What is an Insurance Broker?

Insurance brokers help connect clients to insurance policies that best meet their needs. They advocate for their clients, who can be individuals, families, or businesses, with insurance companies and help them find the best rates.

Insurance brokers need to have excellent knowledge of the insurance industry in order to figure out which specific policy is best for their client. They need to have excellent communication and customer service skills in order to explain different policies to their clients and maintain positive customer relationships. Insurance brokers also need to be highly organized in order to manage all the insurance paperwork on behalf of their client and assisting them with technical issues.

The qualifications for becoming an insurance broker vary from person to person and state to state. While many have bachelor's degrees, many others do not. Insurance brokers usually need to get licensed by the state before they can begin work. Once they meet all the requirements, insurance brokers can earn a solid average annual income of $102,725 a year, often including commission.

What Does an Insurance Broker Do

There are certain skills that many insurance brokers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and initiative.

Learn more about what an Insurance Broker does

How To Become an Insurance Broker

If you're interested in becoming an insurance broker, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 63.9% of insurance brokers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.2% of insurance brokers have master's degrees. Even though most insurance brokers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become an Insurance Broker
Top Insurance Broker Jobs Near You

Insurance Broker Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an insurance broker can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as account executive, progress to a title such as sales manager and then eventually end up with the title national sales manager.

Insurance Broker

Average Salary for an Insurance Broker

Insurance Brokers in America make an average salary of $94,006 per year or $45 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $141,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $62,000 per year.
Average Insurance Broker Salary
$94,006 Yearly
$45.20 hourly
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What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Insurance Broker

There are several types of insurance broker, including:

Agent

Role:

So long to the days of claiming you don't know where you want to go for lunch because, as an agent, you have a lot of decision-making power in your hands. Be prepared to use it.

Agents help clients by acting as their liasion. They negotiate terms of contracts, particularly on a financial level. The more money you make your client, the more money you'll be able to collect. So you'll want to work on your negotiation and persuasion skills.

Agents work in a variety of industries, so you can have your pick of opportunities. Some work in the entertainment industry, while others are in the financial scene. Wherever you end up, you'll most likely be working a full-time job. Although, some client meetings can be done outside of normal work hours. This means you might want to prepare yourself for some late nights.

  • Average Salary: $37,864
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Insurance Agent

Role:

Well, insurance agents are salespeople, they have a very specific industry that they work in. Sometimes they may only sell one type of insurance, but many sell lots of different insurances. This includes car, rental and health.

While, you can get a job as an insurance agent with just a high school degree, many agents have a bachelor's degree. In addition, you need to be licensed in the state where you'll be working. But the learning doesn't stop there. Insurance agent learn a lot through their on-the-job training. Here's to learning something new every day!

  • Average Salary: $51,936
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Broker

Role:

A broker is a finance professional who manages business transactions. As a broker, you carry out investments such as insurance or real estate deals, liaising between banks and clients. Essentially, your job is to build relationships with customers and negotiate arrangements.

Being a broker is a kind of sales position often considered as a stepping stone toward a supervisor sales role. Brokers work for different industries and are expected to be knowledgeable about the products and services of the company they work for, in order to provide top-notch customer services.

Actually, customer service is the biggest part of the job. Brokers continuously work on relationships with clients, assessing their needs and offering solutions to their problems. The ultimate task, however, is to close deals by aligning the interests of buyers and sellers.

  • Average Salary: $124,861
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Insurance Broker Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active insurance broker jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where insurance brokers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Insurance Broker Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California747$87,807
2Texas743$76,871
3Florida558$53,551
4Illinois427$86,913
5Georgia334$75,351
6Tennessee321$82,470
7Pennsylvania293$79,511
8Ohio286$80,586
9Louisiana275$75,356
10Minnesota268$89,970
11North Carolina256$87,740
12Colorado252$82,181
13New York246$84,820
14Arizona213$79,785
15Alabama212$100,213
16Iowa210$84,306
17Michigan207$70,787
18Virginia207$66,856
19Missouri199$81,638
20Mississippi190$81,246
21Indiana172$89,270
22Oregon163$97,042
23New Jersey163$92,124
24South Carolina161$81,803
25Wisconsin158$107,840
26Washington158$109,320
27Kentucky149$83,256
28Maryland142$84,586
29Massachusetts139$100,119
30Utah132$74,542
31Idaho126$81,947
32Kansas125$80,581
33Arkansas119$81,643
34Nevada113$75,023
35Oklahoma107$73,423
36Nebraska84$94,213
37Montana78$91,824
38New Mexico77$70,150
39South Dakota71$104,010
40Connecticut68$90,214
41Delaware67$89,923
42West Virginia62$74,266
43Vermont60$84,628
44Rhode Island58$98,976
45North Dakota57$96,483
46Alaska57$83,094
47Maine52$86,930
48Hawaii49$55,820
49Wyoming40$93,243
50New Hampshire40$102,380

