Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products vs Insurance Underwriters: $78K vs $81K Median Pay

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products vs Insurance Underwriters: what changes?

Consider Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products if you want to purchase farm products either for further processing or resale. Consider Insurance Underwriters if you would rather review individual applications for insurance to evaluate degree of risk involved and determine acceptance of applications. Entry credentials differ: Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products, specialty requirements need verification; Insurance Underwriters, bachelor's degree.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products and Insurance Underwriters. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

The labor-market benchmark for Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products covers the broader BLS group Buyers and purchasing agents (13-1020). It does not isolate this specialty.

Compare the practical differences

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products

National median pay (2025): $77,710
Route into the job: specialty-specific preparation that needs verification with programs and employers; the broader BLS occupation's education category is not a verified route for this specialty
Prior related experience: Prior experience requirements need verification for this occupation.
Training and licensing: Verify the specialty's training, licensing, and full preparation time with an accredited program or employer.
Work to investigate: Purchase, for further processing or for resale, farm products, such as milk, grains, or Christmas trees.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 47,200

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products brief

Insurance Underwriters

National median pay (2025): $81,370
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Examine documents to determine degree of risk from factors such as applicant health, financial standing and value, and condition of property.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 6,800

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 3.8% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Insurance Underwriters brief

How the national numbers differ

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products has the edge on projected growth

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products is at 6% projected growth, compared with -3.8% projected growth for Insurance Underwriters.

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products has the edge on annual openings

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products is at 47,200 annual openings, compared with 6,800 annual openings for Insurance Underwriters.

Insurance Underwriters has the edge on median pay

Insurance Underwriters is at $81,370, compared with $77,710 for Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products.

70.6/ 100

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products

47.1/ 100

Insurance Underwriters

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products vs Insurance Underwriters

Dimension	Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products	Insurance Underwriters
Median pay (2025)	$77,710	$81,370
Pay percentile	68.4 percentile	73.6 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	6%	-3.8%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	47,200	6,800
2025 employment	516,100	125,600
How you qualify	specialty-specific preparation that needs verification with programs and employers; the broader BLS occupation's education category is not a verified route for this specialty	Bachelor's degree; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 4	Job Zone 4
Related work experience	Prior experience requirements need verification for this occupation.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	Verify the specialty's training, licensing, and full preparation time with an accredited program or employer.	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products brief Read Insurance Underwriters brief

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products vs Insurance Underwriters: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products

Insurance Underwriters

How the national numbers differ

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products has the edge on projected growth

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products has the edge on annual openings

Insurance Underwriters has the edge on median pay

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products vs Insurance Underwriters

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