Career
Actuaries
Put a price on risk using math and statistics.
$130,000
Median pay
+9.2%
Job growth, 2025–35
1,500
Openings a year
Bachelor's degree
Typical education
4 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- 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.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on information & systems, then ideas & analysis?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Analyze data to determine premium rates required and cash reserves and liabilities necessary to ensure payment of future benefits.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $130,000 a year and 1,500 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Business AdministrationSee the degree →
- Business AnalyticsSee the degree →
- StatisticsSee the degree →
- Applied Mathematics, GeneralCIP 27.0301
- Computational and Applied MathematicsCIP 27.0304
- Statistics, GeneralCIP 27.0501
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Personal Financial Advisors$105,070 · +1.4%
- Financial Risk Specialists$117,330 · +7.4%
- Financial and Investment Analysts$102,740 · +7.2%
- Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists$78,210 · +6.0%
- Accountants and Auditors$83,680 · +5.0%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.