Actuaries
Also called Actuarial Analyst, Actuary, Consulting Actuary, or Pricing Actuary
Updated · Source: O*NET 31.0
What Actuaries do
You use math to put a price on bad luck, working out what insurance should cost so a company can still pay out decades from now.
An actuary studies data about things that might go wrong: deaths, car crashes, illness, disability, house fires, floods, people outliving their savings. From that data you estimate how likely each event is and what it would cost. Then you set premiums (what customers pay) and reserves (money a company holds back so it can pay claims later, the requests customers make for money after something goes wrong).
The math is only half of it. You also design and review insurance plans, pensions, and annuities, which pay someone a set income for life, and check whether they hold up financially. You work with programmers, accountants, senior managers, staff who handle those payout requests, and underwriters (the people who decide who a company will insure and on what terms). Some actuaries work for one company; others advise different clients as consultants.
A day in the life
You work indoors at a desk, mostly sitting, with a lot of email. The morning might be quiet and solo: pulling records of past payouts, building a table of probabilities, testing whether last year's pricing held up. You go deep into one problem for hours. Then the day turns social. You join a meeting about a new product with the people who handle payout requests and the people who decide who the company will insure, listening for what they know that your data does not show. Later you walk a manager through your numbers in plain language, without the jargon. Someone pushes back and you defend your assumptions. You end by rechecking a calculation, because a small error here turns into real money later.
This could fit you if you…
- ✓Enjoy math and statistics enough to keep studying them after school
- ✓Like being the person who catches the mistake in a spreadsheet
- ✓Can explain a complicated result to someone who hates numbers
- ✓Want steady office work with long, focused stretches of analysis
- ✓Are open to learning and training on the job for years after your degree
You might not like it if you…
- –Want to be on your feet or outdoors instead of sitting at a desk
- –Would rather stop learning new material once your degree is finished
- –Get frustrated when your careful work gets questioned in meetings
- –Prefer fast, visible results over decisions that play out over decades
How people get in
- 1Load up on math in high school and get comfortable with spreadsheets and basic coding.
- 2Earn a bachelor's degree. Common paths include actuarial science, statistics, applied mathematics, mathematics and statistics, or computational and applied mathematics.
- 3Add courses or experience in economics, accounting, and computers, since you will use all three regularly.
- 4Look for an internship or an entry-level analyst role, where you learn the business through long-term on-the-job training alongside experienced actuaries.
- 5Know that many actuaries also take a series of professional tests run by actuarial organizations, often while working. Ask employers and professors how that usually works.
- 6Keep practicing how you explain your findings clearly to colleagues who are not math people.
Who tends to enjoy it
Organizing
People who like keeping things accurate, orderly, and running on schedule.
Curious
People who like figuring things out, research, science, and solving problems.
Leading
People who like persuading, selling, starting things, and taking charge.
Official task list
Actuaries analyze statistical data, such as mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates and construct probability tables to forecast risk and liability for payment of future benefits. May ascertain insurance rates required and cash reserves necessary to ensure payment of future benefits. (O*NET)
- Analyze data to determine premium rates required and cash reserves and liabilities necessary to ensure payment of future benefits.
- Analyze statistical information to estimate mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates.
- Design, review, and help administer insurance, annuity and pension plans, determining financial soundness and calculating premiums.
- Collaborate with programmers, underwriters, accounts, claims experts, and senior management to help companies develop plans for new lines of business or improvements to existing business.
- Provide advice to clients on a contract basis, working as a consultant.
- Determine, or help determine, company policy, and explain complex technical matters to company executives, government officials, shareholders, policyholders, or the public.
- Construct probability tables for events such as fires, natural disasters, and unemployment, based on analysis of statistical data and other pertinent information.
- Determine equitable basis for distributing surplus earnings under participating insurance and annuity contracts in mutual companies.
A typical day involves
Skills that matter most
- Mathematics
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Complex Problem Solving
- Judgment and Decision Making
What you'll need to know
- Mathematics
- Economics and Accounting
- Computers and Electronics
- English Language
- Administration and Management
How much Actuaries make
The median pay for Actuaries in the U.S. is $130,000 a year ($62.50 an hour). Most earn between $78,570 and $215,100. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025)
Pay depends a lot on where you live: the median is highest in Connecticut ($166,800) and lowest in Puerto Rico ($68,100).
Pay by state and territory
| State | Median pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $136,950 | 190 |
| Arizona | $135,870 | 200 |
| California | $130,510 | 1,280 |
| Colorado | $120,440 | 500 |
| Connecticut | $166,800 | 1,380 |
| District of Columbia | $166,230 | 160 |
| Florida | $132,110 | 1,300 |
| Illinois | $115,430 | 2,280 |
| Indiana | $100,690 | 780 |
| Iowa | $128,690 | 530 |
| Kansas | $125,010 | 180 |
| Kentucky | $120,400 | 70 |
| Louisiana | $80,860 | 40 |
| Maine | $119,620 | 80 |
| Maryland | $126,950 | 580 |
| Massachusetts | $126,040 | — |
| Michigan | $100,640 | 570 |
| Minnesota | $128,100 | 1,170 |
| Mississippi | $106,210 | 40 |
| Missouri | $129,220 | 390 |
| Nebraska | $102,790 | 270 |
| Nevada | $132,370 | 120 |
| New Jersey | $142,800 | 1,260 |
| New York | $156,480 | 2,630 |
| North Carolina | $128,730 | 610 |
| Ohio | $110,980 | 1,090 |
| Oklahoma | $109,760 | 70 |
| Oregon | $130,380 | 210 |
| Pennsylvania | $125,040 | 1,710 |
| Puerto Rico | $68,100 | 30 |
| Rhode Island | $111,090 | 100 |
| Tennessee | $108,930 | 300 |
| Texas | $105,020 | 1,750 |
| Utah | $132,720 | 180 |
| Virginia | $131,900 | 440 |
| Washington | $134,720 | 360 |
| Wisconsin | $131,640 | 890 |
Where to study for this
College programs that commonly lead to this career, and how many US colleges offer each.
- Statistics 226 colleges
- Applied Mathematics 275 colleges
- Actuarial Science 168 colleges
- Mathematics and Statistics 52 colleges
- Computational and Applied Mathematics 60 colleges
- Applied Statistics 36 colleges
- Statistics, Other 35 colleges
- Mathematical Statistics and Probability 23 colleges
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Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA), occupation 15-2011.00, used under CC BY 4.0 and modified by Whittle. Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), SOC 15-2011. Outlook and entry education: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Program links: NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. How we build these pages.