Agent vs broker

The differences between agents and brokers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a broker has an average salary of $124,861, which is higher than the $37,864 average annual salary of an agent.

The top three skills for an agent include insurance products, customer service and life insurance. The most important skills for a broker are brokerage, financial services, and insurance products.

Agent vs broker overview

	Agent	Broker
Yearly salary	$37,864	$124,861
Hourly rate	$18.20	$60.03
Growth rate	6%	5%
Number of jobs	184,325	2,770
Job satisfaction	2	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	46	49
Years of experience	-	-

What does an agent do?

Agents are individuals who are employed by their clients to represent them in various dealings. Agents are usually employed by people in the show business industry, such as actors, writers, or directors. They meet people who are interested in dealing with their clients. They listen to the plans and vision for the project and assess if the project fits their clients' interests or public image. In the case of agents whose clients are actors, they send their clients to auditions upon review of the project details. Agents are also responsible for negotiating terms on behalf of their clients, such as salary, royalties, and set benefits, among others. They also inform the project leaders of their clients' demands on set. Agents are expected to be business-savvy and good negotiators.

What does a broker do?

Brokers can either be a firm or an individual acting as an intermediary between a securities exchange and an investor. They often provide services to individual investors and traders who cannot engage directly with security exchanges, which only accept orders from their members. They provide investors and traders with an investment plan, market intelligence, and research. They may cross-sell some financial services and products offered by their brokerage firms. They are also typically classified as discount or full-service brokers.

Agent vs broker salary

Agents and brokers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Agent	Broker
Average salary	$37,864	$124,861
Salary range	Between $19,000 And $72,000	Between $68,000 And $227,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	New York, NY
Highest paying state	New York	New York
Best paying company	Latham & Watkins	Child Guidance & Family Solutions
Best paying industry	-	Insurance

Differences between agent and broker education

There are a few differences between an agent and a broker in terms of educational background:

	Agent	Broker
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Southern California

Agent vs broker demographics

Here are the differences between agents' and brokers' demographics:

	Agent	Broker
Average age	46	49
Gender ratio	Male, 50.5% Female, 49.5%	Male, 63.8% Female, 36.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 4.9% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 6.9% White, 70.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	7%	13%

Differences between agent and broker duties and responsibilities

Agent example responsibilities.

Schedule and meet individuals\groups for assign or self-generate leads, assist and enroll eligible individuals in suitable Medicare product.
Verify documentation and coding using CPT and ICD-9 correct coding standards.
Assist TANF customers with obtaining employment.
Direct compliance with all CPT and Medicare guidelines.
Train BDC representatives on phone skills and CRM use.
Bill appropriate ICD-9 codes to the correct insurance companies.

Broker example responsibilities.

Manage, lease and sell office condominiums on site.
Retail trader, fix income securities; manage client account activity; properly allocate client funds to appropriate investment options
Manage indexes, options, foreign equities, and short-selling positions that are compatible with clients' long-term investment goals.
Expand and maintain professional relationships with trading accounts including banks, hedge funds and portfolio managers.
Specialize in finding undervalue and/or overbought commodities by using fundamental and technical analysis that exist throughout the markets.
Install the oracle client for windows.

Agent vs broker skills

Common agent skills

Insurance Products, 11%
Customer Service, 10%
Life Insurance, 8%
HR, 6%
Inbound Calls, 6%
Financial Services, 6%

Common broker skills

Brokerage, 17%
Financial Services, 9%
Insurance Products, 7%
Risk Management, 6%
Client Relationships, 6%
Real Estate Transactions, 5%