on larger commercial accounts, negotiated service fees disclosed to the client. None of that is well captured by an employer wage survey, and independent brokerage owners are outside the survey's scope altogether because it covers wage-and-salary workers. Within employed brokerage staff the pay driver is account size and specialisation. A personal lines broker sits near the bottom of this band, a middle-market commercial broker near the median, and a specialist in construction, professional lines, marine or employee benefits well into the upper quartile. BLS projects 3.7% growth through 2034 with roughly 47,000 openings a year. → Full insurance broker career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $62,280 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Insurance Brokers earn a national median $62,280/yr ($29.94/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 41-3021); the P10 to P90 range is $37,330 to $138,140.
- Brokers share SOC 41-3021 with captive and independent agents, and the series covers wage-and-salary workers only, so brokerage principals and their contingent income are outside the sample entirely.
- Account size and specialism set position in the band: personal lines near the bottom, middle-market commercial near the median, and construction, professional lines, marine or benefits specialists in the upper quartile.
- Broker compensation increasingly mixes disclosed fees with commission on larger accounts, which an employer wage survey captures unevenly.
US Insurance Broker Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do insurance brokers 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 41-3021; 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 41-3021, 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 an insurance broker earn at each career stage?
Brokerage pay follows the accounts you can win and keep. Each median below is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 41-3021.
By State
Which states pay insurance brokers the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates, not BLS state observations: the national median for SOC 41-3021 multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index. Brokerage earnings depend on the commercial premium available in a market rather than on general wage levels, and surplus lines authority is licensed state by state, so use this table as cost-of-living context only.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($71,620), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay insurance brokers the most?
Metro figures are modeled, national median times state wage index times published metro index, not BLS metropolitan observations. Large commercial and specialty brokerage genuinely concentrates in a handful of metros, but that reflects where the risk and the capacity are, which this model does not measure.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise an insurance broker’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 insurance broker pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Insurance Brokers 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 insurance broker wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does an insurance broker 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
Insurance Broker Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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