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The differences between underwriters and lenders 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 $37,723 average annual salary of a lender.
The top three skills for an underwriter include customer service, investor guidelines and mortgage loans. The most important skills for a lender are customer service, loan applications, and business development.
| Underwriter | Lender | |
| Yearly salary | $61,751 | $37,723 |
| Hourly rate | $29.69 | $18.14 |
| Growth rate | -4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 8,510 | 6,465 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 44 | 45 |
| Years of experience | - | 6 |
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.
A Lender is a financial institution, an individual, or a private or public group that provides loans to a business or an individual. As a lender, you will evaluate a borrower's creditworthiness by assessing loan applications. You will be responsible for determining an applicant's financial eligibility and all applicable metrics and ratios. Other duties might include setting up plans for debt payment, counseling clients on restrictions and policies, and maintaining and updating account records. Also, you will need to update your knowledge on the different loan types and financial services.
Underwriters and lenders have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Underwriter | Lender | |
| Average salary | $61,751 | $37,723 |
| Salary range | Between $39,000 And $96,000 | Between $25,000 And $55,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | South Dakota |
| Best paying company | Citi | |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Finance |
There are a few differences between an underwriter and a lender in terms of educational background:
| Underwriter | Lender | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between underwriters' and lenders' demographics:
| Underwriter | Lender | |
| Average age | 44 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 49.2% Female, 50.8% |
| 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, 9.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 6.3% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 8% |