How Much Do Insurance Adjusters Make?

Last modified: March 4, 2023

If you are looking for a new career and considering becoming an insurance adjuster, it’s only fair to know how much do insurance adjusters make.

While there is no one set figure across the country, you can easily find an average wage for insurance adjusters and get to know what the job role entails.

Read on to get the low down on insurance adjusters, how much they make, and what this career entails.

What Do Insurance Adjusters Do?

Before looking at how much insurance adjusters make, you will want to take a closer look at precisely what it is that they do.

The job role of an insurance adjuster is highly stressful yet exceptionally stable. This is primarily the case because often, insurance adjusters are out on location investigating insurance claims that have been made. They need to evaluate the whole situation (do inspections, run investigations on homes, workplaces, cars, interrogate witnesses, etc.) and decide whether each claim is paid out to the claimant.

Therefore, how much insurance claims adjusters make depends on several elements, like

their specific job role,
state of residence,
the kind of license you have,
types of claims you investigate,
how much do you get deployed,
the number of hours you work,
and the company you work for, or an independent claim adjuster.

Nevertheless, typically independent insurance adjusters make more money than those working full time for a particular company.

The average median wage for claims adjusters in the US is $47.243 for a base-level position. By gaining experience in the industry, this wage can rise to around $60.000 for those in the business for at least six years.

Those with ten+ experience easily reach a salary above $61.000 a year. And, the ones that are in this industry for twenty or more years receive a salary that rounds $77.000. However, $77.000 isn’t the top salary.

The height of the salary primarily depends on the factors we mentioned earlier (location, experience, number of deployments, etc.). Therefore, in bigger cities like Dallas, Atlanta, New York City, the insurance adjusters’ salary goes up to $100.000 a year.

Is an Insurance Adjuster a Good Career?

The reality is that people will always have a reason to be filing insurance claims. Therefore, claim adjusters will always have a job, and we will always require their presence and professional skills. Even so, this particular industry is seeing a drop of 3% from 2020 to 2030, with around 25.500 job openings expected each year.

Most of these positions (examiners, adjusters, investigators) are due to people changing careers or retiring.

A claim adjuster can be an attractive job role, especially for those who enjoy detailed, meticulous work, leading them to a successful money-making career over time. What’s more, you’re not even required to have a college degree to become a claim adjuster.

How To Become an Insurance Adjuster

These are the requirements you need to fulfill to become an insurance adjuster:

Before you dive into the claim-adjusting world, see whether you have what it takes to cope with the job on a daily basis:

Be efficient and thorough with an eye for detail and thinking outside of the box.
You need to be disciplined and self-manage your workload, especially if you are a field claim adjuster over a desk-based position.
You have to be 18 years or older and have a valid driving license.
Being a genuine resident of the state you live in it’s another must.

You need to choose what type of insurance adjuster you’ll become:

Independent adjusters usually work for more than just one insurance adjusting company and have various jobs ongoing at the same time.
Desk adjusters are typically full-time employees for an insurance company working all year round.
Catastrophe adjusters — these can be office-based/staff or independent. Catastrophe adjusters travel to heavily devastated areas if required.

Of course, you’ll need to sign up for training and obtain an insurance adjuster license. While most states issue this license, some don’t: Colorado, Kansas, Colorado, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, North Dakota, Iowa, Tennessee, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Maryland, and New Jersey.

The application process requires a certain fee to be paid after the exam or beforehand in some states.

Reciprocal License: after obtaining your adjuster license, apply for a reciprocal one. The majority of states need you to submit a fully completed application alongside a fee; hence, there is no need to take the test.

Acquiring the most vital skills and training it’s a must for becoming a well-sought and successful claim adjuster.

That said, you’d want to enroll in the following training:

Xactimate Training: this is a claim writing software. It’s a must-learn software since it’s the most used one by insurance adjusting companies, and you won’t be able to close a claim if you don’t know how to operate it.
State Farm Certification: Highly appraised companies will usually ask for career certifications from your side. Therefore, our best suggestion is to get the ‘State Farm Certification’.
Adjuster Success Method: this training lets brand-new licensed adjusters know what the insurance industry is all about. Not only will they know what’s the scope of the job, moreover, but they’ll also have a better understanding of what it takes to jump-start their career as insurance adjusters.

Once you have acquired everything from all of the mentioned above it’s time to find a job. To do so, there are a few things you should do:

Prepare your CV: The best thing to do is compose a CV that fits the job role, i.e., the insurance adjusters role.

- Look up IA (Insurance Adjusting) firms: This is something you can do online. Browse through as many IA firms and reach out to their Human Resource departments to inquire about openings/hirings.
Network: You need to join specifically-related IA networks and follow insurance job boards. For instance, consider becoming part of your local IA association. And don’t stop here. Make sure you join the national IA association as well.

Overall, claim adjusters will always be in demand. Despite the declining sector and limited job roles available each year. An insurance adjuster is thought to be one of the few safe jobs that can guarantee a steady and reliable income and solid career. So if you are looking for a job role that will keep you in plenty of work, then this is a career path definitely worth considering.

How Can I Know If I Am Being Paid Fairly As A Claims Adjuster?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions, and with no doubt. All of us are curious to learn whether our paycheck matches the one of our colleagues, and if not, why is that so.

In a nutshell, insurance adjusters salaries differ from state to state + other related factors (experience, type of adjuster, etc.).

That said, after thorough research, we found statistics that show claims adjusters earn more in some states than in others. For example, in New Jersey, claim adjusters earn around $61.000, in California approximately $57.000, whereas, in Connecticut, adjusters have an average salary of more or less $56.000.

How much do insurance adjusters make per hour?

Following the latest updates in February 2023, the median claim adjuster wage in the USA is $23.44 an hour, precisely.

However, if you check different IA companies, you’ll realize that some reach an average wage of even $38-39 an hour. The median wage per hour is primarily somewhere between $19 and $27.

On the other hand, if you’re an independent insurance adjuster, you can expect higher earnings since they make more than desk adjusters. For instance, the highest paying salary for independent claim adjusters is almost $80.000 a year in San Diego, California. If we break it down, we’ll see that their monthly salary is more than $6.500, leading to a rough estimation of around $38-39 an hour.

All in all, how much independent claims adjusters make is down to the insurance adjuster companies they work with and the claim’s value.

Hence, the fee is based on the level of the claim they are investigating, and what they receive. For example, the claim adjuster will get 60% or 70% of the total fee, while the remaining 30% – 40% are for the insurance adjusting company they are working with.

Here’s a breakdown of how much is a claim adjuster’s fee depending on the claim’s value:

Claims ranging between $3.000 and $5.000 — $500 fee.
Claims from $5.000 to $7.500 — $650 fee.
Claims from $7.500 to $10.000 — $750 fee.

Note: Experienced adjusters are closing two-four claims a day. And others which are exceptionally great at what they do can close more than six claims a day.

How much do field insurance adjusters make?

The average figure for field claim adjusters in the States is between $60-61.000 a year. Nevertheless, salaries vary greatly from one state to the next one. With that in mind, the highest field claim adjuster’s salary is more than $79.000 a year. On the other hand, the lowest noted salary is no more than $46.587.

Remember, your level of experience, the time served in this role, and the state where you conduct your work will affect how much you earn. Additionally, the company you work for and the type of insurance adjuster (you are) will also determine your salary.

Conclusion

Bottom line, becoming an insurance adjuster can secure you a stable career and an excellent salary that increases with time and experience.

Therefore, whether you choose to work for an insurance company or become an independent adjuster, how much do insurance adjusters make is likely to be a good and solid wage with many attractive benefits along the way.