Insurance Agency Sale Multiples (2026): What Your Book Is Worth
Small insurance agencies sell for 1 to 2 times what they collect in commissions each year. Agencies clearing $1M in profit sell for 7 to 14 times profit. Where you land depends on three things.
- How many clients stay each year. Keep 90% and you get top pricing. Drop under 80% and you lose two turns.
- What you write. Commercial and benefits books are worth more than auto and homeowners.
- Whether the book needs you. If the clients only know you, buyers discount the whole thing.
The Two Numbers Buyers Multiply
Buyers price your agency off one of two numbers. Which one depends on your size.
Under about $500K a year, they multiply your commissions. Profit at that size swings too much to trust.
At $1M or more in profit, they multiply your profit. You will hear buyers call that number EBITDA.
- Commissions are not premiums. A book with $5M in premium paying 12% brings in $600K. The $600K is what gets multiplied.
- Your real profit is higher than your tax return says. Buyers add back the part of your salary above market, one-time costs, and personal expenses run through the business.
- That gap is worth money. On owner-run agencies it often runs 40% or more, and every dollar of it gets multiplied.
What Insurance Agencies Sell For, by Size
These ranges come from closed deals through 2025. Yours will move up or down based on the factors further down this page.
| Tier | Agency Size | Typical Price | Likely Buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner-operated | Under $500K in commissions, mostly personal lines | 1.0x to 1.8x commissions | An individual, using a bank loan |
| Established independent | $500K to $3M in commissions | 1.5x to 2.5x commissions, or 5x to 7x profit | Smaller roll-ups, local competitors |
| Regional agency | $1M to $5M in annual profit | 7x to 10x profit | Investor-backed buyers |
| Large agency | $5M or more in annual profit | 10x to 14x profit | National firms, the largest investor groups |
Price your own book with the insurance agency valuation calculator.
Agencies price above every building trade on the same profit. The comparison, and why.
What the Giant Deals Tell You
The headline deals set the ceiling, not your price. Two closed in August 2025.
- Gallagher bought AssuredPartners for $13.45 billion, about 14 times profit.
- Brown & Brown bought Accession, the owner of Risk Strategies, for $9.8 billion, about 15.6 times profit.
- Those are billion-dollar firms. A $2M-profit agency does not get 15 times. It anchors the top of the market the buyers above you are paying into.
Insurance Agency Valuation Calculator
1. How Many Clients Stay
This moves your price more than anything else. Keep 90% or better and you get top pricing and more cash at closing.
Drop below 80% and buyers cut two turns off your multiple. They also push more of your money into payments that depend on the book holding.
Here is why they care. At 85%, you are losing 15% of your revenue every year. At a 7 times multiple, that is a full turn of profit walking out the door annually.
2. What You Write
- All commercial: 1.8 to 2.2 times commissions.
- All personal: 1.1 to 1.5 times commissions.
- Employee benefits: the highest-valued book of all. Clients rarely move, premiums renew every year, and there is more to sell them.
3. How Much Rides on One Carrier
If any single carrier is more than 40% of your revenue, buyers knock the price down.
The worry is simple. If that carrier will not appoint the new owner, a big piece of your book has nowhere to go.
Spreading new business across carriers before you go to market is one of the cheapest ways to protect your price.
4. How Much Rides on You
If you are the main producer and the main relationship, buyers discount the book no matter how good your numbers look.
They cannot buy a book that might leave with you. Start moving clients to other staff at least 12 months before you sell.
Commissions or Profit: Which One Applies to You?
Under $500K in commissions, buyers think in commissions. A 1.5 times multiple on a $400K book is $600K.
Those deals get done with bank loans. The SBA caps its main loan program at $5 million, which covers this whole tier comfortably.
Above that, the conversation changes. Buyers ask for three years of profit and multiply the most recent twelve months.
- A $1M-profit agency at 8 times is worth $8M. The same agency priced off commissions might fetch $3M to $4M.
- That is why big buyers push the profit framing once you are large enough for it. At your size it usually pays you more, so let them.
For the tier-by-tier detail, see our guide to how to value an insurance agency by size.
Who Is Buying Right Now
Investor-backed buyers dominate. They accounted for 73% of the 695 agency deals announced in 2025.
Volume did slip. There were 787 deals in 2024. Fewer deals has not softened pricing for good books, it has made buyers choosier.
- Active names: Acrisure, Hub International, BroadStreet Partners, Patriot Growth, Alera Group, and World Insurance Associates.
- Each has a big investor behind it. Bain Capital stands behind Acrisure, Genstar behind Alera, Summit and GI Partners behind Patriot Growth. That is where the money comes from.
- In Pennsylvania, add Keystone Insurers Group. Backed by Warburg Pincus, it buys across the state, including the smaller markets outside Philadelphia.
- They want $1M or more in profit. Below that, your buyers are local competitors, small roll-ups, and individuals.
For how each buyer type structures an offer, see our guide to who buys insurance agencies.
How Pennsylvania and New Jersey Compare
Agencies in the Philadelphia metro track the national ranges at every tier. The commercial base is deep: construction, life sciences, manufacturing, and finance.
High-value personal lines in Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks counties price above the rest of that tier. Bigger policies mean bigger commissions on the same client count.
What differs across the river is tax, not price. Pennsylvania charges a flat 3.07% on the gain. New Jersey taxes it like a paycheck, up to 10.75%.
- Selling in PA? See the full guide to selling a Pennsylvania insurance agency.
- Selling in NJ? See the full guide to selling a New Jersey insurance agency.
Related Guides
- Selling in New York? Anyone may own an agency there. See selling an insurance agency in New York.
- A high multiple is not the same as a high payout. Why the headline price is not what you bank.
- How to value an insurance agency by revenue size
- Who buys insurance agencies, and what each type pays
- How long it takes to sell an insurance agency
- Asset sale or stock sale, and what each costs you in tax
- The wider picture: what businesses sell for across every trade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Small personal-lines books sell for 1.0 to 1.8 times annual commissions. Established independents get 5 to 7 times profit. Regional agencies get 7 to 10 times, and the largest get 10 to 14 times. Losing clients is what pulls a multiple down fastest.
Both, depending on size. Under $500K in commissions, buyers multiply your commissions, because profit swings too much at that size. At $1M or more in profit, they multiply profit instead, which almost always pays you more.
Busy, but pickier than it was. Buyers announced 695 agency deals in 2025, down from 787 the year before, and investor-backed buyers did 73% of them. Agencies between $1M and $5M in profit draw the most competition.
More than any other single factor. Keeping 90% or better earns top pricing and more cash at closing. Falling under 80% costs you two turns and pushes more of your money into payments that depend on the book holding after you leave.
Yes, and the gap is wide. An all-commercial book runs 1.8 to 2.2 times commissions, while an all-personal book runs 1.1 to 1.5 times. Commercial and benefits books also attract the investor-backed buyers who pay 7 to 10 times profit.
Yes. Books under $500K in commissions sell regularly to individuals, often licensed producers buying their first book with a bank loan. Expect 1.0 to 1.8 times commissions, and expect part of the price to depend on clients staying.