Insurance Broker Education

Insurance Broker Majors

Business
34.3 %
Insurance
6.2 %
Marketing
5.9 %

Insurance Broker Degrees

Bachelors

63.9 %

Associate

15.0 %

High School Diploma

8.2 %

Top Colleges for Insurance Brokers

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

2. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

3. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

4. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

5. SUNY College at Oswego

Oswego, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,440

Enrollment

7,039

6. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

7. Baylor University

Waco, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$45,542

Enrollment

14,159

8. University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Lafayette, LA • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,912

Enrollment

14,245

9. Ball State University

Muncie, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,896

Enrollment

15,529

10. Butler University

Indianapolis, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$41,120

Enrollment

4,553

Top Skills For an Insurance Broker

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 11.2% of insurance brokers listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.

  • Customer Service, 11.2%
  • Life Insurance Products, 8.3%
  • Lead Generation, 7.9%
  • Financial Resources, 7.9%
  • Annuities, 7.6%
  • Other Skills, 57.1%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Insurance Broker Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Insurance Broker templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Insurance Broker resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Insurance Broker diversity

Insurance Broker Gender Distribution

Male
Male
63%
Female
Female
38%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among insurance brokers, 37.5% of them are women, while 62.5% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among insurance brokers is White, which makes up 66.2% of all insurance brokers.

  • The most common foreign language among insurance brokers is Spanish at 57.9%.

Online Courses For Insurance Broker That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Risk Management in Personal Finance

coursera

This course is primarily aimed at those who want to understand more about how they can protect their finances from unexpected events. Taught by a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional, this course covers the role insurance plays into your financial plan, including what kinds of insurance to explore, how to determine how much insurance you need, and how different kinds of insurance works. The course includes life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance, homeowners insurance,...

2. The Economics of Health Care Delivery

coursera

In this course, you’ll learn about the key components of health care, and the economics behind their principles and pricing strategies. Professors Ezekiel Emanuel of Penn Medicine and Guy David of the Wharton School have designed this course to help you understand the complex structure of the health care system and health insurance. Through study and analysis of providers and insurance through an economic lens, you’ll learn how basic economic principles apply to both principles and payment...

3. Fundamentals of Insurance - 2

udemy
4.4
(2,354)

Part 2...

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Best States For an Insurance Broker

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an insurance broker. The best states for people in this position are Washington, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and New Hampshire. Insurance brokers make the most in Washington with an average salary of $109,320. Whereas in Wisconsin and South Dakota, they would average $107,840 and $104,010, respectively. While insurance brokers would only make an average of $102,380 in New Hampshire, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. South Dakota

Total Insurance Broker Jobs: 71
Highest 10% Earn:
$157,000
Location Quotient:
1.99

$104,010

Avg. Salary

View 71 Insurance Broker Jobs In SD

2. North Dakota

Total Insurance Broker Jobs: 57
Highest 10% Earn:
$144,000
Location Quotient:
1.84

$96,483

Avg. Salary

View 57 Insurance Broker Jobs In ND

3. Alabama

Total Insurance Broker Jobs: 212
Highest 10% Earn:
$158,000
Location Quotient:
1.44

$100,213

Avg. Salary

View 212 Insurance Broker Jobs In AL
Full List Of Best States For Insurance Brokers

How Do Insurance Brokers Rate Their Jobs?

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Work/Life balance
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Top Insurance Broker Employers

Most Common Employers For Insurance Broker

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1World Financial Group$98,385$47.3014
2Family First Life$96,506$46.4012
3Aflac$93,561$44.9832
4GoHealth$92,678$44.5615
5MassMutual$90,024$43.2812
6Cost-U-Less$88,757$42.6751
7Farmers Insurance$88,307$42.4618
8Primerica$82,920$39.8717
9The Health Plan$81,875$39.3615
10Allstate$81,088$38.9820
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Insurance Broker Videos

Salary of an Insurance Broker : Becoming an Insurance Broker
What is an Insurance Broker
Career Advice on becoming an Insurance Broker by Samantha B (Full Version)

Becoming an Insurance Broker FAQs

Insurance Broker Vs. Agent

An insurance broker is an independent insurance specialist who legally represents buyers, while an agent is an insurance professional who sells insurance plans to buyers.

An insurance broker helps clients identify insurance plans that will meet their specific needs. They also help small businesses assess their situations, and help understand the exposure to various types of risks that the company faces. They also recommend insurance products based on the needs of the business.

Have more questions? See all answers to common sales questions.

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Updated April 6, 2023