How Much Do Insurance Adjusters Make?

An insurance adjuster is a highly skilled professional that uses their industry knowledge and insights to evaluate property. Often, their work involves inspecting and evaluating the need for repairs or changes to property after a natural or man-made disaster occurs. Those who work in this field go out into the field to gather information, perform inspections, and complete reports for insurance companies and property owners. Their work is vital.

If you are thinking about working in this industry, a very common question many ask is how much do insurance adjusters make? Understanding this and what the job environment is like could help you make better decisions about your career choices.

There are two ways, in general, to work as an insurance adjuster. You could work as an independent insurance adjuster or work as an employee for an insurance company. Unlike independent insurance adjusters who can earn significantly more, employed and salaried adjusters are typically capped at a much lower income.

How Much Do Insurance Adjusters Make

Do you plan to work for an employer? If so, this applies to you. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states that claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators earned a median pay of $62,680 per year in 2021. That is $30.13 per hour. Typically, these professionals work full time. They work with a company, such as an insurance company or a third-party firm providing this service.

If you are not interested in working for an employer and want to work as an independent insurance adjuster, your income is unlimited and could be two-times as much or even more. At Adjuster University, we always recommend our students to go for the independent adjuster route once they’ve completed their training with us. Besides the fact that you could make $200,000+ per year, it also gives you better control over your schedule. 

Factors Impacting Insurance Adjuster Salary

A number of factors play a role in determining how much an insurance adjuster is paid. This may include:

·         Amount of experience, which is typically one of the most important factors if you plan to get hired by an insurance company or other organization

·         The area you operate in, based on the cost of living in those areas as well as factors such as availability of adjusters

·         Your expertise, especially if you have years of experience working in specific situations such as industrial or manufacturing facilities

If you are working for an employer in this field, you may have to meet the other requirements to be hired by those professionals.

Working as an Independent Insurance Adjuster

The median income for an insurance adjuster working for an employer may not seem like enough for many people. However, many other professionals work independently. That means they operate on their own often as their own business owner providing these services to clients who need them, including insurance companies and other organizations.

When you work for yourself, you are likely to earn much more. Keep in mind that there is no limit to what you can earn if you are operating a successful business on your own – you choose the work, the cost, and how much you do. That all impacts what you can possibly earn. You can earn thousands of dollars more each year if you desire to do so by taking on more clients and projects or you can reduce how much you do and earn very little. Because you remain completely in control over your outcome, there’s no limit to the amount of money you can earn and many earn $100,000 or more – often much more!

Should You Work for Yourself?

Working as an independent insurance adjuster could provide a number of benefits to many people in the field. If you have the skills – or you are willing to obtain them – there is potential in most areas of the U.S. for qualified professionals. The benefits of working as your own business include:

·         Choosing the work you do: You have more control over the types of inspections and work you do, allowing you to focus on what you enjoy and less on the “dirty work” that occurs in some companies.

·         Build your own client base: You can also be more in control over who you work with, which can be important in some areas where you simply want to work with a trusted company or an organization you like to work with, and you can work with as many as you like.

·         Where you work: When you work for yourself, you can better control where you work, including the region you operate in, allowing you to control just how far you have to drive to complete work.

·         When you work: As an independent insurance adjuster, you are also more in control over when you work or how often you work. That is critically important in many situations where you need to be able to work around schedules in your family, or perhaps you just do not like to work on the weekends.

Even if you have no experience in this industry yet, you can learn the skills necessary to work independently, giving yourself more control over your future as well as the type of work you do on any given day.

How You Can Start on the Path to Working as an Independent Insurance Adjuster

Are you ready to earn more and work independently, controlling more of the types of work you do, when you are available, and what you charge? One of the best ways to get the skills and resources you need to do well as an independent insurance adjuster is to join our 90-Day Accelerator Program. If you’re on the fence, check out our free webinar. There’s no obligation or risk! You can do that now and find out how you can earn more as an insurance adjuster.