Skip to content
← Back to explore

Business & finance

Insurance appraisers, auto damage

Typically requires Postsecondary nondegree award

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
RiskyMedium uncertainty

Analyst take: Softer prospects — -8.2% projected growth, moderate AI exposure (50/100).

33
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. None = broadly exposed — many of its tasks are automatable and its skills are widely shared. (Exposure ≠ job loss; see the bears below.)

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Medium uncertainty means the score leans partly on forward-looking bets like AI exposure, so treat the exact number loosely.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +High pay — above 71% of careers ($76,650).
🐻 Bears say
  • Projected to shrink (-8.2%).
📜 Reality check — how the last forecast for this career fared

In 2014, the U.S. government projected -0.6% growth for this career by 2024. What actually happened: -40.6%. Reality fell short of the forecast — a reminder that every number on this page is an estimate, and this is how the last one aged. Full back-test →

Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
-8.2%
Median pay
$76,650
AI exposure
50/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 84 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$52,997
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$22,729
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
2.3×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
InsuranceVehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians
Selective schools offering these majors
University of Pennsylvania
PA · 5% admit rate
$89,028/yr
$111,371 grad pay
Florida State University
FL · 24% admit rate
$25,720/yr
$61,675 grad pay
University of Georgia
GA · 38% admit rate
$27,993/yr
$68,726 grad pay
University of South Florida
FL · 43% admit rate
$22,859/yr
$57,743 grad pay
University of Wisconsin-Madison
WI · 45% admit rate
$28,679/yr
$73,792 grad pay
Baylor University
TX · 51% admit rate
$74,226/yr
$65,793 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

businessfinanceanalysisdetail