Career comparison
Actuary vs. Statistician
Side-by-side pay, training, growth and day-to-day duties to help you choose between two related careers.
Actuaries earn more at the median ($130,000 vs. $105,650), while statisticians usually get to work faster (2 years after a bachelor’s of training). Actuaries use math and statistics to measure risk and price insurance. Statisticians design studies and analyze data to answer questions in health, business and science.
Pay data: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Outlook: BLS 2025–35 · Checked October 15, 2026
| Actuary | Statistician | |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $130,000 ($62.50/hr) | $105,650 ($50.79/hr) |
| Pay range (10th–90th) | $78,570 – $215,100 | $64,000 – $174,050 |
| Job growth, 2025–35 | +9.2% (much faster than average) | +11.0% (much faster than average) |
| Openings per year | 1,500 | 1,900 |
| Typical entry education | Bachelor's degree | Master's degree |
| Training time | Several years of exams while working | 2 years after a bachelor’s |
| Key credential | ASA or FSA | PStat |
| Work setting | Actuaries work in offices, and many work remotely.. | Statisticians work in offices for pharma, government, universities and companies; many work remotely.. |
What each job does
Actuary
- Analyze risk data
- Price insurance products
- Set reserves
- Value pension plans
- Build models
Statistician
- Design studies
- Choose methods
- Analyze data
- Build models
- Check assumptions
How they’re similar
Both careers involve working with information, high-pay, in-demand, and remote-friendly work. They sit in different fields, business & office and science, engineering & lab, but share transferable skills such as persistence and communication.
Which should you choose?
Choose actuary if…
- I love math
- I’m persistent
- I like predicting outcomes
Choose statistician if…
- I love data
- I’m skeptical of easy answers
- I can code
Still torn? Take the Actuary fit quiz and the Statistician fit quiz, or the full Career Match Quiz.
Quick comparisons
Which pays more, actuary or statistician?
Actuaries earn more at the median: $130,000 versus $105,650 for statisticians, based on BLS May 2025 data.
Which takes less time to train for?
Statisticians typically train faster (2 years after a bachelor’s) than actuaries (Several years of exams while working).
Which career has better job growth?
BLS projects statisticians to grow +11.0% from 2025–35, compared with +9.2% for actuaries.