One of the most common rumors about insurance adjusters is that they make a ton of money. Maybe you’ve got an uncle who’s an adjuster, or a cousin, or a friend of a friend – and they’ve mentioned “over six figures” just often enough to get you curious.
So, how much do insurance adjusters make – really? We’re going to break down adjuster salaries for you. By type of adjuster, experience level, and company.
Spoiler alert: It’s true. Adjusters can make quite a bit of money, but not every position is created equal. Let’s get into it.
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The first step to becoming an adjuster is getting your license. Read our step-by-step guide – How to Get Your Insurance Adjuster License!
Salary by Type of Adjuster
Before we go too deep into the minor details, we need to separate the two main types of claims adjusters: independent adjusters (IAs) and staff adjusters (SAs).
There are many different sub-groups and specialties that we can compare, but these are the two top-level adjuster types.
Independent adjusters are contractors that work on the rosters of multiple IA firms. They are not employees, and are paid by their level of output – not an hourly or yearly salary.
Staff adjusters, on the other hand, are employees of insurance providers. They are paid on a yearly, monthly, or hourly salary.
Quick Note
The data in these charts are self-reported and shouldn’t be seen as absolute. Rather, they are a helpful data point to guide your decision-making when choosing which career path to follow.
| Type of Adjuster | Range Low | Range High | Midpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Adjuster | $65,000 | $118,000 | $87,000 |
| Staff Adjuster | $59,000 | $105,000 | $79,000 |
As you can see, independent adjuster incomes are higher than staff adjusters.
So, if you want to make more money, you should always be an IA, right? Well, there are some trade-offs that come with the higher payout.
First, as a staff adjuster, your salary is guaranteed. You get sick days, holidays, vacation, health care, and other benefits that come with being an employee.
Independent adjusters are contractors. That means you don’t get the perks of salaried employment. Sick and can’t work your claims? You aren’t being paid! Laptop breaks? That new one is coming out of your pocket!
Here’s where it can get interesting as an IA:
In 2017 when hurricanes Harvey and Irma came to the Southern coast, independent adjusters had a field day. Many IAs reported bringing in $150,000+, some even higher than $200,000 that year.
It’s been said that storms in the coming years are going to be larger, create more damage, and be less predictable. This means that IAs may have more of a feast or famine experience, but the feasts will treat them quite nicely.
Once you’re earning starts to look like this, learn how independent adjusters can save big in taxes by opening an LLC and designating S Corp tax status.
Adjuster Salary by Experience
As with most careers, the more experience you have, generally, the more you’ll be compensated for the work you do.
Here’s how that breaks down for both independent and staff adjusters:
Staff adjusters | Independent adjusters
| Experience | Low Range | High Range | Midpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-1 Year | $42,000 | $62,000 | $51,000 |
| 1-3 Years | $45,000 | $66,000 | $54,000 |
| 4-6 Years | $48,000 | $73,000 | $59,000 |
| 0-1 Year | $49,000 | $80,000 | $62,000 |
| 7-9 Years | $51,000 | $79,000 | $63,000 |
| 1-3 Years | $53,000 | $85,000 | $67,000 |
| 10-14 Years | $53,000 | $84,000 | $67,000 |
| 4-6 Years | $57,000 | $93,000 | $73,000 |
| 15+ Years | $56,000 | $95,000 | $73,000 |
| 7-9 Years | $60,000 | $100,000 | $77,000 |
| 10-14 Years | $64,000 | $111,000 | $84,000 |
| 15+ Years | $69,000 | $123,000 | $92,000 |
In our opinion, these numbers don’t tell the full story.
What we often see with adjusters, especially IAs, is that as they progress in their career they find a specialty to work in (we’ll get into that in a moment).
This chart reflects people reporting their salaries based, specifically, on the general titles of “staff adjuster” and “independent adjuster.” It doesn’t reflect folks that have changed their titles as they’ve progressed.
Changing from staff to IA a few years into the career to make more money is a common decision. This may account for these numbers being lower than the reality.
Changing from IA to staff can also be a great move for folks that may not be able to travel as much in a certain stretch of time (new kids, family illness, etc…).
These changes highlight the flexibility of the insurance adjuster career, which is one of the reasons it’s an uncommonly great job in our modern American way of life.
Adjuster Salary by Job Title
As mentioned earlier, many adjusters find specialties or niches to work in as they progress. These specialties allow for different job titles, giving us insight into how each of them is compensated.
Many of these niches require greater experience, additional certifications, and other requirements to enter.
A great example of this is the Flood Adjuster job title. Flood claims fall within the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program), a governmental body connected to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).
Working flood claims requires adjusters to carry not only the proper state adjuster license, but an additional NFIP Flood Certification as well. Generally, this certification is only carried by more experienced adjusters.
With that being said, here are some adjuster job titles and their corresponding reported salaries:
| Job Title | Range Low | Range High | Midpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flood Adjuster | $80,000 | $139,000 | $105,000 |
| Field Adjuster | $74,000 | $121,000 | $94,000 |
| Crop Adjuster | $66,000 | $114,000 | $86,000 |
| Marine Adjuster | $69,000 | $109,000 | $86,000 |
| Commercial Adjuster | $64,000 | $115,000 | $85,000 |
| Catastrophe Adjuster | $60,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Property Adjuster | $61,000 | $101,000 | $78,000 |
| Inside Adjuster | $60,000 | $94,000 | $75,000 |
| Fire Adjuster | $57,000 | $96,000 | $74,000 |
| Adjuster | $54,000 | $97,000 | $73,000 |
| Field Staff Adjuster | $55,000 | $94,000 | $72,000 |
| Desk Adjuster | $54,000 | $86,000 | $68,000 |
| Workers’ Compensation Adjuster | $55,000 | $83,000 | $67,000 |
| Auto Adjuster | $50,000 | $73,000 | $60,000 |
| Adjuster Trainee | $42,000 | $65,000 | $52,000 |
Adjuster Salary by Company
As a bonus, we’ve added this last table to show different salaries offered by companies hiring independent and staffadjusters.
Right off the bat you’ll notice that all of the highest paying positions are IA positions. This just goes to show that IAs will generally bring in a higher salary than SAs – just don’t forget about the tradeoffs mentioned above.
Another noticeable data point are the numbers reported by both roles within the same company.
State Farm SAs report a midpoint salary of $59,000 – while State Farm IAs report a midpoint salary of $108,000. That’s literally double!
If you’re interested in becoming an adjuster, we recommend reading our article, How to Become an Insurance Adjuster, and following the path to becoming an independent adjuster!
Note
It’s worth mentioning again that these numbers are a self-reported snapshot in time and shouldn’t be relied upon as gospel or referred to in salary negotiations. Your mileage may vary.
Staff adjusters | Independent adjusters
| Company | Low Range | High Range | Midpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| (IA) Pilot Catastrophe Services | $84,000 | $142,000 | $108,000 |
| (IA) State Farm | $84,000 | $141,000 | $108,000 |
| (IA) Alacrity Solutions | $80,000 | $134,000 | $102,000 |
| Cross Country Adjusting | $78,000 | $131,000 | $101,000 |
| The Littleton Group | $80,000 | $130,000 | $101,000 |
| Eberl Claims Service | $72,000 | $120,000 | $94,000 |
| Fourseventy Claim Management | $71,000 | $121,000 | $93,000 |
| (IA) Progressive | $68,000 | $112,000 | $86,000 |
| RENFROE | $66,000 | $104,000 | $84,000 |
| QA Claims | $66,000 | $106,000 | $84,000 |
| (IA) Crawford & Company | $62,000 | $104,000 | $80,000 |
| Wardlaw Claims Services | $64,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
| (IA) TheBest Claims Solutions | $60,000 | $100,000 | $76,000 |
| Sedgwick | $59,000 | $93,000 | $74,000 |
| CSAA Insurance Group | $57,000 | $84,000 | $69,000 |
| AIG | $57,000 | $83,000 | $69,000 |
| Chubb | $57,000 | $82,000 | $68,000 |
| ESIS | $55,000 | $83,000 | $67,000 |
| Farmers Insurance Group | $55,000 | $81,000 | $66,000 |
| Travelers | $55,000 | $80,000 | $66,000 |
| Auto-Owners Insurance | $54,000 | $80,000 | $66,000 |
| (SA) Progressive | $53,000 | $79,000 | $65,000 |
| MetLife | $54,000 | $77,000 | $64,000 |
| Root Inc | $52,000 | $78,000 | $64,000 |
| Liberty Mutual | $52,000 | $76,000 | $63,000 |
| American Family Insurance | $52,000 | $77,000 | $63,000 |
| The Hartford | $53,000 | $76,000 | $63,000 |
| USAA | $52,000 | $75,000 | $62,000 |
| AMTrust Financial | $51,000 | $74,000 | $62,000 |
| Mercury General | $51,000 | $75,000 | $62,000 |
| GEICO | $51,000 | $74,000 | $61,000 |
| Nationwide | $51,000 | $73,000 | $61,000 |
| Amica Insurance | $50,000 | $73,000 | $61,000 |
| Esurance | $51,000 | $74,000 | $61,000 |
| Berkshire Hathaway Homestate | $50,000 | $72,000 | $60,000 |
| (SA) State Farm | $49,000 | $71,000 | $59,000 |
| Gallagher | $49,000 | $70,000 | $59,000 |
| Kemper | $49,000 | $69,000 | $58,000 |
| (SA) Crawford & Company | $47,000 | $68,000 | $57,000 |
| Allstate | $46,000 | $67,000 | $56,000 |
| Sedgwick | $47,000 | $68,000 | $56,000 |
| National General Insurance | $46,000 | $66,000 | $56,000 |
| (SA) Pilot Catastrophe Services | $46,000 | $66,000 | $56,000 |
| (SA) TheBest Claims Solutions | $47,000 | $68,000 | $56,000 |
| Assurant | $46,000 | $65,000 | $55,000 |
| Applied Underwriters | $46,000 | $64,000 | $54,000 |
| AAA | $43,000 | $65,000 | $53,000 |
| (SA) Alacrity Solutions | $46,000 | $64,000 | $52,000 |
| UnitedHealth Group | $42,000 | $60,000 | $50,000 |
Take Action
You can find everything you need to know about adjusters in our What is an Insurance Adjuster article. Or, if you’re ready to go, check out our How to Become an Adjuster guide.
The data on this page was reported by users of Glassdoor on 11/10/2023. This data may change and/or cease to reflect the source data until updated. Adjust This is not affiliated with Glassdoor and does not represent or guarantee the accuracy of the data.
