How Much Does a Real Estate Agent Make?

real estate agent job descriptionReal estate agents assist both sellers and buyers in the property sales of their homes, and are the primary resource for housing purchases.

They are heavily relied upon to help customers prepare their homes for a sale, as well as assisting homebuyers to find the perfect home, that matches their criteria.

They spend their time listening to clients needs for a home, financial expectations, and seeking homes that suit the buyer interests through the homes of sellers that are also seeking real estate services.

Buying a home is stressful and complex, which is why so many homebuyers and sellers in the United States rely on the help of a real estate agent.

Real Estate Agent Salary 

Real estate agents are paid an hourly wage, and are typically not salaried.

However, they are frequently paid bonuses, or commissions, for the sales that they make. The starting hourly rate of a Real Estate Agent may be $10 an hour, plus commission.

real estate agent salaryThe average hourly rate is $24.18

The median salary of a Real Estate Agent is $50,300 per year.

The pay scale relies upon the economic climate of the geographical location where the real estate agent does business.

It is expected that an agent may not make any sales for weeks at a time if there is poor economic stability.

The salary of real estate agents depends upon the home buying activity of the area.

Those who are seeking a career in real estate and wonder how much does a real estate agent make, should consider that location and local economy is a huge component of this profession, and should seek work accordingly.

They are typically self-employed and may even work part time in addition to other careers and trades.

Top 5 Paying States

FlagStateEmployment per 1000 JobsHourly mean wageAnnual mean wage
New York FlagNew York$45.39$94,410
Wyomin FlagWyoming0.80$36.34$75,580
Illinois FlagIllinois0.99$36.19$75,270
Massachusetts FlagMassachusetts 0.78$34.85$72,500
Colorado flagColorado1.36$34.56$71,880

Top Paying Industries

IndustryPercent of industry employmentHourly mean wageAnnual mean wage
Transportation of Natural Gas 0.11$43.69$90,880
Legal Services 0.05$43.16$89,770
Oil Extraction 1.00$38.86$80,820
Federal Executive Branch0.13$37.50$78,000
Scientific, and Technical Services $37.02$77,000

What Does a Real Estate Agent Do?

real estate agent job descriptionReal estate sales agents work under the supervision of a real estate broker, or a real estate sales business manager.

They are responsible for many different tasks as it pertains to the buying and selling of real estate.

When soliciting real estate services with clients, agents will discuss prices, mortgages, and amenities of homes in terms of how they correlate with cost, and current economic conditions.

They are regularly listing properties for sale while compiling advertisements with marketable information, in an effort to make properties appealing to prospective buyers.

They are also regularly scheduling appointments with buyers, and showing the features of homes, as well as coordinating open house events to grow a clientele of prospective buyers.

Agents present offers to sellers, and often barter and compromise with sellers and buyers to find an acceptable price.

In addition to sales, real estate agents are also responsible for the paperwork that involves the buying and selling of homes, such as deeds and purchase offers.

They do not only sell homes, they may also sell agricultural property, plots of land, commercial property, and industrial property.

They are expected to remain knowledgeable of all selling trends and conditions as these types of properties are considered.

If a real estate agent would like to further their career and earnings potential, they can obtain a license to become a real estate broker, and manage their own real estate sales business, and may even employ real estate sales agents.

The pay scale of a real estate broker is much more than that of a real estate sales agent, and ranges from an average starting wage of $12.00 an hour, up to an average of $85.00 an hour.

Schedule

They may work as little as part time, as much as sixty, to even eighty hours per week in order to have the highest sales potential.

The work of a real estate agent may be very demanding, requiring long hours to make sales and manage properties.

They are expected to have evening and weekend availability to work with clients around their work schedules.

Most are able to set their own schedules based upon appointments made.

Many work outside of their homes, although most work in a brokerage, or a franchise of a national real estate company, in which the office pays fees for a popular and well-known name.

 Job outlook

average real estate agent salaryThe growth expectation of real estate agents is expected to grow at least 6% over the course of the next ten years.

Customers will frequently obtain the sales services of a realtor when selling or buying homes, and services increase as the economy grows.

Owning real estate is seen as a goal of nearly all citizens of the United States, and real estate agents help in the purchase of obtaining that goal.

