Short answer
Wisconsin had 3,355 insurance establishments with paid employees in 2023, 19th among the states, employing 78,748 people, according to Census County Business Patterns. 562 were carrier offices with 56,882 employees, 72% of the industry, and 2,587 were agencies and brokerages. MGIC Investment (Milwaukee) is the SEC-listed insurer headquartered there; state records show many more Wisconsin-chartered insurers, including Northwestern Mutual, American Family and Sentry companies.
- 3,355 insurance establishments, 78,748 jobs and $8.6 billion in payroll in 2023; 19th by establishments but 9th for carrier employment.
- Carriers employ 72.2% of insurance workers, averaging 101 employees per office and $120,330 in pay.
- Life insurers employ 16,705 people at an average of $190,488.
- 28 of the 31 insurance offices with 500 or more employees are carriers.
- A state registry shows Wisconsin-chartered insurers run from Stevens Point (13), Madison (8) and Milwaukee (7).
On this page
This page is for people in Wisconsin choosing an insurer or working through a claim, for job seekers weighing the state's insurance employers, and for businesses that sell to its carriers and agencies. It covers the Census counts, the insurers headquartered or chartered and run in Wisconsin, how to check a company or agent, and the buying patterns on each side. It doesn't recommend carriers.
A carrier state
County Business Patterns 2023 for Wisconsin, with average pay calculated by us from payroll and employees.
| Segment | NAICS | Establishments | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance carriers | 5241 | 562 | 56,882 | $120,330 |
| Property and casualty insurers | 524126 | 282 | 22,480 | $100,821 |
| Health and medical insurers | 524114 | 132 | 17,251 | $78,412 |
| Life insurers | 524113 | 99 | 16,705 | $190,488 |
| Agencies and brokerages | 524210 | 2,587 | 12,120 | $79,519 |
| Third-party administrators | 524292 | 122 | 9,076 | $80,571 |
| Claims adjusting | 524291 | 51 | 212 | $94,519 |
| All insurance | 524 | 3,355 | 78,748 | $109,118 |
The carrier total also includes 45 title insurer offices, whose employment the Census Bureau flags as high-noise. Carriers are 16.8% of establishments, about the national share, but 72.2% of jobs, and an average carrier office has 101 employees against 4.7 at an average agency. That is why Wisconsin is only 18th among the states for carrier establishments but 9th for carrier employment.
| Employees at the establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 2,303 |
| 5 to 9 | 528 |
| 10 to 19 | 232 |
| 20 to 49 | 140 |
| 50 to 99 | 61 |
| 100 to 249 | 43 |
| 250 to 499 | 17 |
| 500 to 999 | 18 |
| 1,000 or more | 13 |
Of the 31 establishments with 500 or more employees, 28 are carriers (17 with 500 to 999 and 11 with 1,000 or more). Overall, 3,063 establishments have fewer than 20 employees, 201 have 20 to 99 and 91 have 100 or more; Wisconsin has 1.90% of the national total.
What these numbers are. Establishments with paid employees: a carrier's head office and regional claims offices count separately, and agents working alone without staff are left out.
Who is based in Wisconsin
One SEC-listed insurer is headquartered in the state: MGIC Investment Corporation, 250 E. Kilbourn Avenue, Milwaukee, which reported total revenue of $1.21 billion for 2025. It is a mortgage insurer, and its 10-K says its own employees sell its products, so it buys differently from carriers that sell through agents.
Most of Wisconsin's insurers are mutuals or subsidiaries that file no 10-K. Tennessee's List of Licensed Insurance Companies (as of 30 September 2026) records each insurer's state of charter and main office. It includes 81 Wisconsin-chartered insurers, 51 of them run from Wisconsin:
| Main office | Examples of Wisconsin-chartered insurers on the list |
|---|---|
| Stevens Point (13) | Sentry Insurance Company, Sentry Casualty Company, Sentry Life Insurance Company, Dairyland Insurance Company, Viking Insurance Company of Wisconsin |
| Madison (8) | American Family Mutual Insurance Company, S.I., American Family Life Insurance Company, Midvale Indemnity Company |
| Milwaukee (7) | Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation, UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin |
| Merrill (3) | Church Mutual Insurance Company, S.I. |
| Sun Prairie (3) | General Casualty Company of Wisconsin, Regent Insurance Company |
| West Bend (3) | West Bend Insurance Company |
| Elsewhere | Acuity, A Mutual Insurance Company (Sheboygan); SECURA Insurance Company (Appleton); Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company, SI (Neenah); Society Insurance (Fond du Lac); Capitol Indemnity Corporation (Middleton) |
That list covers only insurers licensed in Tennessee, so small Wisconsin carriers that write only in-state won't appear. Its high life insurer pay ($190,488) and big carrier offices match a state with large life and property and casualty head offices. For national rankings, see the largest insurance companies in the US.
