By Dr. Tamara Patzer
Key Takeaways
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 230,857 private-sector insurance carrier and related establishments in the first quarter of 2026, a preliminary figure that includes carriers as well as agencies.
- As of Nov. 3, 2026, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners listed 29 jurisdictions that have adopted its model bulletin on insurers’ use of artificial intelligence, up from 25 in April.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 3 percent growth for insurance sales agents from 2025 to 2035, with about 43,100 openings a year, many created by workers who retire or leave the labor force.
- An Aug. 10, 2026, Insurance Business report quoted a broker saying retiring colleagues often leave their renewal know-how unwritten.
Counting the Doors
Walk down the main street of almost any American town and an insurance agency is likely to be there, often between a bank and a bakery. How many of these businesses exist is harder to pin down than the sign in the window suggests.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Labor, counted 230,857 private-sector establishments in insurance carriers and related activities in the first quarter of 2026. The figure is preliminary, and it appears on an industry page the bureau extracted Nov. 6, 2026. The total covers carriers as well as the agencies, brokerages, and support businesses around them. The page lists agencies and brokerages as a sub-industry but gives no separate establishment count for it.
Employment is easier to see. The same page puts employment across the whole group at 2,917,800 in October 2026, a preliminary figure, down from 2,937,800 in July. For agencies and brokerages alone, the bureau’s May 2023 occupational survey counted 952,040 employees. That table is the most recent agency-level breakdown the bureau had posted that could be confirmed. It included 338,020 insurance sales agents and 109,800 customer service representatives, and it leaves out the self-employed.
Regulators Turn Their Attention to the Software
In December 2023, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the organization of state insurance regulators, adopted a Model Bulletin on the Use of Artificial Intelligence by Insurance Companies. It sets out how regulators expect insurers to govern the technology.
A bulletin is a model, not a law, and each state decides what to do with it. The association’s adoption map, with a status date of Nov. 3, 2026, listed 29 jurisdictions that have adopted it, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. An April 1, 2026, version of the map listed 25. California, Colorado, New York, and Texas appear separately, under insurance-specific rules or guidance they issued on their own.
Regulators are also building tools to look inside insurers’ systems. The association’s artificial intelligence page says a regulator guide called the AI Systems Evaluation Tool is being piloted by 12 states. The page expects the tool to be adopted at the association’s 2026 Fall National Meeting, where its calendar lists the Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Working Group for Nov. 16 in Texas. A separate working group is developing a framework for reviewing third-party data and models that insurers use.
New York has been specific about what it expects. Insurance Circular Letter No. 7, issued July 11, 2024, by the New York State Department of Financial Services, covers the use of artificial intelligence and outside consumer data in underwriting and pricing. It says insurers remain responsible when they use vendor tools and “may not rely solely on a third-party’s claim of non-discrimination.” It also calls for written policies, staff training and documentation, and it tells insurers to explain adverse decisions and the information behind them.
The rules are written for insurers, not for agencies. Even so, the themes regulators keep returning to are documentation and explanation: who decided, on what information, and why.
Who Does the Work
The people doing that work are changing. The bureau’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified Aug. 27, 2026, counted 572,600 insurance sales agents in 2025. It projects 3 percent growth through 2035, or 18,800 more jobs, and about 43,100 openings a year. The handbook says many of those openings come from replacing workers who move to other occupations or leave the labor force, such as by retiring.
Agencies are where most of these jobs sit. The handbook says 63 percent of insurance sales agents work in insurance agencies and brokerages, and 12 percent are self-employed. It lists handling sales and renewals, assisting with claims, and maintaining client records among their duties.
The outlook is less steady for claims work. The handbook counted 389,700 claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators in 2025 and projects a 6 percent decline through 2035, a loss of 21,800 jobs. It says technology is expected to automate some of their tasks. One example it gives is software that evaluates photos of damaged property and calculates an estimated claim amount.
The Procedures Nobody Wrote Down
Behind the counts is a quieter issue. Insurance Business, a trade publication, reported on Aug. 10, 2026, in a story by Gia Snape that retirements are exposing a knowledge gap in the industry. Frank Costa, a broker and National Growth Leader at World Insurance Associates, told the publication that “Brokers are retiring, and nothing they knew was written down.”
Costa described the result at renewal time. Renewals get processed rather than reviewed, he said, and coverage can drift without anyone noticing until a claim arrives. The story pointed to bureau data showing workers aged 55 and older made up 23.1 percent of the labor force in 2024, up from 15.6 percent in 2004.
The procedures Costa describes are ordinary ones. They include why a coverage decision was made, how a key endorsement affects a client, what changed after a loss, and which questions get asked again at every renewal. Most of it lives in an experienced person’s head or in a thread of old emails.
That is where the two pressures meet. Regulators are asking insurers to document and explain decisions made with technology. Agencies are living with decisions made by people whose reasoning was never recorded. Both questions come down to whether an organization can show how it arrived at an answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many insurance agencies are there in the United States?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 230,857 private-sector establishments in insurance carriers and related activities in the first quarter of 2026. That figure includes carriers, and the bureau’s page does not break out agencies and brokerages separately.
Has every state adopted the regulators’ AI bulletin?
No. As of Nov. 3, 2026, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners listed 29 jurisdictions that had adopted its model bulletin. California, Colorado, New York and Texas are listed separately for their own rules or guidance.
Is AI replacing insurance agents?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 3 percent growth for insurance sales agents from 2025 to 2035 and a 6 percent decline for claims adjusters. It says technology is expected to automate some claims tasks.
What is the AI Systems Evaluation Tool?
It is a guide for regulators that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is developing to help examine insurers’ use of artificial intelligence. Its page says 12 states are piloting it.
About the Author
Dr. Tamara “Tami” Patzer is a publisher and former newspaper editor who was on the staff of The Charlotte Sun when it was named a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist in Breaking News Reporting. She writes about AI and media literacy. Connect with her on LinkedIn. Contact: info@dailysuccessinstitute.com.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Insurance Carriers and Related Activities: NAICS 524, Industries at a Glance, data extracted Nov. 6, 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Insurance Sales Agents and Claims Adjusters, Appraisers, Examiners, and Investigators, last modified Aug. 27, 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Insurance Agencies and Brokerages: May 2023 OEWS Industry-Specific Estimates, modified April 3, 2024
- New York State Department of Financial Services, Insurance Circular Letter No. 7 (2024), July 11, 2024
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Model Bulletin adoption map (status Nov. 3, 2026) and Artificial Intelligence topic page
- Insurance Business, “Retirements are exposing insurance’s hidden knowledge gap,” Gia Snape, Aug. 10, 2026
