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The differences between underwriters and agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an underwriter has an average salary of $61,751, which is higher than the $37,864 average annual salary of an agent.
The top three skills for an underwriter include customer service, investor guidelines and mortgage loans. The most important skills for an agent are insurance products, customer service, and life insurance.
| Underwriter | Agent | |
| Yearly salary | $61,751 | $37,864 |
| Hourly rate | $29.69 | $18.20 |
| Growth rate | -4% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 8,510 | 184,325 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | 2 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
An underwriter's duties depend on the line of work or industry involved, such as mortgage companies, insurance, or lending firms. However, an Underwriter's responsibility will mainly revolve around using their extensive expertise on how a company will achieve financial gains, and assessing the possible financial risks of a client by reviewing various aspects to determine their capacity to uphold monetary obligations. Most of the time, the Underwriter's tasks will also involve evaluating a client's credit history, health, assets, overall financial history.
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.
Underwriters and agents have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Underwriter | Agent | |
| Average salary | $61,751 | $37,864 |
| Salary range | Between $39,000 And $96,000 | Between $19,000 And $72,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | New York |
| Best paying company | Latham & Watkins | |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | - |
There are a few differences between an underwriter and an agent in terms of educational background:
| Underwriter | Agent | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between underwriters' and agents' demographics:
| Underwriter | Agent | |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 50.5% Female, 49.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 2.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 5.6% White, 72.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | 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 | 9% | 7% |