Checking a company or agent
- License: the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) licenses insurers and agents in Wisconsin. Ask an agent for their Wisconsin license number and confirm it, and the insurer's authority to write in the state, with OCI. We couldn't reach OCI's website when we prepared this page, so start from its home page for current tools.
- Complaint record: the NAIC's Consumer Insurance Search gives complaint, license and financial information by insurer, from complaints state regulators close. Search the legal name on your policy: Sentry, for example, writes through several companies with different names.
- A complaint: contact the insurer first, then file with OCI. The NAIC's guide to filing lists what to include: policy number, documents, a dated record of contacts, and the outcome you want.
Jobs
Wisconsin carriers paid an average of $120,330 in 2023, above the national carrier average of $107,137, and life insurers $190,488; agencies averaged $79,519, below the national $90,831 (our calculation from County Business Patterns). Across all insurance, the average was $109,118. The 31 establishments with 500 or more employees, nearly all carriers, are where most professional insurance jobs are, spread across several cities rather than one.
Selling to Wisconsin carriers and agencies
Carriers here are the main prize: regional and national mutuals with large head offices, which buy policy, billing and claims systems, data and analytics, cloud and security services, and contract talent, with buying committees across IT, claims, underwriting and finance. Many are mutuals owned by their policyholders, so there are no investor filings to research them from; their own sites and state filings are the place to start. The 2,587 agencies, 1,939 of them under five employees, buy agency management systems, quoting tools and marketing.
Illustrative example. The company, rates and results are invented.
Kettle Moraine Claims Tech (kettle-claims.example) sells software that reads claim documents and routes them to adjusters. It targets Wisconsin property and casualty carrier establishments with 20 to 249 employees: 33 plus 15 plus 10, or 58. It keeps those that run their own claims operations in the state, an assumed 40%, or 23. A tailored note to each claims leader with a sample of their own document volumes, at a 13% reply rate, gives 3 conversations; one contract at $90,000 a year would justify the campaign. With 23 accounts, each one deserves research: Bebop writes that research for each account from a plain-language description.
Next step: see the state's wider business market in companies in Wisconsin.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023: state file, NAICS 524 and its industries, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- MGIC Investment Corporation Form 10-K for 2025, MGIC Investment (SEC EDGAR), 25 February 2026
- List of Licensed Insurance Companies (as of 30 September 2026), Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, accessed 30 October 2026
- Consumer Insurance Search (CIS), National Association of Insurance Commissioners, accessed 30 October 2026
- How to File an Insurance Complaint, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many insurance companies are in Wisconsin?
Census County Business Patterns counted 3,355 insurance establishments with paid employees in Wisconsin in 2023, 19th among the states, employing 78,748 people. 562 were carrier offices with 56,882 employees and 2,587 were agencies and brokerages. Those are offices, not firms, and agents with no employees aren't included.
What insurance companies are headquartered in Wisconsin?
MGIC Investment Corporation in Milwaukee is the SEC-listed insurer headquartered in Wisconsin, per its 2025 annual report. A state registry of licensed insurers shows many Wisconsin-chartered insurers run from the state, including Northwestern Mutual Life in Milwaukee, American Family Mutual in Madison, Sentry companies in Stevens Point, Church Mutual in Merrill, West Bend in West Bend and Acuity in Sheboygan.
Why does Wisconsin have so many insurance jobs?
Wisconsin's insurance carriers employed 56,882 people in 2023, 72% of the state's insurance workforce, with an average of 101 employees per carrier office, according to Census data. That puts Wisconsin 9th among the states for carrier employment despite ranking 18th for carrier establishments. Large life and property and casualty insurers run from several Wisconsin cities account for much of it.
How do I check if an insurance company is licensed in Wisconsin?
Confirm the insurer and agent with Wisconsin's Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, which licenses both. Use the exact legal company name on your policy, since groups such as Sentry and American Family write through several companies. For complaint and financial information on the insurer, use the NAIC's Consumer Insurance Search.