Short answer
Alabama had 2,546 insurance establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 30,239 people, according to Census County Business Patterns. 622 were insurance carriers (13,369 employees) and 1,924 were agencies, brokerages, adjusters and administrators (16,870). No SEC-listed insurer is headquartered there since The Doctors Company acquired ProAssurance on June 26, 2026. The Alabama Department of Insurance licenses companies and agents; its Consumer Services Division is on 334-241-4141.
- 2,546 insurance establishments, 30,239 employees and $2.7 billion in payroll in Alabama in 2023; average pay $89,365.
- Agencies, adjusters and administrators employ 16,870 people, more than the carriers' 13,369.
- 63 claims adjusting establishments employ 4,045 people, an average of 64 each.
- Alabama has 439 property and casualty carrier establishments, 8th among states, but 298 of them have fewer than five employees.
- ProAssurance, Alabama's last listed insurer, became a subsidiary of The Doctors Company on June 26, 2026.
On this page
"Insurance companies in Alabama" can mean the insurer that writes your policy, the local agency that sold it, or the firm that adjusts your claim. This page is for Alabamians sorting out which is which before they buy or when a claim stalls, for job seekers, for businesses buying cover and for vendors who sell to the industry. It gives the Census counts, the status of the state's last listed insurer and the places to check a company or agent. It doesn't recommend insurers.
Alabama by the numbers
US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, insurance carriers and related activities (NAICS 524), State of Alabama:
| Measure | Alabama, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 2,546 |
| Employees | 30,239 |
| Annual payroll | $2,702,311,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 11.9 |
| Average annual pay | $89,365 |
| Share of US insurance establishments | 1.44% (of 176,459) |
| Rank among states by establishments | 25th |
| Size of establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 2,395 |
| 20 to 99 employees | 120 |
| 100 or more employees | 31 |
CBP counts locations with paid employees, not companies; a carrier's Birmingham and Mobile offices count separately, and agents who work alone aren't included. Employment is for the pay period including March 12, 2023.
More jobs outside the insurers than in them
| Segment (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance carriers (5241) | 622 | 13,369 | $99,565 |
| Health and medical insurers (524114) | 79 | 5,288 | $104,229 |
| Life insurers (524113) | 82 | 2,704 | $112,476 |
| Property and casualty insurers (524126) | 439 | not reported (high-noise figure) | not reported |
| Agencies, adjusters and administrators (5242) | 1,924 | 16,870 | $81,282 |
| Agencies and brokerages (524210) | 1,737 | 8,170 | $77,880 |
| Third-party administrators (524292) | 90 | 4,434 | $87,728 |
| Claims adjusters (524291) | 63 | 4,045 | $82,028 |
Average pay is CBP payroll over employees, our arithmetic. The Census Bureau published a property and casualty employee count but flagged it high-noise (its confidentiality noise changed the figure by 5% or more), so we leave it out.
Nationally, carriers hold 55.8% of insurance jobs. In Alabama they hold 44.2%. The difference is the service firms: Alabama's 63 claims adjusting establishments average 64 employees each, against 11 in Ohio, and its 90 third-party administrators average 49. Those are claims and back-office operations serving insurers and employers in many states. The property and casualty count is odd in the other direction: 439 establishments, 8th among states, but 298 of them have fewer than five employees. Census doesn't publish names, so the count can't tell you whose offices they are.
Alabama's last listed insurer
Until mid-2026 Alabama had one SEC-listed insurance group, ProAssurance of Birmingham, a specialty property and casualty and workers' compensation insurer whose main products are medical professional liability cover. Its 10-K for 2025 reported $1.10 billion in total revenue and 972 employees at the end of 2025. On June 26, 2026, its 8-K reported that it had become a wholly owned subsidiary of The Doctors Company, "a California-domiciled reciprocal inter-insurance exchange," and a notice removing its shares from the New York Stock Exchange was filed the same day. No other SEC-listed insurer has its head office in Alabama. The largest insurance companies in the US list ranks the national insurance groups by premium and revenue.
How to check an Alabama insurer or agent
- Get the exact company. The legal insurer is named on the declarations page; it's often a subsidiary with a different name from the brand.
