What are the top 20 cities for insurance agents in the US?

Business insurance advisor, AdvisorSmith, recently published a report highlighting which US cities are most attractive for insurance agents to pursue their careers in. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), AdvisorSmith ranked 343 of the largest US cities, using categories like costs of living, concentration of insurance jobs, and average salaries. Insurance Business has provided a list of the top 20 cities below.

Analysts at AdvisorSmith found that cities in Southern and Midwestern states were particularly attractive to insurance agents because of their relatively high concentrations of insurance jobs, low costs of living and attractive salaries. According to the study, the top five cities for insurance agents in 2018 were situated in: Alabama, Michigan, Iowa, Mississippi, and Nebraska.

Here are AdvisorSmith’s top 20 cities for insurance agents, including city size, average annual salary, total number of jobs for insurance agents, location quotient (the availability of jobs for insurance agents in a given city relative to the total number of jobs in the city), and the cost of living (adjusted to equalize comparisons across cities):

According to AdvisorSmith, the best city for insurance agents to live and work in 2018 was the Southern regional hub of Birmingham, AL. The largest city in the state by population boasts 73% more jobs for insurance agents compared to the average American city, and the average annual salary of agents in Birmingham is 40% above average at $95,630. Those statistics, combined with the fact that Birmingham’s cost of living is 16% below the national average, made the Alabama hub the most attractive city for insurance agents last year.

Runner up was Saginaw, a medium-sized city (defined by AdvisorSmith as 150K-500K population) located in central Michigan and known as an important auto and industrial manufacturing center. Saginaw offered 10% more insurance agent jobs than the national average, with an average salary of $91,880, a significant 35% above the national average. Again, those stats combined with a low cost of living, made Saginaw the second most attractive US city for insurance agents in 2018.

Third place was taken by the capital city and the largest city in Iowa, Des Moines. The annual average salary for insurance agents in Des Moines was $72,930, coming in at 7% above the national average. The most impressive stat to come out of the Iowa capital was the plentiful job opportunities available for insurance agents, which was 139% higher than the national average per capita.

According to the US BLS Occupational Employment Statistics data set, the annual average salary for insurance agents in 2018 was $67,890. In the same year, BLS stats show there were 393,830 insurance agents employed in the US. Job prospects look to remain positive for insurance agents, with BLS projecting 10% growth in insurance agent employment in the period 2016-2026.