Insurance sales salary: what insurance agent and producer postings pay, and how the commission works

A US insurance sales job posting on this board typically states $77,500 a year, but that one figure hides two different jobs. Agents who sell auto, home, life and pet policies to people by phone or in a store are usually posted at an hourly base near $20 an hour, with commission on top that the posting does not price. Producers and account executives who sell commercial insurance and employee benefits to businesses are posted at a median of $137,050. This guide breaks insurance sales pay down by kind of seat and company, explains how the commission works, and compares the posted figures with the government's.

On 1 November 2026 this board had 703 open sales roles at insurers, brokers, agencies and insurance technology companies, 470 of them open to US candidates, and 339 of those (72%) stated their pay. Every figure below is the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale (an hourly rate times 2,080 hours), and the median across the postings in each group. The insurance sales jobs page lists every open seat with today's pay.

Contents

1. The short answer
2. Pay by kind of insurance seat
3. How insurance commission works
4. The companies hiring, and what they post
5. Posted pay against the government's figures
6. The license
7. How to judge an offer
8. How these figures were counted
9. Quick answers

1. The short answer

The spread is wide because the two halves of the market post differently. Of the 339 US postings that stated pay, 117 posted less than $60,000 a year, most of them an hourly base for agents whose commission comes on top; the commercial seats post a salary or on-target earnings that already includes most of what they earn.

2. Pay by kind of insurance seat

Grouped by the words each title uses, US postings on 1 November 2026:

• Agents selling to people quote and sell auto, home, renters, life and pet insurance by phone, online or in a store. Allstate's Direct Sales Agent Specialist seats (57 of them on the board that day) post a base of $20.00 an hour, and the posting adds that total pay "may include incentive pay, such as commissions and bonuses, based on individual and team performance." Fetch Pet Insurance's sales associates, many of them working inside partner animal shelters, post $55,000 to $92,000 a year.
• Commercial and benefits producers win and renew policies for businesses: property and casualty cover, liability, and the health and retirement benefits an employer offers its staff. They sell to owners, finance teams and HR leaders.
• Carrier distribution seats (territory managers, business development managers) do not sell policies to customers at all: they recruit and support the independent agencies that sell a carrier's products.
• Account managers service and renew an existing book of business accounts.

3. How insurance commission works

Commission in insurance is paid as a share of the premium a policy brings in, often a larger share for a new policy than for each year it renews. That is why the question that matters most in an agent's offer is whether you are paid on renewals, and for how long: a book that renews year after year keeps paying, while a seat paid only on new policies has to be refilled every month. Captive agents (who sell one company's products) and independent agents (who sell many) are paid differently, and some direct-to-consumer seats pay an hourly base plus a monthly incentive instead of a classic commission split (Allstate's agent postings say "Base hourly rate plus uncapped monthly incentive"). Read the posting's own pay line and ask for the incentive plan in writing; the guide What is OTE explains how base, variable and quota fit together.

4. The companies hiring, and what they post

The insurance employers with the most open sales roles on 1 November 2026 (every country) were Allstate (140), Coface (97, a credit insurer hiring mostly outside the US), Fetch Pet Insurance (57), Foundation Risk Partners (51), Cottingham and Butler (43), Travelers (42), The Cigna Group (39), Alan (33), Marsh McLennan (28) and Ethos (19).

Among companies with at least eight US roles posting pay, the highest medians were Harper ($165,000), Judi Health ($151,200), Nationwide ($149,000) and Travelers ($148,400), then The Hartford ($104,800), Foundation Risk Partners ($100,000), Branch ($90,100), Fetch Pet Insurance ($77,500), Guardian Life ($73,885) and National Life Group ($54,080). Allstate's 99 priced US roles post a median of $41,600, its hourly base. Each company's own page on this board lists its open roles and the pay each posts.

About a fifth of the US seats (105 of 470) could be done remotely.

5. Posted pay against the government's figures

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median annual wage of insurance sales agents at $62,280 in May 2025, with the lowest tenth earning less than $37,330 and the highest tenth more than $138,140, across about 572,600 jobs - BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook. Those are wages actually earned, commission included. The postings here state what an employer offers before commission, so an hourly base on this board is a floor, not a forecast. The two measures agree on the shape: a large group of agents near the bottom of the range and a smaller group of commercial producers near the top.

6. The license

Every state requires a license to sell insurance, with separate licenses for property and casualty and for life and health - BLS. Many employers hire before the license and pay for it: Fetch's postings ask for a property and casualty license "or willing to obtain a P&C license at the expense of the Company within 30 days of employment," and Allstate's ask for 0 to 2 years of experience with the license "preferred" or to be earned after hiring. How many of today's insurance roles ask for a license is counted on the insurance sales jobs page.

7. How to judge an offer

• Ask what the incentive pays on. New policies only, or renewals too, and for how many years.
• Ask for real earnings. What agents in their first and second year earned in total, not only the base and the top of the range.
• Ask about leads. Whether leads are provided, inbound calls are routed to you, or you find your own. A seat that asks you to buy leads, or pays commission only, is a different job from one with a base.
• Ask who pays for the license and whether you are paid during training.

8. How these figures were counted

• The roles: every open sales role on this board on 1 November 2026 at a company whose field is insurance (carriers, brokers, agencies and insurance technology companies), read from each company's own careers system and checked every hour: 703 roles, 470 of them open to US candidates and 339 of those stating pay.
• The pay: the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, an hourly rate times 2,080 hours, and the median across the US roles in each group. The kind of seat comes from the words in each title. Commission a posting does not price is not in these figures.

These figures describe one day; the insurance sales jobs page always shows the current roles and pay.

9. Quick answers

How much do insurance sales agents make? On this board, US insurance sales postings state a median of $77,500 a year; agents selling to people are usually posted at an hourly base near $20 an hour plus commission. The government's median for insurance sales agents, commission included, was $62,280 in May 2025.

What insurance sales jobs pay the most? Commercial insurance and employee benefits seats, which post a median of $137,050, and carrier distribution seats at $117,875.

Do you need a license to sell insurance? Yes, in every state; many employers hire first and pay for the course and exam.

Is insurance sales commission only? Some seats are, but most of the postings on this board pay a base salary or hourly rate with commission on top.

Where can I see insurance sales jobs? The insurance sales jobs page lists every open seat with the pay it posts.