Credit Counselors vs Insurance Underwriters: $52K vs $81K Median Pay

Credit Counselors vs Insurance Underwriters: what changes?

Consider Credit Counselors if you want to advise and educate individuals or organizations on acquiring and managing debt. Consider Insurance Underwriters if you would rather review individual applications for insurance to evaluate degree of risk involved and determine acceptance of applications. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Credit Counselors 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.

Compare the practical differences

Credit Counselors

National median pay (2025): $52,230
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: Calculate clients' available monthly income to meet debt obligations.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 2,000

Know before you choose

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

See the full Credit Counselors 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

Insurance Underwriters has the edge on median pay

Insurance Underwriters is at $81,370, compared with $52,230 for Credit Counselors.

Credit Counselors has the edge on projected growth

Credit Counselors is at 3.3% projected growth, compared with -3.8% projected growth for Insurance Underwriters.

Insurance Underwriters has the edge on annual openings

Insurance Underwriters is at 6,800 annual openings, compared with 2,000 annual openings for Credit Counselors.

38.4/ 100

Credit Counselors

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

Credit Counselors vs Insurance Underwriters

Dimension	Credit Counselors	Insurance Underwriters
Median pay (2025)	$52,230	$81,370
Pay percentile	37.4 percentile	73.6 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	3.3%	-3.8%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	2,000	6,800
2025 employment	31,200	125,600
How you qualify	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	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	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	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 Credit Counselors brief Read Insurance Underwriters brief

Credit Counselors vs Insurance Underwriters: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Credit Counselors

Insurance Underwriters

How the national numbers differ

Insurance Underwriters has the edge on median pay

Credit Counselors has the edge on projected growth

Insurance Underwriters has the edge on annual openings

Credit Counselors vs Insurance Underwriters

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