Insurance Agencies & Brokerages — profit margin & cost structure (U.S.)

For the U.S. insurance agencies & brokerages industry, IRS tax data shows an estimated 36.1% net margin on an owner-operator basis (national, sole proprietorships, tax year 2023). That figure — what a self-employed owner keeps per sales dollar before paying themselves — is the number this page exists to report; read the note below on how it's measured.

36.1%net margin · owner-operator basis

National as of tax year 2023 Moderate confidence source ↗

Owner-operator basis (IRS SOI sole proprietorships, TY2023, based on ~313k returns): net income less deficit ÷ business receipts. Measured at NAICS 524210 — Insurance Agencies & Brokerages (near-exact). Owner's own labor is not expensed.

Cost structure

National, from IRS Statistics of Income (weighted sample). Where a component is not separately reported, it is shown as insufficient data — never estimated.

Component	Value
Cost of goods sold (% of receipts)	2.5%	National source ↗
Labor / officer compensation (% of receipts)	7.2%	National source ↗

2019–2023 trend (national)

Change in the number of insurance agencies & brokerages establishments and employment, nationally, from Census County Business Patterns.

Metric	2019	2023	Change
Establishments	135,077	133,728	-1.0%
Employment	740,319	818,561	+10.6%

Business size distribution (national)

Share of U.S. insurance agencies & brokerages establishments by number of employees (Census County Business Patterns, 2023). 72% have fewer than 5 employees.

1–4 emp96,709 (72%)

5–9 emp23,567 (18%)

10–19 emp7,992 (6%)

20–49 emp3,594 (3%)

50–99 emp1,038 (1%)

100+ emp828 (1%)

Where this industry operates — all 51 states

Establishment counts, employment, and wages are available for free elsewhere too (e.g. Data USA). States ordered by number of establishments — pick one for local context:

Full cost-structure breakdown by business-size class and side-by-side industry comparison are available to subscribers. This page shows the current-year national headline plus the multi-year establishment trend.

Frequently asked

What is the average profit margin for insurance agencies & brokerages businesses?

About 36.1% net margin on an owner-operator basis (national, IRS SOI sole proprietorships, tax year 2023). This counts the owner's own labor as profit, so it overstates corporate-style margin — see the note above.

How many insurance agencies & brokerages businesses are there in the U.S.?

133,728 establishments with paid employees (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

What is the average wage in the insurance agencies & brokerages industry?

$2,007 per week (BLS QCEW 2024, private sector) — about $104,364/year.

Is the insurance agencies & brokerages industry growing?

The number of U.S. insurance agencies & brokerages establishments changed -1.0% from 2019 to 2023 (135,077 → 133,728), per Census CBP.

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machine-readable JSON · NAICS 524210

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