Insurance Underwriters Salary
Insurance Underwriters in St. Louis, MO-IL make a median of $82,270 a year, or about $39.55 an hour. The range runs from $59K at the entry level to $127K for experienced workers. Adjusted for local prices (RPP 95.09), that's roughly $86,518 in purchasing power. Rent on a 2-bedroom averages $1,218/month, or 23.4% of estimated take-home pay.
So what does $82K get you in St. Louis?
Groceries, utilities, transportation, and healthcare scaled from national averages by St. Louis’s Regional Price Parity (95.09). Rent from HUD Fair Market Rents. Taxes estimated for single filer, standard deduction. * Healthcare is the employee-paid share only (premiums + out-of-pocket). Actual costs vary by coverage type: employer-sponsored, ACA marketplace, or uninsured.
About insurance underwriters
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What this looks like in St. Louis
Insurance underwriters pay in St. Louis tracks closely to the national median, $82K locally vs. $81K nationwide, a 1% difference. Housing is manageable: a 2-bedroom at the HUD median costs $1,218/month, 23.2% of take-home, well inside the 30% guideline. Cost of living (RPP 95.09) is near the national average, so spending patterns here track the typical American budget fairly closely. Use the affordability calculator above to model your specific situation.
Compared to nearby metros
Median pay for insurance underwriters in metros near St. Louis, adjusted for local cost of living.
| Metro | Median pay | COL-adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | $85K | $92K |
| Columbia | $64K | $71K |
| Jefferson City | $76K | $86K |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | $100K | $96K |
COL-adjusted = median salary ÷ (BEA Regional Price Parity ÷ 100). Expresses purchasing power in national-average dollars.
Compensation breakdown
Annual earnings by percentile, St. Louis, MO-IL
Entry-level insurance underwriters (10th percentile) start around $59K. Mid-career wages sit at $82K. Top earners bring in $127K or more, a $68K spread from bottom to top.
Insurance Underwriters pay across states
Median income ranked highest to lowest, compared to the national figure
View Insurance Underwriters salary in all states
| State | Median salary | vs. national | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | $107K | +31% | 2,890 |
| New Hampshire | $104K | +28% | 270 |
| Nevada | $101K | +25% | 480 |
| Connecticut | $101K | +24% | 2,010 |
| Colorado | $101K | +24% | 2,040 |
| Washington | $99K | +22% | 1,740 |
| New York | $97K | +20% | 6,900 |
| Wisconsin | $97K | +20% | 3,110 |
| New Jersey | $96K | +18% | 3,150 |
| Maine | $96K | +17% | 520 |
| California | $95K | +17% | 6,580 |
| Maryland | $92K | +13% | 1,310 |
| Illinois | $90K | +10% | N/A |
| Georgia | $86K | +6% | 7,160 |
| Rhode Island | $85K | +4% | 250 |
| South Dakota | $83K | +2% | 210 |
| Arkansas | $82K | +1% | 290 |
| District of Columbia | $82K | +1% | N/A |
| Virginia | $82K | +1% | 2,470 |
| Alaska | $82K | +0% | 100 |
| Minnesota | $81K | -1% | 2,550 |
| Missouri | $80K | -2% | 2,130 |
| Kentucky | $80K | -2% | 900 |
| South Carolina | $80K | -2% | 910 |
| Ohio | $79K | -3% | 5,110 |
| Oregon | $79K | -3% | 570 |
| Pennsylvania | $79K | -3% | 5,160 |
| Texas | $79K | -3% | 9,980 |
| Tennessee | $79K | -3% | 1,250 |
| Florida | $79K | -3% | 7,300 |
| Vermont | $78K | -4% | 210 |
| Arizona | $78K | -4% | 3,360 |
| Indiana | $77K | -5% | 2,170 |
| Michigan | $77K | -5% | 2,590 |
| North Carolina | $77K | -5% | 3,460 |
| Kansas | $77K | -5% | 1,230 |
| Louisiana | $77K | -6% | 1,050 |
| Iowa | $75K | -8% | 1,490 |
| Nebraska | $75K | -8% | 1,410 |
| North Dakota | $74K | -9% | 210 |
| Hawaii | $73K | -10% | 230 |
| Utah | $73K | -11% | 490 |
| Oklahoma | $67K | -18% | 600 |
| New Mexico | $64K | -21% | 100 |
| Montana | $63K | -22% | 140 |
| Idaho | $63K | -23% | 360 |
| Wyoming | $62K | -23% | 50 |
| Alabama | $62K | -24% | 1,540 |
| Mississippi | $59K | -27% | 600 |
Showing 1–10 of 49 states with published data
BLS does not publish data for every state when sample sizes are too small
Track insurance underwriters salary changes
BLS updates this data quarterly. We'll email you when St. Louis numbers change.
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Frequently asked questions
Can a insurance underwriter afford a 2BR apartment alone in St. Louis?
Yes — at the median salary of $82K, rent takes 23.2% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,218/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.
What’s the entry-level salary for insurance underwriters in St. Louis?
The 10th-percentile wage — what new insurance underwriters typically earn — is $59K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,562/month. At HUD’s $1,218/month FMR, rent would take 34% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.
Is insurance underwriter a high-paying job in St. Louis?
Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $82K locally vs. $81K nationally, a 1% difference.
How does St. Louis compare to the national average for insurance underwriters?
St. Louis pays $82K median vs. the U.S. average of $81K — that’s +1%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 95.09), the purchasing-power equivalent is $87K — still ahead of the national median.
How much do insurance underwriters make in St. Louis, MO-IL?
The median is $82,270 a year, that works out to about $40 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $59,360, and experienced insurance underwriters can clear $127,360. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.
Is $82K enough to live in St. Louis?
On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,261/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,218/month, which eats 23.2% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.
How far does a insurance underwriters salary go in St. Louis?
St. Louis has a Regional Price Parity of 95.09 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median insurance underwriters salary is worth about $86,518 in national-average purchasing power.
Where do insurance underwriters get paid the most?
The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.