Business and Financial Operations Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages O*NET task lead SOC 13-1031

Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators

O*NET task statements lead this Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators card before OEWS pay; neighboring titles include Financial Risk Specialists, Insurance Underwriters, Management Analysts, Accountants and Auditors.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators: Financial Risk Specialists ($117K) , Insurance Underwriters ($81K) , Management Analysts ($102K) , Accountants and Auditors ($84K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 13-1031 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Examine claims forms and other records to determine insurance coverage
  2. 2. Analyze information gathered by investigation and report findings and recommendations
  3. 3. Pay and process claims within designated authority level
  4. 4. Investigate, evaluate, and settle claims, applying technical knowledge and human relations skills to effect fair and prompt disposal of c…
  5. 5. Verify and analyze data used in settling claims to ensure that claims are valid and that settlements are made according to company practi…
  6. 6. Review police reports, medical treatment records, medical bills, or physical property damage to determine the extent of liability
  7. 7. Investigate and assess damage to property and create or review property damage estimates
  8. 8. Interview or correspond with agents and claimants to correct errors or omissions and to investigate questionable claims
  9. 9. Interview or correspond with claimants, witnesses, police, physicians, or other relevant parties to determine claim settlement, denial, o…
  10. 10. Enter claim payments, reserves and new claims on computer system, inputting concise yet sufficient file documentation
  11. 11. Resolve complex, severe exposure claims, using high service oriented file handling
  12. 12. Adjust reserves or provide reserve recommendations to ensure that reserve activities are consistent with corporate policies

Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators: O*NET ranks Reading Comprehension first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 13-1031 - lead skill Reading Comprehension at 4.1 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Reading Comprehension 4.1
  2. 2. Active Listening 4.0
  3. 3. Critical Thinking 4.0
  4. 4. Speaking 3.9
  5. 5. Judgment and Decision Making 3.8
  6. 6. Writing 3.6
  7. 7. Complex Problem Solving 3.5
  8. 8. Monitoring 3.4

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.7
  2. 2. English Language 4.4
  3. 3. Administrative 3.8
  4. 4. Mathematics 3.7
  5. 5. Computers and Electronics 3.4
  6. 6. Law and Government 3.3
National median after O*NET task lead
$78,000
/year · 12 published task lines above
Lead task: Examine claims forms and other records to determine insurance coverage
$78K
National median
↓ -5%
Growth 2024-2034
21,100
Annual openings
324,230
Estimated US jobs
Financial Risk Specialists
Highest-pay peer · $117K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education High school diploma or equivalent

Top Paying States for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators

1. Maryland $95,560
2. Alaska $87,670
3. Connecticut $88,330
4. Rhode Island $86,520
5. New York $87,130
6. California $91,790
7. District of Columbia $101,150
8. New Jersey $95,690
9. Vermont $83,970
10. New Hampshire $83,890

Other Business and Financial Operations Occupations titles

  1. 1. Management Analysts $101,860
  2. 2. Insurance Underwriters $81,370
  3. 3. Financial Risk Specialists $117,330
  4. 4. Accountants and Auditors $83,680
  5. 5. Budget Analysts $91,640
  6. 6. Financial and Investment Analysts $102,740

O*NET publishes 12 leading task statements for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators (SOC 13-1031). The national OEWS median is $78,000 inside Business and Financial Operations Occupations. Same-group neighbors: Financial Risk Specialists, Insurance Underwriters, Management Analysts, Accountants and Auditors. Lead published task: Examine claims forms and other records to determine insurance coverage.

Employment Projections expect -5% change between 2024 and 2034 (declining vs baseline 3.1%). About 21,100 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Maryland at $95,560. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Financial Risk Specialists at $117,330. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators pay-rank #21 in Business and Financial Operations Occupations

Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators sits at pay-rank #21 of 32 detailed Business and Financial Operations Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 13-1031 · national median $78,000 · middle third of Business and Financial Operations Occupations (#21/32). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 13-1031

Maryland · top state for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators

$96K published median

Alaska · #2 state pay

$88K · behind Maryland

Financial Risk Specialists

Highest-pay peer vs Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators · $117K

Insurance Underwriters

Lower-pay peer beside Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators · $81K

Compare Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators with another occupation →

Role and task next reads

Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators full salary map

State and metro OEWS after the task lead

Compare tasks and pay

Side-by-side with another occupation

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators mid-table among Business and Financial Operations Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #21 of 32 detailed Business and Financial Operations Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists ($78K), Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage ($78K), Buyers and Purchasing Agents ($78K), Cost Estimators ($79K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators. Leading ones include: Examine claims forms and other records to determine insurance coverage; Analyze information gathered by investigation and report findings and recommendations; Pay and process claims within designated authority level; Investigate, evaluate, and settle claims, applying technical knowledge and human relations skills to effect fair and prompt disposal of c…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators? ▼
For SOC 13-1031, O*NET importance scores lead with Reading Comprehension (4.1), Active Listening (4.0), Critical Thinking (4.0), Speaking (3.9). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Administrative. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $78,000 as the national median for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators. The published 10th-90th range is $48,850 to $117,040. Beside Financial Risk Specialists ($117,330), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators is -5%. Projected annual openings: about 21,100. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: declining.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators? ▼
BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators? ▼
Maryland ($95,560), Alaska ($87,670), Connecticut ($88,330) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 13-1031. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics