People often assume life insurance pricing is arbitrary. It is not. A handful of factors do almost all the work, and most of them are things you either cannot change or can only change slowly.
The factors that matter most
Your age. This is the single biggest driver. The same policy costs less at 35 than at 55, and the difference is not small. It is the main reason waiting to buy is expensive.
How long you want coverage, and how much. A 20-year term policy with a $250,000 death benefit costs far less than a permanent policy with the same face amount. Term insurance is pure protection: you are buying a promise for a set number of years, with no cash value built in. Permanent coverage costs more because it is designed to last your whole life and to accumulate value.
Your health history. Carriers look at your medical records, prescriptions and recent history. Well-managed conditions are not automatically disqualifying, and different carriers weigh the same condition differently, which is one reason it is worth comparing more than one.
Tobacco use. This is the largest single swing factor available to most people. Rates for smokers and vapers can be several times higher than for non-smokers, and many carriers will treat you as a non-smoker after a set period without nicotine.
What you do for a living, and what you do for fun. A desk job prices differently than roofing. So does scuba diving or private flying.
The factors that matter less than people expect
Credit history plays far less of a role than it does for a car loan, and marital status does not set your rate either, though both can shape how much coverage makes sense for your household.
What to do with this
The two levers you control are when you buy and which carrier you buy from. You cannot change your age, and changes in health rarely arrive on your schedule.
That is the argument for getting a real number now rather than working from an estimate. It takes a few minutes, it costs nothing, and it tells you what you are actually dealing with instead of guessing.