Salary Basics

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) includes insurance generalists among the category of insurance sales agents. According to the BLS, the median salary in 2010 was $46,770 for these professionals, while the middle 50 percent of insurance agents made between $33,330 and $71,620 that year.
  
  

Salary Structure

• Any discussion about the average salary of an insurance generalist can be somewhat misleading. Although average income statistics are available, the overwhelming majority of insurance sales agents aren't paid on salary; they instead earn a commission based on the sales they produce. This means that, although the potential for high income is real, an insurance generalist also runs the risk of making no money at all.
  
  

Regional Data

• The BLS reports that the states with the highest earnings for insurance agents in 2010 were New York, Rhode Island, North Dakota, California and Massachusetts. The states with the greatest demand for professionals in this field were Florida, Texas, California, New York and Illinois. It's worth noting that New York and California are on both lists, making these excellent areas to start work as an insurance generalist.
  
  

Residual Income

• If an insurance agent sells a policy, he receives a commission based on the annual premium payment for that coverage. If the client renews her policy the following year, that agent receives an additional commission. This means that a successful insurance agent can make several times the average annual salary each year, some from current sales and the rest from sales that he made years earlier.
  
  

Job Outlook

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates insurance sales agent opportunities, including those for insurance generalists, to increase by 12 between 2008 and 2018. This is significantly higher than the 8 percent growth predicted for U.S. jobs as a whole. They attribute this performance to a general increase in demand for all financial products and services as the U.S. population's average age continues to increase.