The average real estate agent in the United States earns $69,510 a year, and the median, which is the figure that describes a typical worker rather than one dragged around by the top end, is $52,830. That works out at about $33.42 an hour. Where you work moves that a long way: New York averages $112,730 and Idaho $46,650. Everything below is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 release, not from job ads or self-reported surveys.
What a real estate agent actually does for that money
Real estate sales agents are counted as employees where they are on a payroll, but most agents are independent contractors paid on commission and are only partly represented here. The median tells you very little in a field where a minority of agents close most of the transactions.
What real estate agents earn, from bottom to top
An average hides the spread, and the spread is what matters when you are deciding whether to enter the trade or what to pay someone. Here is the full range BLS publishes.
| Percentile | Annual | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $32,970 | Starting out, or an apprentice rate |
| 25th | $40,040 | Still building speed and a customer base |
| Median | $52,830 | The middle of the trade |
| 75th | $82,020 | Experienced, licensed, in demand |
| Top 10% | $123,590 | Specialists, supervisors and owners |
Real Estate salary by state
New York pays the most at $112,730 a year, and Idaho the least at $46,650. Cost of living explains part of that gap and licensing rules explain a good deal of the rest.
| # | State | Average annual | Median annual | Hourly | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | $112,730 | $102,990 | $54.20 | 8,660 |
| 2 | District of Columbia | $99,500 | $123,770 | $47.84 | 590 |
| 3 | New Jersey | $92,310 | $99,990 | $44.38 | n/a |
| 4 | Montana | $89,580 | $79,100 | $43.07 | 370 |
| 5 | Alaska | $88,330 | $89,170 | $42.46 | 170 |
| 6 | New Mexico | $85,520 | $76,170 | $41.12 | 550 |
| 7 | Washington | $84,480 | $79,130 | $40.61 | 5,150 |
| 8 | Nevada | $83,470 | $79,990 | $40.13 | 1,490 |
| 9 | Alabama | $80,820 | $60,890 | $38.86 | 1,580 |
| 10 | South Carolina | $79,100 | $56,580 | $38.03 | 4,930 |
| 11 | North Carolina | $74,610 | $51,240 | $35.87 | 7,960 |
| 12 | Colorado | $73,650 | $63,670 | $35.41 | 6,120 |
| 13 | Florida | $73,600 | $49,310 | $35.39 | 26,790 |
| 14 | North Dakota | $72,320 | $73,920 | $34.77 | n/a |
| 15 | Virginia | $72,040 | $63,980 | $34.64 | 5,750 |
| 16 | New Hampshire | $70,160 | $57,620 | $33.73 | 240 |
| 17 | Arizona | $70,070 | $58,780 | $33.69 | 5,610 |
| 18 | South Dakota | $69,510 | $65,170 | $33.42 | 640 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | $69,060 | $47,980 | $33.20 | 3,710 |
| 20 | California | $67,570 | $57,560 | $32.49 | 17,500 |
| 21 | Maryland | $67,460 | $52,630 | $32.43 | 2,940 |
| 22 | Oregon | $65,740 | $61,610 | $31.60 | 1,940 |
| 23 | Pennsylvania | $65,330 | $56,040 | $31.41 | 5,510 |
| 24 | Georgia | $65,250 | $46,730 | $31.37 | 9,940 |
| 25 | Maine | $64,840 | $56,930 | $31.17 | 740 |
| 26 | Michigan | $64,380 | $57,880 | $30.95 | 2,210 |
| 27 | Rhode Island | $64,260 | $60,310 | $30.89 | n/a |
| 28 | Wisconsin | $64,190 | $58,120 | $30.86 | 5,680 |
| 29 | Texas | $63,610 | $45,740 | $30.58 | 22,250 |
| 30 | Kentucky | $63,180 | $58,610 | $30.37 | 1,120 |
| 31 | Connecticut | $62,640 | $46,770 | $30.12 | n/a |
| 32 | Minnesota | $61,420 | $46,410 | $29.53 | 2,530 |
| 33 | West Virginia | $61,300 | $59,050 | $29.47 | 370 |
| 34 | Hawaii | $61,130 | $46,220 | $29.39 | 690 |
| 35 | Ohio | $59,310 | $46,240 | $28.51 | 5,130 |
| 36 | Delaware | $58,630 | $47,180 | $28.19 | 900 |
| 37 | Tennessee | $57,350 | $46,250 | $27.57 | 2,360 |
| 38 | Illinois | $57,260 | $59,220 | $27.53 | 6,030 |
| 39 | Indiana | $57,030 | $46,880 | $27.42 | 3,680 |
| 40 | Nebraska | $56,920 | $47,240 | $27.36 | 1,400 |
| 41 | Missouri | $56,080 | $43,960 | $26.96 | 1,590 |
| 42 | Arkansas | $55,080 | $38,180 | $26.48 | 1,640 |
| 43 | Utah | $53,610 | $50,720 | $25.77 | 4,240 |
| 44 | Mississippi | $52,680 | $39,550 | $25.33 | 670 |
| 45 | Wyoming | $52,450 | $49,990 | $25.22 | 300 |
| 46 | Louisiana | $51,560 | $45,850 | $24.79 | 1,940 |
| 47 | Kansas | $47,960 | $39,770 | $23.06 | 1,450 |
| 48 | Idaho | $46,650 | $39,820 | $22.43 | 1,170 |
| 49 | Iowa | n/a | n/a | n/a | 680 |
| 50 | Massachusetts | n/a | n/a | n/a | 4,530 |
| 51 | Vermont | n/a | n/a | n/a | 70 |
Where the money is: highest paying metros
State averages flatten out the difference between a city and the rural county next to it. These are the metro areas paying real estate agents the most.
