JobShiftAtlas
Source-backed profile

Insurance Sales Agents

Sell life, property, casualty, health, automotive, or other types of insurance. May refer clients to independent brokers, work as an independent broker, or be employed by an insurance company.

BLS SOC 41-3021 · O*NET-SOC 41-3021.00 · BLS 2025–2035 · O*NET 31.0

Median annual wage, 2025

$62,280

Projected change, 2025–2035

3.3%

2025–2035 annual average openings

43,100

AI exposure

Very high

Editorial analysis

AI can quote the policy. The harder sale is explaining what it really covers.

Insurance already lends itself to digital comparison, automated quoting, and online purchasing. AI can make those processes more conversational, helping customers describe what they need and receive possible coverage options without navigating a complicated form.

That creates pressure on agents whose role is mainly collecting information and presenting standard quotes. More complicated insurance decisions are different. Business coverage, life insurance, unusual property risks, changing family circumstances, and combinations of policies can require discussion about risks that customers may not even realize they have.

The agent's opportunity is in the gaps

  • Lead qualification and follow-up can become highly automated.
  • Policy comparisons can be prepared quickly.
  • AI may help agents identify coverage gaps across a customer's circumstances.
  • Trust becomes especially important when customers must understand exclusions, trade-offs, and potentially life-changing financial risks.

Successful agents may spend less time preparing quotes and more time advising, retaining relationships, serving complex accounts, and explaining the consequences of choices. The more insurance purchasing becomes automated, the harder cases become a larger part of the human agent's value.

Labor-market picture

Two measures, different questions

These measures offer two different ways to understand the occupation: BLS projections show how national employment may change over time, while relative AI exposure highlights where tasks may intersect with AI-related capabilities. Read them with the work profile and your local context to decide what deserves closer investigation.

Employment

Employment, 2025
572,600 jobs
Projected employment, 2035
591,400 jobs
Projected change, 20252035
18,800 jobs (3.3%)

Relative AI exposure

BLS category: Very high. This is a relative task-exposure classification, not a forecast of employment change, automation, wages, or worker replacement.

Relative AI exposure · Very high

Work profile

Representative tasks

These task statements come from O*NET 31.0. They are source facts, not labels assigned by the AI exposure measure.

  • 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.
  • Call on policyholders to deliver and explain policy, to analyze insurance program and suggest additions or changes, or to change beneficiaries.

Skills that matter

Skills in the source profile

Importance uses O*NET's 1–5 scale. Level uses its 0–7 scale. Select a skill to see its source definition and reported values.

Technology and tools

These technology records come from O*NET and show software or tools reported in the occupation profile. They describe work context, not a required checklist for every employer.

  • Video creation and editing software
  • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
  • Customer relationship management CRM software
  • Document management software
  • Financial analysis software
  • Web page creation and editing software
  • Instant messaging software
  • Medical software

Preparation

Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Related experience
None
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Ask JobShift

Ask Dr. Morgan Reed about this evidence

Morgan is the JobShift Atlas analyst powered by AI. Answers draw from the evidence on this page and explain what it can tell you.

Source provenance

Labor-market and exposure facts: bls-ep-2025-35. Work profile: onet-31.0. Verify release details on the Sources page.