STEM

Actuary

Use math to measure the risk of events like accidents and illness, so insurers can set fair prices

Open interactive guide

What does an Actuary do?

Actuaries work mainly at insurance companies and consulting firms, at a desk. They study data on how often bad events happen and estimate what they will cost. To move up, they pass a series of tough exams, so patience and steady study habits matter.

A day in the life

8:30 AMCheck the latest claims data for unusual jumps
9:30 AMUpdate a model that predicts next year's car accident claims
11:00 AMExplain a price change to the underwriting team
1:00 PMUse paid study time to prepare for the next exam
3:00 PMTest a spreadsheet model against real results
4:30 PMWrite a summary of risk findings for management

What's great

  • Employers often give time to study for exams
  • Mostly regular office hours
  • Clear ladder of exams and titles
  • Strong math skills get put to use

The hard parts

  • A long series of tough exams
  • Years of evening and weekend study
  • Mostly desk and spreadsheet work
  • Few jobs outside insurance and consulting

What is an Actuary's salary and outlook?

$68k – $170k
Salary Range
Bachelor's degree
Typical Education
High demand / Rapid growth

Typical pay in this guide runs from about $67,800 to $169,500 a year, with a midpoint around $113,000. These are planning figures for students, not a job offer or an official wage.

CareerLens rates the outlook as High demand / Rapid growth.

For the official national outlook, see BLS Occupational Data.

How do you become an Actuary?

A common path is Bachelor's in math, statistics, or actuarial science, plus exams. The ladder often runs from Actuarial Analyst to Associate Actuary, then Fellow Actuary, and Chief Actuary. Other routes: Pass early exams while still in college; Internships at insurance companies; Math or economics degree instead of an actuarial degree; Professional credentials from an actuarial society.

  • Pass early exams while still in college
  • Internships at insurance companies
  • Math or economics degree instead of an actuarial degree
  • Professional credentials from an actuarial society

Career path

Entry level
Actuarial Analyst
Mid career
Associate Actuary
Senior
Fellow Actuary
Executive
Chief Actuary

Will AI replace an Actuary?

How much will AI change this job?

A lot

AI will change many everyday tasks in this job. The work shifts toward judgment, checking, and people.

AI will handle more number crunching, humans handle the judgment.

Actuaries use math and data to figure out risks, like how likely something bad might happen. AI tools can now do a lot of the calculations and data sorting faster. This means actuaries will spend more time explaining results, checking AI's work, and making tough judgment calls.

AI can help with

  • Running large risk calculations quickly
  • Spotting patterns in big sets of data
  • Building first drafts of reports and models

What stays human

  • Deciding what risks actually matter for a company
  • Explaining tricky results to clients in plain language
  • Making ethical calls when data is unclear or incomplete

Skills to build now

  • Practice math, statistics, and probability problems regularly
  • Learn to explain data findings in simple words
  • Join a debate or writing club to build clear thinking

Based on public research from Anthropic and OpenAI, drafted with AI, checked automatically, and read by a person. How we know

This describes how the work may change. It is not a prediction that the job will disappear.