- Ask the regulator. The Alabama Department of Insurance in Montgomery licenses insurers and agents. Per the NAIC's directory of state departments, its main line is 334-269-3550 and its Consumer Services Division 334-241-4141.
- Check the complaint and financial record. The NAIC's Consumer Insurance Search lets you "look up company complaints, licenses, and financial health" for each insurer.
- Find an independent agent. The Alabama Independent Insurance Agents association, based in Birmingham, runs a member directory and points consumers to the Big I's Trusted Choice search.
If a claim goes wrong, the NAIC's advice is to raise it with the insurer first, then file with the department, which forwards the complaint and requires the insurer to answer.
Working in Alabama insurance
Average pay ranges from $77,880 at agencies to $112,476 at life insurers. The 31 establishments with 100 or more employees are where most hiring happens; six third-party administrator establishments alone have 250 to 999 employees. Agency work is spread across 1,737 offices, 1,224 of them with fewer than five people, which suits people who want a small office or a path to owning a book of business.
Selling into Alabama's insurance market
| Buyer | Establishments | Typical decision maker |
|---|---|---|
| Small agencies (1 to 4) | 1,224 | Owner |
| Agencies with 5 or more | 513 | Principal or operations manager |
| Claims adjusters and administrators | 153 | Operations, quality and IT leaders |
| Carriers | 622 | Usually decided at the group's head office, often outside Alabama |
Adjusting firms and administrators are the distinctive buyers here: few, large and focused on throughput, accuracy and staffing. Our guide on finding decision makers helps at the larger firms.
Illustrative example. Magnolia Field Imaging and its price are invented; the counts are from CBP 2023.
Magnolia Field Imaging (magnoliafield.example) sells drone roof inspections to claims adjusting firms at $180 an inspection. Alabama's 63 adjusting establishments employ 4,045 people. If a quarter of those staff are field adjusters and each orders 30 drone inspections a year, that's about 30,300 inspections; a 5% share is 1,515 inspections, or about $273,000 a year. It starts with the largest firms. Bebop finds them and the operations leads who buy.
Next step: see where the national insurers rank in the largest insurance companies list.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- ProAssurance Corporation Form 10-K for 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 23 February 2026
- ProAssurance Corporation Form 8-K: completion of merger with The Doctors Company, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 26 June 2026
- Insurance Department Directory, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, accessed 30 October 2026
- How do I file a complaint against my insurance company?, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 10 March 2026
- Consumer resources and Consumer Insurance Search, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, accessed 30 October 2026
- Alabama Independent Insurance Agents, Alabama Independent Insurance Agents, Inc., accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many insurance companies are in Alabama?
The Census Bureau counted 2,546 insurance establishments with paid employees in Alabama in 2023, employing 30,239 people. 622 were carriers that underwrite policies and 1,924 were agencies, brokerages, claims adjusters and administrators. An establishment is a location, so one insurer with several Alabama offices counts several times, and agents working alone aren't included.
Who do I contact to file a complaint against an insurance company in Alabama?
Contact the insurer first and keep a record of every call and letter. If that doesn't resolve it, contact the Alabama Department of Insurance's Consumer Services Division on 334-241-4141, according to the NAIC's directory of state insurance departments. The department forwards complaints to the company, which must respond, and the NAIC says departments investigate complaints for free.
Are any insurance companies headquartered in Alabama?
Yes, but none is SEC-listed now. ProAssurance of Birmingham was Alabama's last listed insurer until The Doctors Company acquired it on June 26, 2026, making it a wholly owned subsidiary; its 2025 10-K reported $1.10 billion in revenue. Privately held and mutual insurers based in Alabama don't file with the SEC; the Alabama Department of Insurance can confirm a company's state of domicile.
How do I check if an insurance agent is licensed in Alabama?
The Alabama Department of Insurance licenses agents; call its main line on 334-269-3550 if you can't use its website. Have the agent's full name and the agency name ready. For an independent agency, the Alabama Independent Insurance Agents association's member directory shows whether it belongs to the state's Big I affiliate, though membership isn't a license.