Insurance counselor vs agent

The differences between insurance counselors and agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an insurance counselor has an average salary of $71,172, which is higher than the $37,864 average annual salary of an agent.

The top three skills for an insurance counselor include insurance coverage, patients and litigation. The most important skills for an agent are insurance products, customer service, and life insurance.

Insurance counselor vs agent overview

	Insurance Counselor	Agent
Yearly salary	$71,172	$37,864
Hourly rate	$34.22	$18.20
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	63,575	184,325
Job satisfaction	-	2
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	-	-

Insurance counselor vs agent salary

Insurance counselors and agents have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Insurance Counselor	Agent
Average salary	$71,172	$37,864
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $124,000	Between $19,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City	-	New York, NY
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Latham & Watkins
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between insurance counselor and agent education

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

	Insurance Counselor	Agent
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Insurance counselor vs agent demographics

Here are the differences between insurance counselors' and agents' demographics:

	Insurance Counselor	Agent
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 36.8% Female, 63.2%	Male, 50.5% Female, 49.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 4.9% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	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%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between insurance counselor and agent duties and responsibilities

Insurance counselor example responsibilities.

Assist Florida Medicaid recipients with manage care choices.
Cold-Cal to generate leads for individual life and disability insurance and annuities.
Promote other AAA services, including travel, automobile club, and financial services.
Assist in the cross-selling of other financial products (credit cards, extend warranties and AAA membership).
Assist in prescription processing, process prescription insurance claims, administer immunizations and counsel patients on medications
Provide timely assessments and guidance to patients regarding their insurance and ensure insurance relate issues are resolved.

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.

Insurance counselor vs agent skills

Common insurance counselor skills

Insurance Coverage, 19%
Patients, 18%
Litigation, 10%
Medicaid, 7%
Medicare, 6%
Payment Arrangements, 6%

Common agent skills

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