Top Metro Areas for Insurance Underwriters: New York Leads, High Pay in Boston and Springfield

Across the top 10 metros, LaborCove’s data highlights clear trade‑offs between pay levels and employment counts. New York‑Newark‑Jersey City stands out as the top‑ranked metro, with the largest reported employment count in the group and a median salary that sits above the national figure. Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas show higher employment counts than several other metros in the top 10, while Boston and Springfield stand out for higher median salaries despite smaller reported employment counts. The LaborCove Geography Scores illustrate that a higher median salary does not automatically translate into a higher rank. Boston and Springfield report higher median salaries than New York‑Newark‑Jersey City but rank lower in the top 10 list, reinforcing that LaborCove’s scoring weighs multiple factors beyond pay alone. Nationally, insurance underwriters have a median annual salary of $81,370 and total employment of 105,420. The field carries a national projected employment decline of 2.6%, which serves as broad context for the occupation rather than a forecast for any specific metro in this ranking.

Before comparing metros, it is useful to anchor the occupation nationally. Insurance underwriters have a national median annual salary of $81,370 and national employment of 105,420. National projected employment growth for the occupation is -2.6%, indicating a projected decline at the U.S. level rather than in any one state or metro. Within this context, the top 10 LaborCove metros all report median salaries at or above the national figure and contribute different employment counts relative to the overall national total. The following sections show how those metros differ from one another on pay, employment count, and overall Geography Score.

New York‑Newark‑Jersey City, NY‑NJ holds the #1 LaborCove ranking among metros for insurance underwriters with a Geography Score of 79.91. It also has the largest reported employment count in the group, at 6,740. The median annual salary for insurance underwriters in New York‑Newark‑Jersey City is $98,410, which is higher than the national median of $81,370. Compared with other metros in the top 10, New York‑Newark‑Jersey City sits below some locations on pay but ahead on employment count and overall Geography Score. For example, Boston‑Cambridge‑Newton reports a higher median salary than New York‑Newark‑Jersey City but a smaller employment count, while Dallas‑Fort Worth‑Arlington has a lower median salary than New York‑Newark‑Jersey City and a lower Geography Score, despite having a reported employment count that is smaller than New York‑Newark‑Jersey City’s but larger than some other metros in the list.

Several metros in the top 10 combine relatively larger reported employment counts with varied salary and score levels. Atlanta‑Sandy Springs‑Roswell has the #2 LaborCove rank with a Geography Score of 65.84, a median salary of $95,430, and employment of 5,090. Chicago‑Naperville‑Elgin ranks #4 with a Geography Score of 63.30, a median salary of $99,840, and employment of 4,060. Dallas‑Fort Worth‑Arlington ranks #7 with a Geography Score of 54.17, a median salary of $79,590, and employment of 4,140. Within this group, New York‑Newark‑Jersey City reports the highest employment count at 6,740. Atlanta’s reported employment count is higher than Chicago’s and Dallas‑Fort Worth‑Arlington’s, while Dallas‑Fort Worth‑Arlington’s reported employment count is higher than Chicago‑Naperville‑Elgin’s. Despite these relative employment sizes, New York‑Newark‑Jersey City ranks higher than Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas in the LaborCove results, and Atlanta ranks above both Chicago and Dallas. This shows that employment count is only one of several dimensions reflected in the Geography Score and rank ordering.

Several metros in the top 10 have median salaries notably above the national median of $81,370. Boston‑Cambridge‑Newton has a median salary of $106,170, and Springfield, MA reports an even higher median salary of $115,420. Denver‑Aurora‑Centennial shows a median salary of $101,840, while Seattle‑Tacoma‑Bellevue reports $100,130. All of these values exceed the national median. Within the top‑ranked New York‑Newark‑Jersey City metro, the median salary of $98,410 also exceeds the national figure, though it is below Boston‑Cambridge‑Newton’s and Springfield’s median salaries. Chicago‑Naperville‑Elgin, with a median salary of $99,840, and Los Angeles‑Long Beach‑Anaheim, at $97,870, likewise report higher median salaries than the national benchmark. Dallas‑Fort Worth‑Arlington is the one metro in the top‑10 list with a median salary below the national median. Its $79,590 median salary is lower than the national figure of $81,370, even though it has a reported employment count comparable to other large metros in the ranking.

The LaborCove Geography Score allows direct comparison of how metros rank overall, beyond salary alone. New York‑Newark‑Jersey City leads the list with a Geography Score of 79.91, while Atlanta‑Sandy Springs‑Roswell follows at 65.84 and San Jose‑Sunnyvale‑Santa Clara ranks #3 with a score of 64.21. Boston‑Cambridge‑Newton and Springfield illustrate that higher pay does not automatically translate into a higher Geography Score. Boston, with a median salary of $106,170, has a Geography Score of 59.35 and a #5 rank, while Springfield, MA has the highest median salary in the list at $115,420 but a Geography Score of 53.17 and a #9 rank. Similarly, Dallas‑Fort Worth‑Arlington reports a Geography Score of 54.17, ranking #7, even though its reported employment count is higher than those of Boston‑Cambridge‑Newton, Denver‑Aurora‑Centennial, Springfield, and Seattle‑Tacoma‑Bellevue. These comparisons underscore that the Geography Score reflects multiple underlying factors, not just pay or employment count taken in isolation.

Several metros in the top 10 have smaller reported employment counts but remain in the ranking, often with higher median salaries. Boston‑Cambridge‑Newton reports employment of 2,080 and a median salary of $106,170. Los Angeles‑Long Beach‑Anaheim shows employment of 2,090 and a median salary of $97,870, along with a Geography Score of 55.62 and a #6 rank. Denver‑Aurora‑Centennial reports a smaller employment count of 1,540, with a median salary of $101,840 and a Geography Score of 53.60, ranking #8. Seattle‑Tacoma‑Bellevue has reported employment of 1,210 and a median salary of $100,130, with a Geography Score of 52.19 and a #10 rank. Among the top 10 metros, Springfield, MA has the smallest reported employment count at 130, yet it pairs that with the highest median salary in the list at $115,420. These combinations show that top‑ranked metros span a range of employment sizes and salary levels. For insurance underwriters reviewing the data, the mix of median salary, employment count, and Geography Score in each metro provides a structured way to compare locations without assuming that one dimension alone defines the best fit.

LaborCove’s metro rankings for insurance underwriters are built from authoritative labor‑market data and the proprietary LaborCove Geography Score, which aggregates multiple factors into a single comparable number for each geography. For this article, LaborCove used Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) observations with a reference period of May 2025, along with a separate national occupational projection for insurance underwriters. The national projected growth rate of -2.6% is a U.S.‑wide outlook for the occupation and is not a forecast for any state or metro area. The top‑10 list presented here is drawn directly from the supplied LaborCove rankings. Median annual salary, employment counts, and Geography Scores are reported as provided for each metro area; missing values are left as not supplied. Because the internal weighting of LaborCove’s Geography Score is not disclosed, the article treats the score as a summary indicator without attributing it to any single underlying factor. Readers should interpret these rankings as structured data points to weigh alongside their own priorities such as preferred region, role type, or non‑work considerations that fall outside the scope of LaborCove data.