Entry-level actuary salary in the US
What entry-level and student actuarial roles pay in the US in 2026: typical base salary while passing exams, by experience and employer sector.
Updated 6 October 2026 in the CTS Actuarial Pay Index.
Student actuary salary before Associateship
At US life and annuity insurers, before reaching Associate:
- 0 to 2 years: $99k median base, typically $88k to $112k
- 3 to 5 years: $112k median base, typically $100k to $126k
- 6 to 9 years: $125k median base, typically $111k to $141k
- 10 to 14 years: $134k median base, typically $120k to $152k
The later bands cover students still working towards Associateship.
By sector
For a student with 0 to 2 years:
- Life & annuity insurers: $99k median base
- Reinsurers: $105k median base
- Consulting firms: $102k median base
- Health insurers: $102k median base
- P&C insurers: $99k median base
Open this 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. Bonus targets come from the offers we see. No individual salaries are ever published. How the index is built.
More from the Actuarial Pay Index
- FCAS salary in the US
- FCIA salary in Canada
- Associate actuary salary in Canada
- Actuary salary in Bermuda
- Actuary salary in New York City
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