Self-employment method
Other Insurance Related Activities
111,286 people filed as a nonemployer business under this industry code in 2022 — no payroll, no employees, just them. These are gross receipts reported to the IRS, before any expense is taken out.
Median GROSS RECEIPTS for the year — money in, before rent, materials, fuel, insurance or tax. This is not take-home pay.
Share who grossed under $10,000 for the whole year — before expenses.
The middle half, in gross receipts. A quarter of filers took less than the lower figure.
Source: US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
How often it does not work out
Of the 111,286 people who filed under this code in 2022, 36.19% grossed under $10,000 for the entire year — before a single expense was deducted.
That is a floor, not an estimate. Census publishes GROSS RECEIPTS, not net income. Everyone inside that share earned less than the figure suggests once rent, materials, mileage, insurance and self-employment tax came out — and filers who grossed well above the threshold may still have netted nothing. The true share of people who earn nothing meaningful from this is higher than the number above, never lower.
Denominator: establishments_total = 111,286 · US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
Every filer, by what they grossed
The full distribution Census publishes. The median above is interpolated inside the band that holds the 50th percentile.
| Gross receipts for the year | Filers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | 24,845 | 22.3% |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 15,426 | 13.9% |
| $10,000 to $24,999 | 22,236 | 20.0% |
| $25,000 to $49,999 | 16,738 | 15.0% |
| $50,000 to $99,999 | 14,848 | 13.3% |
| $100,000 to $249,999 | 12,054 | 10.8% |
| $250,000 to $499,999 | 3,410 | 3.1% |
| $500,000 to $999,999 | 1,359 | 1.2% |
| $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 | 369 | 0.3% |
Who this suits
At a $20,369 median in gross receipts, the typical person under this code is running a real but part-time operation. Full-time equivalence would require roughly triple this before costs.
With 111,286 filers, Other Insurance Related Activities is a substantial informal workforce. Enough people do it that local pricing is set by the field rather than by you.
A 15.4% share — 17,138 filers — grossed $100,000 or more. That is well above what most codes here manage, and it says the middle of Other Insurance Related Activities is closer to a business than to a sideline.
Independent insurance work suits people who can survive on renewals — the first year pays badly and the fifth is what the model is actually for.
There is no qualification, licence or minimum to appear in this data — you file and you are counted. Read the receipts distribution as the price of that: no barrier at the door means no filter before the numbers.
Who should not do this
10.8x between the quarters — $5,965 against $64,206, or $4,853 a month. This is the shape of a field where a minority does very well and the summary statistics quietly borrow their success.
The bottom quarter of Other Insurance Related Activities earns under $5,965 — $44,055 below the $50,020 a typical American job pays. Entering at the bottom and waiting is a live risk here, not a theoretical one, and some people never leave that quarter.
Do not start this if you need income in year one; this model only works if you are still there in year five.
40,274 filers out of 111,286 — 36.2% — reported under $10,000 in gross receipts in 2022. At that share the bottom band is not a warning about beginners; it is a description of a large part of the field.
Read that as a floor, not an estimate. Census publishes gross receipts, not net income, so everyone inside that share earned less than $10,000 suggests once costs came out — and filers who grossed well above $10,000 may still have netted nothing.
What the spread tells you
A ratio of 10.8x between the quarters is the signature of a winner-take-most distribution. $20,369 is a real number about a real population, but nobody entering Other Insurance Related Activities should plan around it.
Put in money rather than ratios: $5,965 at the 25th percentile, $20,369 at the midpoint, $64,206 at the 75th. $58,241 separates the quarter of Other Insurance Related Activities at the bottom from the quarter at the top.
Between $5,965 and $64,206 — the two ends of the middle half — sits $20,369. Moving from the midpoint to the upper quarter is worth $43,837; the whole climb from the lower quarter is $58,241.
The top quarter of Other Insurance Related Activities begins $43,837 above the $20,369 midpoint, while the bottom quarter starts only $14,404 below it. A range stretched that far in one direction is the signature of a field where a small group earns a great deal more than the middle does.
Converted to a 2,080-hour year, the receipts run $2.86 an hour at the 25th percentile, $9.79 at the midpoint and $30.86 at the 75th. Read them as revenue per hour worked; the equivalent wage is lower by whatever this work costs to do.
The raw counts, before anyone interprets them: under $5,000, 24,845 filers. $5,000 to $9,999, 15,426. $10,000 to $24,999, 22,236. Over $100,000, 17,192 — and 5,138 over $250,000.
What these figures are, and what they are not
Every figure above is GROSS RECEIPTS, before expenses — money that arrived before rent, materials, fuel, insurance and self-employment tax. The $20,369 midpoint for Other Insurance Related Activities is not take-home pay and is not comparable to a $20,369 salary.
The hourly number on this page is $20,369 divided by a 2,080-hour year and nothing more. We hold no unpaid-hours or cost data for Other Insurance Related Activities, so it is arithmetic rather than an effective rate.
How this is calculated · Self-employment failure rates · What credentials cost and pay back · Look up something else