Did You Know?
Actuaries consistently rank among the top careers in annual "best jobs" surveys, scoring high on salary, low stress, work-life balance, and job security.
The Numbers Behind the Career
About 2,400 actuary job openings are projected annually over the next decade.
The median annual salary for actuaries is $125,770.
There were about 33,600 actuary jobs in the U.S. in 2024.
Where This Career Is Headed
The actuarial profession is expanding well beyond its traditional home in insurance, driven by growing demand for risk analysis in climate, healthcare, technology, and public policy. Actuaries are increasingly being asked to model risks that have no historical precedent, from the long-term financial costs of climate change to the liability implications of artificial intelligence. Data science tools are reshaping how actuaries build and test their models, making fluency in programming languages like Python and R a growing expectation alongside traditional mathematical training. As organizations across every sector face greater uncertainty, the ability to quantify and communicate risk is becoming one of the most valuable skills in any industry.
Climate risk modeling is creating new demand for actuaries who can calculate the long-term financial costs of extreme weather, rising sea levels, and shifting environmental conditions for insurers, governments, and investors.
The growth of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems is generating entirely new categories of liability and risk that actuaries will be need to price and manage.
Expanding healthcare costs and an aging population worldwide are driving sustained demand for actuaries specializing in health insurance, Medicare, and long-term care planning.
Education & Certification
Becoming an actuary begins with a bachelor's degree, typically in actuarial science, mathematics, statistics, or a related field. Strong coursework in calculus, probability, and financial theory provides the foundation for both the professional exam process and the day-to-day work of the career. Many universities offer dedicated actuarial science programs that align coursework directly with exam preparation, though students from other quantitative majors frequently enter the field successfully. Increasingly, familiarity with data science tools and programming languages like Python and R is becoming a practical expectation alongside traditional mathematical training.
The credentialing process defines the actuarial profession. Actuaries earn credentials through one of two primary professional organizations, the Society of Actuaries (SOA) for those working in life, health, and pension, or the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) for those working in property and casualty insurance. Both pathways involve passing a series of rigorous exams that typically take 7 to 10 years to complete, with most actuaries working in the field and advancing professionally as they progress through the exam sequence. Passing even the first two exams significantly improves employability and earning potential, making it worthwhile to begin exam preparation as early as possible.
To Prepare...
Take the most rigorous math courses available to you, including precalculus, calculus, and statistics, as these subjects form the direct foundation for the actuarial exam sequence and everyday professional work.
Look for opportunities in economics, business, or computer science courses that build comfort with data, spreadsheets, and quantitative reasoning alongside your core math preparation.
Participate in math competitions like MATHCOUNTS or the AMC to sharpen the kind of precise, logical problem-solving that actuarial exams are built around.
Spotlight: Explore the Life of a Actuary
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I Want to Be an Actuary: The Story of a Statistically Savvy Sardine
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Actuaries use math to help groups of people prepare for risky, uncertain futures, and through Beta's story kids meet that idea early: someone has to plan ahead so a community is protected when things go wrong.
Life Insurance Made Simple: A Clear and Practical Guide for Every Stage of Life
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Actuaries calculate the prices and payouts behind insurance policies, and this book shows teens the real-world products those calculations create, the human reason all that math exists.