Helping to bring in those jobs were major insurance companies like Lansing-based Jackson National Life Insurance Company and Accident Fund Insurance Company of America.

The industry, which is fifth-largest in the Lansing area, attracted 13 percent more jobs to the region from 2000-06, when the study was conducted. Total jobs in the area decreased by 3 percent.

“It’s very positive,” Stites said. “More people are hiring them here than in the state or the nation.”

Don Conlon, chairperson of MSU’s Department of Management, said he worked on the report and the number of jobs in the sector surprised him.

“I knew about (Jackson National Life Insurance Company), because it’s a big building you see off the highway,” he said. “But across the three counties this represents a significant number of jobs for a significant number of companies.”

But because the jobs pay about 50 percent more than average and two-thirds of the available jobs require a college degree, the workforce to choose from isn’t as large, Stites said.

“Clearly there is not an above-average growth in labor supply,” he said. “The industry is growing faster than the job pool.”

Conlon said he hoped the report would make more graduates aware of the wealth of jobs in the area.

“You don’t have to go to Chicago to find a well-paying career, there are a lot of those opportunities here,” he said.

These jobs also bring money to the area, Stites said.

MSU Federal Credit Union, one of the many financial institutions based in the area, increased deposits by 5 percent over the last year, said Joyce Banish, vice president of marketing for MSUFCU.

“We’ve more than doubled in the past five years,” she said. “The more members we have join and the more that stay around, which is what we want them to do, the larger we will become.”

Whether things are good or bad economically, people will always need help with their finances, she said.

“We still see there being a great deal of business,” Banish said.