Actuaries
Analyze statistical data, such as mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates and construct probability tables to forecast risk and liability for payment of future benefits. May ascertain insurance rates required and cash reserves necessary to ensure payment of future benefits.
Actuaries analyze statistical data, such as mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates and construct probability tables to forecast risk and liability for payment of future benefits. The role reports a median annual salary of $125,770 in the US and is projected to grow 22% over the next decade (much faster than average). Entry typically requires a Bachelor's degree, and shows moderate AI exposure (0.66 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include financial products, quantitative analysis, statistics, actuarial science, empirical analysis.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £53,342 a year for Actuaries, economists and statisticians (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £41,906 to £74,372 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 2433). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only Actuaries, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
How to get here in India
The usual route into this career in India. Each step links to the official page it comes from.
- 1 · Entrance exam Actuarial Common Entrance Test (ACET) of the Institute of Actuaries of India — open after Class 12[1]
- 2 · Certification Enrol as an IAI student member and pass the IAI actuarial examinations[1]
Rules change: check the exam body's and regulator's current notice before you apply.
- Institute of Actuaries of India — About ACET (read on 2026-09-27)
1 open listing on our jobs board → Recent listings whose job title matches this career. Some jobs in this career are advertised under other titles.
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Mathematics
- Computers and Electronics
- Economics and Accounting
- English Language
- Law and Government
- Administration and Management
- Education and Training
- Personnel and Human Resources
A day in the life
You open your computer to a set of data on claims, deaths and illness rates for a group of insurance policies, and start cleaning it for analysis. Mid-morning you run your models to estimate how likely different events are, and adjust the assumptions to reflect recent trends. From these you work out the premiums the company should charge and the reserves it must hold to pay future claims. Before lunch you meet the underwriting and claims teams to discuss a product whose losses are higher than expected. In the afternoon you review a pension plan to check whether it has enough money to meet its promises, and prepare a summary for senior management. Later you explain a complex result to executives who aren't specialists, turning formulas into plain language. Checking data line by line and documenting every assumption is painstaking. But knowing your analysis keeps a company able to pay people when they need it most is deeply satisfying.
Illustrative: one typical day, written from the O*NET task statements for this occupation. Real days vary by employer and seniority.
What you'd actually do
- Ascertain premium rates required and cash reserves and liabilities necessary to ensure payment of future benefits.
- 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.
- 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.
- Determine, or help determine, company policy, and explain complex technical matters to company executives, government officials, shareholders, policyholders, or the public.
- Construct probability tables for events such as fires, natural disasters, and unemployment, based on analysis of statistical data and other pertinent information.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does Actuaries do?
Analyze statistical data, such as mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates and construct probability tables to forecast risk and liability for payment of future benefits. May ascertain insurance rates required and cash reserves necessary to ensure payment of future benefits.
What does a typical day look like in Actuaries?
You open your computer to a set of data on claims, deaths and illness rates for a group of insurance policies, and start cleaning it for analysis. Mid-morning you run your models to estimate how likely different events are, and adjust the assumptions to reflect recent trends. From these you work out the premiums the company should charge and the reserves it must hold to pay future claims.
How much does Actuaries earn?
The median annual salary for Actuaries in the US is $125,770.
What is the job outlook for Actuaries?
The role is projected to grow 22% over the next decade (much faster than average). Current US employment is approximately 33,600 workers.
How do I become a actuaries?
The typical entry education is a Bachelor's degree. Building a foundation in the top skills below will strengthen your application.
What skills does Actuaries need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include financial products, quantitative analysis, statistics, actuarial science, empirical analysis, produce statistical financial records. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace Actuaries?
Our AI-durability model gives Actuaries a score of 0.66 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.
How hard is it to enter this field?
Actuaries has very high barrier to entry — very highly gated — extended graduate education, licensure, or years of specialised training are required.