New York·Computer and Mathematical Occupations·SOC 15-2011

Best Actuary programs in New York, ranked by enrollment

Analyze statistical data, such as mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates and construct probability tables to forecast risk and liability for payment of future benefits.

42 schools in New York run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,792 people a year. The job pays a median of $156,480 in New York across about 2,630 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledActuaryPricing ActuaryActuarial AnalystConsulting ActuaryLife ActuaryHealth ActuaryAnnuity AnalystActuarial Intern
Graduates / yr
1,792
in New York
Median pay · New York
$156,480
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,630
people employed
Schools
42
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
69%
across those schools
Median net price
$25,874
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in New York that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

9 programs in New York that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in New York (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own New York page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 27.0301In New York
757
42.2%
22$60,930$21,143
2
CIP 27.0501In New York
698
39.0%
13$59,718$20,150
3
CIP 52.1304In New York
110
6.1%
10$62,069$23,500
4
CIP 27.0502In New York
103
5.7%
1$59,718$20,150
5
CIP 27.0601In New York
38
2.1%
1
6
CIP 27.0304In New York
31
1.7%
8$60,930$21,143
7
CIP 27.0599In New York
24
1.3%
3$59,718$20,150
8
CIP 27.0503In New York
19
1.1%
3$59,718$20,150
9
CIP 52.0215In New York
12
0.7%
1$43,506$25,000

Top 25 schools in New York

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 42 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
632Statistics, General96%$15,3154%
2Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY Public · 1 feeder programs
274Applied Mathematics, General$44,97276%49%
3New York University
New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
269Applied Mathematics, General88%$29,0239%
4Cornell University
Ithaca, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
144Statistics, General$82,53195%$17,6139%
5Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
73Applied Statistics, General70%$28,13367%
6University of Rochester
Rochester, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
68Statistics, General85%$25,87440%
7CUNY Bernard M Baruch College
New York, NY Public · 2 feeder programs
62Statistics, General72%48%
8CUNY Hunter College
New York, NY Public · 2 feeder programs
25Statistics, General57%54%
9St. John's University - New York
Queens, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
23Actuarial Science$82,43266%$27,35983%
10University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY Public · 3 feeder programs
20Statistics, General75%74%
11Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
18Statistics, General84%$28,85146%
12CUNY Graduate School and University Center
New York, NY Public · 1 feeder programs
15Statistics, General68%
13United States Military Academy
West Point, NY Public · 1 feeder programs
15Statistics, Other87%12%
14Colgate University
Hamilton, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
13Applied Mathematics, General91%$22,90314%
15Le Moyne College
Syracuse, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
13Risk Management$46,12473%$20,35683%
16Siena University
Loudonville, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
12Actuarial Science$54,85575%$30,13869%
17CUNY City College
New York, NY Public · 1 feeder programs
11Applied Mathematics, General$28,70257%60%
18St Lawrence University
Canton, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Statistics, General79%$24,10054%
19Farmingdale State College
Farmingdale, NY Public · 1 feeder programs
10Applied Mathematics, General$44,43053%63%
20University at Albany
Albany, NY Public · 2 feeder programs
10Actuarial Science61%69%
21CUNY Queens College
Queens, NY Public · 2 feeder programs
9Statistics, Other53%64%
22Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
9Applied Mathematics, General84%$28,90063%
23Marist University
Poughkeepsie, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Applied Mathematics, General80%$33,86757%
24Canisius University
Buffalo, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Mathematics and Statistics66%$17,35372%
25Clarkson University
Potsdam, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Applied Mathematics, General75%$27,28177%

All 42 schools in New York

Every school in New York with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in New York that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew YorkPrivate not-for-profit6324
Stony Brook UniversityStony BrookPublic2741
New York UniversityNew YorkPrivate not-for-profit2692
Cornell UniversityIthacaPrivate not-for-profit1442
Rochester Institute of TechnologyRochesterPrivate not-for-profit733
University of RochesterRochesterPrivate not-for-profit683
CUNY Bernard M Baruch CollegeNew YorkPublic622
CUNY Hunter CollegeNew YorkPublic252
St. John's University - New YorkQueensPrivate not-for-profit232
University at BuffaloBuffaloPublic203
Syracuse UniversitySyracusePrivate not-for-profit182
CUNY Graduate School and University CenterNew YorkPublic151
United States Military AcademyWest PointPublic151
Colgate UniversityHamiltonPrivate not-for-profit131
Le Moyne CollegeSyracusePrivate not-for-profit132

What actuaries earn in New York

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in New York
$156,480
Mean annual
$161,670
Jobs in state
2,630
What the range looks like
10th pct$82,250Median$156,48090th pct$277,800
Versus the national median
+20.4%

U.S. median $130,000. New York pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.58×

Concentrated here: New York employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in New York

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
$161,460median
2,780 jobs
Rochester, NY
$130,220median
70 jobs
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY
$110,190median
90 jobs
Syracuse, NY
$101,430median
110 jobs
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
avg
170 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+21.8%
Much faster than average
Openings per year
2,400
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
7,300
33,600 → 40,900
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Plus long-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Actuaries page.

How to become a Actuary

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
On-the-job training
Long-term on-the-job training

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingMathematicsActive ListeningSpeakingWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in New York

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 9 majors mapped to Actuaries9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 27.0301Applied Mathematics, General
  • 27.0304Computational and Applied Mathematics
  • 27.0501Statistics, General
  • 27.0502Mathematical Statistics and Probability
  • 27.0503Mathematics and Statistics
  • 27.0599Statistics, Other
  • 27.0601Applied Statistics, General
  • 52.0215Risk Management
  • 52.1304Actuarial Science

Common questions

Answers for people weighing actuaries programs in New York.

What degree do you need to become an Actuary?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Applied Mathematics, General, which awarded 757 degrees in New York in 2024-25, 42.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Actuary?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Applied Statistics, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 1,792 people a year in New York.

How much do actuaries earn in New York?+

The median is $156,480 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 20.4% above the U.S. median of $130,000. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for actuaries growing?+

BLS projects a +21.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 2,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in New York?+

42 institutions in New York reported graduates from at least one of the 9 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do actuaries work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Actuary, Pricing Actuary, Actuarial Analyst, Consulting Actuary among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-2011.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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