---
title: What is the average life insurance payout | Coverfolk
url: https://coverfolk.com/answers/average-life-insurance-payout
updated: 2026-10-08
---

# What is the average life insurance payout?

Updated October 8, 20264 sourcesCoverfolk team[Fact checked](/editorial-standards)

The short answer

We did not find a trusted source that publishes an average payout. The closest figure: the average new individual policy bought in 2020 was $183,780, per the ACLI Life Insurers Fact Book.

The ACLI is the trade group for life insurers. Its 2021 Fact Book says the average size of a new individual policy grew from $165,290 in 2010 to $183,780 in 2020.

That is what people bought, not what families got paid. Your family's payout is the amount on your own policy.

The same book says life insurers paid $90 billion to beneficiaries in 2020. That was up 15.4 percent from 2019. Individual policies were $67 billion and group policies were $23 billion.

Your payout can change a little. Washington says loans against the policy lower it, and dividends can raise it.

Payout timing has rules. Texas says companies must pay within two months after they get proof of death and confirm the beneficiary.

## More questions

### Can my family get the money in payments?

Yes. Texas says the usual payout is one lump sum, but other choices include payments over time.

### Is the payout taxed?

Usually not. Texas says beneficiaries rarely pay income tax on a death benefit.

## Words to know

[Beneficiary](/glossary)
:   The person you name to get the death benefit when you die. You can name more than one.

[Dividend](/glossary)
:   Money a company may pay back when it collects more than it needs. You only get dividends with a participating policy, and they are not guaranteed.

## Sources

1. [ACLI: 2021 Life Insurers Fact Book (PDF)](https://www.acli.com/-/media/acli/files/fact-books-public/2021lifeinsurersfactbook.pdf)
2. [ACLI: Life Insurers Fact Book](https://www.acli.com/about-the-industry/life-insurers-fact-book)
3. [Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner: A consumer's guide to life insurance (PDF)](https://www.insurance.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2025-03/life-insurance-guide.pdf)
4. [Texas Department of Insurance: Life insurance guide](https://www.tdi.texas.gov/pubs/consumer/cb018.html)