How To Become A Commercial Lines Insurance Agent: What It Is and Career Path

What is a commercial lines insurance agent and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a commercial lines insurance agent. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.66 an hour? That's $55,459 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 32,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCommercial Lines Insurance AgentUS Average

Salary

4.3

Avg. Salary $55,459

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.8

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.15%

Asian 4.10%

Black or African American 9.53%

Hispanic or Latino 16.39%

Unknown 3.56%

White 66.26%

Gender

female 66.42%

male 33.58%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

6.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a commercial lines insurance agent

Explore commercial lines insurance agent education requirements

Most common commercial lines insurance agent degrees

Bachelor's

52.0 %

Associate

29.3 %

High School Diploma

9.3 %

Start to develop specific commercial lines insurance agent skills

Skills	Percentages
Insurance Carriers	29.93%
Insurance Products	25.99%
Insurance Quotes	12.53%
Insurance Policies	6.27%
Professional Customer Service	5.65%

Complete relevant commercial lines insurance agent training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New commercial lines insurance agents learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a commercial lines insurance agent based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real commercial lines insurance agent resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed commercial lines insurance agent usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed commercial lines insurance agent in most of states. 38 states require commercial lines insurance agents to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	-	-	Licensed Insurance Producer
Arkansas	Degree required	State exam required	Insurance Sales Producer (Agent)
Colorado	Specific course required	State exam required	Insurance Agent
Connecticut	Specific course required	State exam required	Producer License, Individual
Delaware	-	State exam required	Insurance Agent

Research commercial lines insurance agent duties and responsibilities

Work with people in retirement helping manage their health and life insurance, also help structure their 401k's into annuities.
Provide unparallele brokerage services, specifically focusing on a thorough analysis of business risk and comprehensive options for clients.
Act as a retention specialist for Cigna Healthspring during AEP.

Apply for commercial lines insurance agent jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a commercial lines insurance agent job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do commercial lines insurance agents rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Commercial lines insurance agent reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019

Pros

The diversity of the work flow and the diverse network of people I work with on the daily. From customers,lenders, realtors, inspectors to underwriters and Sales representatives. I enjoy assisting others, problem solving and analyzing the different needs and products available to the client.

Cons

Scripts, depending on who you work for.