Actuary Salary Calculator

What Is the Average Actuary Salary in 2026?

The median actuary salary was $125,770 in May 2024, more than two and a half times the U.S. worker median, with average pay reaching $134,990.

Actuaries are among the highest-compensated professionals in the U.S. labor market. In May 2024, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics placed the median annual actuary wage at $125,770, a figure more than two and a half times the U.S. worker median. (BLS, 2024)

Average pay exceeds the median, reaching $134,990 in 2024, reflecting strong demand for senior and fellowship-level talent. (US News Best Jobs, 2024) The top-paying 25% of actuaries earned $164,860 that year, while the bottom 25% earned $90,970. (US News Best Jobs, 2024)

These figures cover the broad actuary category. Pay varies substantially by credential level, specialty, employer type, and geography. Understanding where you fall within that range, not just what the median is, is the starting point for effective salary negotiation.

How Does Actuarial Exam Progress Affect Salary in 2026?

Each passed exam supports a salary adjustment discussion, but employers rarely disclose the expected increment, making external benchmarks essential for every milestone negotiation.

Actuarial compensation is uniquely exam-driven. Most candidates take seven to ten years to reach fellowship status, passing a sequence of exams that progressively narrow their specialty focus. Each passed exam is, in theory, a trigger for a salary review. In practice, many employers apply rigid internal salary bands that are not transparently linked to exam progress.

Entry-level actuaries with under one year of experience average $69,471 in total compensation according to PayScale. That figure rises to $89,198 with one to four years of experience and to $120,384 at the mid-career stage of five to nine years. (PayScale, 2025)

Here is the catch: without external benchmarks, actuaries at each credential tier often do not know how large their next adjustment should be. Industry salary surveys segment data by credential tier and specialty, giving candidates a reference point that individual employers rarely provide. Using these benchmarks before any exam-milestone conversation transforms a subjective raise request into a data-anchored negotiation.

Do Actuaries at Consulting Firms Earn More Than at Insurance Carriers in 2026?

Consulting actuaries generally earn higher total compensation than carrier staff actuaries, but insurance carriers can offset this with benefits, stability, and defined-benefit pension access.

Most actuaries begin their careers at insurance carriers, where predictable exam-support programs, study time, and exam fee reimbursement make early-career development more structured. Consulting firms often enter the picture later, offering higher base salaries and performance bonuses tied to billable work.

The premium for consulting work reflects billing-rate economics: a consulting actuary's time is sold to clients at rates that must cover overhead and generate profit margin. This structure creates room for higher compensation at the cost of less predictable income, heavier client interaction, and in some roles, significant travel.

For actuaries weighing a carrier-to-consulting move, the right comparison is total compensation, not base salary alone. Defined-benefit pensions at some large insurers can represent substantial long-term value that cash compensation at a consulting firm may not fully offset. Modeling both paths using salary benchmarks for your credential level and specialty gives you a clearer picture than comparing headline base salaries.

Which States and Cities Pay Actuaries the Most in 2026?

New York, Connecticut, and Washington D.C. are the top-paying states for actuaries, with Bridgeport and San Jose metros leading city-level pay.

Actuarial work is geographically concentrated in financial and insurance hubs. The top-paying states for actuaries in 2024 were New York at $152,470, Connecticut at $152,210, and the District of Columbia at $151,770, followed by Washington state at $147,630 and Virginia at $145,430. (US News Best Jobs, 2024)

At the metropolitan level, Bridgeport, Connecticut led at $168,860, followed by San Jose, California at $159,810 and New York City at $158,540. Hartford, Connecticut and Milwaukee, Wisconsin also ranked among the top-paying markets. (US News Best Jobs, 2024)

Remote and hybrid work has complicated the geographic premium question for many actuaries. A candidate negotiating a fully remote role at a New York-based carrier from a lower cost-of-living city should model both the employer's likely location-adjustment policy and the local benchmark for the role before accepting any proposed pay reduction.

What Is the Job Outlook for Actuaries and How Does It Affect Salary in 2026?

Actuary employment is projected to grow 22 percent from 2024 to 2034, much faster than average, creating sustained salary leverage for credentialed professionals.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, actuarial employment is projected to expand 22 percent between 2024 and 2034, a rate the BLS classifies as much faster than the average for all occupations, with roughly 2,400 job openings anticipated each year over the decade. (BLS, 2024)

There are roughly 33,600 actuaries currently employed in the United States. (BLS, 2024) That relatively small talent pool, combined with the multi-year exam pathway to full credentials, means that fellowship-level actuaries consistently have negotiating leverage that professionals in faster-growing but less credentialed fields do not.

For candidates at the associate or student level, the growth projection matters for a different reason: it supports long-term compensation recovery after a lower starting salary. A candidate who accepts an entry-level offer below market median can reasonably expect tightening supply and rising benchmarks to improve their position as they advance through exams and experience bands.