Insurance companies make big profits, and joining them as employees is often a high-paying job. Although this description seems very capitalistic, we can't fool ourselves; one works to earn money. One of the most important jobs within these companies is the Underwriting Associate since it is in charge of evaluating the financial risks of both clients and the company itself in order to decide whether a proposal is feasible or not.
The Underwriter Associates receive the submitted forms and sit down to study them. In order to do this, they rely on some computer programs and algorithms, which help them to calculate the risks. Now, if the risk is calculated by computers, what is the role of the Underwriting Associate then? The answer is simple: the Underwriting Associate is responsible for analyzing particular situations that cannot be entrusted to the software. Therefore, to occupy this position, you must be very careful, analytical, and precise, but you also need some cunning and intuition.
Educational requirements for the Underwriting Associate position include a bachelor's degree in a business-related field and a certificate of a business or personal insurance training. In addition, companies almost always require three years of work experience in the same sector. If you get the job, you can earn about $76,000 a year, and depending on your achievements; you can also get some very attractive commissions.
What is an Underwriting Associate?
What Does an Underwriting Associate Do
There are certain skills that many underwriting associates 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 organizational skills, analytical skills and detail oriented.
How To Become an Underwriting Associate
If you're interested in becoming an underwriting associate, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 68.1% of underwriting associates have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 5.9% of underwriting associates have master's degrees. Even though most underwriting associates have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Underwriting Associate Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of underwriter you might progress to a role such as senior underwriter eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title underwriting manager.
Average Salary for an Underwriting Associate
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Underwriting Associate Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active underwriting associate jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where underwriting associates earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Underwriting Associate Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 949 | $49,572 |
| 2 | Texas | 776 | $43,626 |
| 3 | Florida | 505 | $43,558 |
| 4 | Illinois | 479 | $52,582 |
| 5 | New York | 464 | $64,777 |
| 6 | Ohio | 394 | $51,104 |
| 7 | Michigan | 374 | $45,268 |
| 8 | Arizona | 366 | $47,835 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 366 | $47,332 |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | 349 | $52,389 |
| 11 | Georgia | 287 | $47,473 |
| 12 | New Jersey | 246 | $54,448 |
| 13 | Colorado | 237 | $45,818 |
| 14 | Washington | 234 | $49,778 |
| 15 | Minnesota | 224 | $44,401 |
| 16 | Indiana | 211 | $48,715 |
| 17 | Virginia | 195 | $41,839 |
| 18 | Massachusetts | 190 | $69,955 |
| 19 | Missouri | 174 | $42,093 |
| 20 | Maryland | 167 | $42,668 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 137 | $40,131 |
| 22 | Oregon | 129 | $42,093 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 128 | $47,452 |
| 24 | Kansas | 124 | $46,566 |
| 25 | Iowa | 120 | $42,019 |
| 26 | Utah | 120 | $39,044 |
| 27 | South Carolina | 117 | $36,940 |
| 28 | Kentucky | 116 | $40,606 |
| 29 | Connecticut | 113 | $61,320 |
| 30 | Alabama | 97 | $36,816 |
| 31 | Nevada | 81 | $42,303 |
| 32 | Nebraska | 74 | $39,325 |
| 33 | Louisiana | 71 | $37,788 |
| 34 | Oklahoma | 65 | $41,957 |
| 35 | Maine | 58 | $49,023 |
| 36 | Idaho | 56 | $40,172 |
| 37 | New Mexico | 52 | $40,503 |
| 38 | Mississippi | 52 | $36,497 |
| 39 | South Dakota | 51 | $43,455 |
| 40 | Arkansas | 47 | $37,181 |
| 41 | Delaware | 46 | $52,942 |
| 42 | Wyoming | 38 | $38,732 |
| 43 | New Hampshire | 37 | $54,930 |
| 44 | North Dakota | 36 | $47,470 |
| 45 | Montana | 36 | $43,225 |
| 46 | Rhode Island | 34 | $48,376 |
| 47 | West Virginia | 33 | $40,490 |
| 48 | Hawaii | 27 | $44,793 |
| 49 | Vermont | 24 | $47,110 |
| 50 | Alaska | 20 | $42,276 |
Top Colleges for Underwriting Associates
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
3. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Private
4. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
5. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
6. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
7. Ball State University
Muncie, IN • Private
8. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
9. Butler University
Indianapolis, IN • Private
10. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
Top Skills For an Underwriting Associate
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, 18.7% of underwriting associates listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as organizational skills and analytical skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Underwriting Associate Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Underwriting Associate templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Underwriting Associate resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Underwriting Associate Demographics
Underwriting Associate Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among underwriting associates, 65.2% of them are women, while 34.8% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among underwriting associates is White, which makes up 70.9% of all underwriting associates.
- The most common foreign language among underwriting associates is Spanish at 32.1%.
Work Experience Programs For Underwriting Associates
Virtual work experience programs replicate work at top companies and help you gain the skills to be successful when applying and working there. In only a few hours, learn the relevant tools necessary to complete a typical work day at that company. Virtual work experience programs are 100% free, open-access, and self-paced. No experience or application is required!
Company: PwC Switzerland
Cost: Free
Duration: 7-8 hours
Company: Clifford Chance
Cost: Free
Duration: 7.5-8.5 hours
Company: Tata
Cost: Free
Duration: 3.5-4.5 hours
Company: Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Company: Standard Bank
Cost: Free
Duration: 4-4.5 hours
Company: JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Cost: Free
Duration: 4-5 hours
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Best States For an Underwriting Associate
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an underwriting associate. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. Underwriting associates make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $69,955. Whereas in New York and Connecticut, they would average $64,777 and $61,320, respectively. While underwriting associates would only make an average of $54,930 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. New York
$64,777
Avg. Salary
2. Connecticut
$61,320
Avg. Salary
3. Illinois
$52,582
Avg. Salary
How Do Underwriting Associate Rate Their Jobs?
Top Underwriting Associate Employers
Most Common Employers For Underwriting Associate
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AIG | $80,506 | $38.70 | 17 |
| 2 | Markel | $65,513 | $31.50 | 12 |
| 3 | Chubb | $63,952 | $30.75 | 91 |
| 4 | The Hartford | $51,930 | $24.97 | 31 |
| 5 | Nationwide | $51,504 | $24.76 | 12 |
| 6 | MetLife | $50,504 | $24.28 | 14 |
| 7 | Cigna | $50,048 | $24.06 | 12 |
| 8 | Bank of America | $47,299 | $22.74 | 25 |
| 9 | Mutual of Omaha | $47,048 | $22.62 | 22 |
| 10 | American Property Casualty Insurance Association | $45,389 | $21.82 | 13 |
Underwriting Associate Videos
