Career
Insurance sales agents
Help people and businesses protect what matters with insurance.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Customize insurance programs to suit individual customers, often covering a variety of risks.
- Sell various types of insurance policies to businesses and individuals on behalf of insurance companies, including automobile, fire, life, property, medical and dental insurance, or specialized policies, such as marine, farm/crop, and medical malpractice.
- Explain features, advantages, and disadvantages of various policies to promote sale of insurance plans.
- Perform administrative tasks, such as maintaining records and handling policy renewals.
- Seek out new clients and develop clientele by networking to find new customers and generate lists of prospective clients.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
AI
BLS now cites artificial intelligence in this occupation's outlook: “share decreases as artificial intelligence (AI) tools are increasingly integrated into workflows, allowing insurance sales agents to focus on direct sales activity.”
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on persuasion & leadership, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Customize insurance programs to suit individual customers, often covering a variety of risks.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $62,280 a year and 43,100 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- InsuranceCIP 52.1701
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel$69,990 · +2.7%
- Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks$49,230 · -1.9%
- Customer Service Representatives$44,770 · -5.3%
- Personal Financial Advisors$105,070 · +1.4%
- Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents$78,660 · +1.4%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.