| # | Metro area | Average annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Midland, TX | $118,580 | $57.01 |
| 2 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | $116,500 | $56.01 |
| 3 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $113,500 | $54.57 |
| 4 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | $109,760 | $52.77 |
| 5 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | $105,970 | $50.95 |
| 6 | Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY | $103,880 | $49.94 |
| 7 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $102,470 | $49.27 |
| 8 | Rochester, NY | $102,030 | $49.05 |
| 9 | Carson City, NV | $101,480 | $48.79 |
| 10 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $100,760 | $48.44 |
What moves the number
- Every state licenses agents, with pre-license education, an exam and continuing education. A broker license takes years more and allows you to run your own firm.
- Commission-only in almost every case, so earnings swing with the market and with the number of transactions closed rather than hours worked. The median hides an enormous spread.
- Commercial, luxury and investment property specialization pay well above general residential sales, and team leadership pays above production.
- The bottom ten percent of real estate agents earn under $32,970 and the top ten percent clear $123,590. That gap is the trade telling you where the money is.
- Working for somebody else and working for yourself are different questions. These figures cover employed real estate agents on a payroll, so they exclude the self-employed, and in this trade a large share of the best operators are exactly that.
What you can earn running the business instead
The number above is a wage. Running the business is a different calculation: you take the full ticket rather than an hourly rate, and what you keep depends on how many jobs you fit in a week, how quickly you get paid and how much of your day goes on scheduling, estimates and chasing invoices instead of on the work. That is the part software actually changes. Owners who put scheduling, estimating, invoicing and automated follow-up in one place tend to run more jobs with the same crew, which is where the gap between a real estate agent wage and an owner income opens up.
Real Estate salary FAQs
- How much do real estate agents make a year?
- The median real estate agent in the United States earns $52,830 a year and the average is $69,510, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 release. Half the trade earns more than the median and half less.
- How much do real estate agents make an hour?
- The mean hourly wage is $33.42. Annual earnings are usually higher than that rate multiplied by a standard year, because overtime, call-outs and premium work are not in the base rate.
- Which state pays real estate agents the most?
- New York pays the most at an average of $112,730 a year, followed by District of Columbia at $99,500 and New Jersey at $92,310. Cost of living accounts for some of that and licensing rules for much of the rest.
- Which cities pay real estate agents the most?
- Midland, TX tops the list at an average of $118,580 a year, with Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA at $116,500. Metro figures move a lot more than state averages, so the city matters more than the state.
- Can real estate agents earn six figures?
- Yes. The top ten percent of real estate agents earn $123,590 or more. Getting there usually means a combination of licensing, specialization and either supervising a crew or running the business.
- Do these figures include self-employed real estate agents?
- No. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program covers wage and salary workers, so sole proprietors and business owners are excluded. In a trade with as many owner-operators as this one, that matters when you read the number.
- Where does this real estate salary data come from?
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, for "Real Estate Sales Agents" (SOC 41-9022). It is a survey of employers rather than of workers, which is why it is more reliable than self-reported salary sites.
All wage figures on this page are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. BLS suppresses figures in areas with too few employers to publish safely; those appear as n/a rather than an estimate.
