The Actuarial Pay Index

Actuary salary in Boston

What actuarial roles pay in Boston in 2026: student, ASA and FSA base salary by experience and sector, adjusted for Boston, plus the local market.

Median base salary, FSA with 6 to 9 years, life & annuity, Boston

$200k

Updated 6 October 2026 in the CTS Actuarial Pay Index.

Actuary base salary in Boston by experience

At life and annuity insurers, with the Boston adjustment of +10% against the national figure.

Fellows (FSA)

3 to 5 years: $160k median base, typically $139k to $183k
6 to 9 years: $200k median base, typically $174k to $229k
10 to 14 years: $229k median base, typically $198k to $261k
15+ years: $261k median base, typically $226k to $298k

Associates (ASA)

3 to 5 years: $138k median base, typically $123k to $151k
6 to 9 years: $164k median base, typically $146k to $179k
10 to 14 years: $183k median base, typically $163k to $199k
15+ years: $204k median base, typically $182k to $222k

Students

0 to 2 years: $109k median base, typically $97k to $123k
3 to 5 years: $123k median base, typically $110k to $139k
6 to 9 years: $138k median base, typically $122k to $155k
10 to 14 years: $147k median base, typically $132k to $167k

Boston by sector

For a Fellow with 6 to 9 years:

Life & annuity insurers: $200k median base
Reinsurers: $213k median base
Consulting firms: $207k median base
Health insurers: $206k median base
P&C insurers (FCAS): $201k median base

How the Boston adjustment works

Employers that hire actuaries across the US set separate pay ranges for the same role in different locations. Where they name Boston, they put it in their highest pay zone, usually level with New York City. That zone also covers New York City, San Francisco, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington DC, Southern California and Seattle, and sits about 15% above their standard US range. The national figures in the index already include these cities, so against the national figure the adjustment for Boston is +10%. Every city in this zone shows the same figures in the index, because employers price them as one pay zone.

The local market

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median actuary wage in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area at $129,590, against $130,000 nationally, with the middle half earning between $99,980 and $167,350 (May 2025). That covers every actuary at every level, so it reflects the local mix of roles as well as pay.

Open Boston in the Actuarial Pay Index → You can switch market, experience and sector, and unlock where your own salary sits and what it takes to move.

How these figures are built

The Actuarial Pay Index is our view of what actuarial roles pay, built from the offers, counteroffers and pay conversations in our own search work, the pay ranges in the actuarial roles advertised over the last 12 months, and government wage data. Every figure is reviewed by our team against what we see in the market. Figures are base salary for new hires, before any bonus; lower and upper figures are the lower and upper quartiles. Location adjustments use the pay differences employers set for the same role in different locations. Bonus targets come from the offers we see. No individual salaries are ever published. How the index is built.