A career in real estate sales has a lot of earnings potential and job security.

This career is flexible, allowing real estate sales agents to even have other careers, with a wide range of earnings potential.

Considering the expected growth of this career, becoming a real estate agent in the United States is considered a stable career choice.

Real Estate Agent Salary by State

FlagStateEmployment per 1000 JobsHourly mean wageAnnual mean wage
Alabama FlagAlabama0.81$27.21$56.600
Alaska FlagAlaska0.60$33.28$69.220
Arizona FlagArizona1.24$20.50$42.650
Arkansas FlagArkansas0.70$18.71$38.910
California FlagCalifornia0.88$24.86$51.710
Colorado flagColorado1.30$29.24$60.830
Connecticut FlagConnecticut0.50$25.85$53.770
Delaware flagDelaware1.65$26.55$55.220
Florida FlagFlorida3.57$19.92$41.430
Georgia FlagGeorgia1.84$23.05$47.930
Hawaii FlagHawaii0.55$23.70$49.290
Idaho FlagIdaho0.96$16.91$35.180
Illinois FlagIllinois0.99$37.26$77.500
Indiana FlagIndiana0.48$21.97$45.700
Iowa FlagIowa0.65$20.24$42.100
Kansas FlagKansas0.47$22.82$47.470
Kentucky FlagKentucky0.75$19.02$39.550
Louisiana FlagLouisiana0.58$20.29$42.200
Maine FlagMaine0.30$17.93$37.290
Maryland FlagMaryland1.24$24.14$50.220
Massachusetts FlagMassachusetts0.69$31.73$66.010
Michigan FlagMichigan0.67$21.71$45.160
Minnesota FlagMinnesota0.68$21.65$45.030
Mississippi FlagMississippi0.82$16.62$34.570
Missouri FlagMissouri0.89$19.21$39.950
Montana FlagMontana0.66$23.73$49.370
Nebraska FlagNebraska0.57$20.36$42.350
Nevada FlagNevada1.56$25.41$52.850
New Hampshire FlagNew Hampshire0.34$18.54$38.550
New Jersey FlagNew Jersey0.55$23.36$48.590
New Mexico FlagNew Mexico0.68$25.46$52.950
New York FlagNew York1.41$43.61$90.710
North Carolina FlagNorth Carolina1.23$26.19$54.480
North Dakota FlagNorth Dakota1.49$19.48$40.530
Ohio FlagOhio0.75$21.10$43.890
Oklahoma FlagOklahoma1.75$22.48$46.760
Oregon FlagOregon0.65$20.72$43.100
Pennsylvania FlagPennsylvania1.20$27.76$57.750
Rhode Island FlagRhode Island
South Carolina FlagSouth Carolina2.01$18.18$37.820
South Dakota FlagSouth Dakota0.69$25.65$53.350
Tennessee FlagTennessee0.46$18.42$38.310
Texas FlagTexas1.58$26.40$54.920
Utah FlagUtah1.77$25.96$54.010
Vermont FlagVermont
Virginia FlagVirginia2.33$27.22$56.610
Washington FlagWashington1.31$22.65$47.100
West Virginia FlagWest Virginia0.24$19.62$40.800
Wisconsin FlagWisconsin0.46$21.11$43.920
Wyomin FlagWyoming0.76$32.42$67.430

Top paying metropolitan areas

$97,180 is the mean annual wage of the top paying metro area Lake County Kenosha County, IL WI Metropolitan Division

AreaEmployment per 1000 jobsHourly mean wageAnnual mean wage
New York / White Plains / Wayne, – NY / NJ – Metropolitan Division $48.47$100,810
Indianapolis / Carmel, – IN 0.75$47.86$99,540
Reno / Sparks, – NV 0.48$40.20$83,620
Framingham, – MA – NECTA Division 0.47$39.75$82,680
Denver / Aurora / Broomfield, -CO1.09$38.90$80,910

Top paying nonmetropolitan areas

North Central Colorado nonmetropolitan area is the top non metro area with an annual wage of  $86,940 and an hourly of $41.80

AreaEmployment per 1000 jobsHourly mean wageAnnual mean wage
North Central Colorado – nonmetropolitan area4.52$43.43$90,330
Eastern Washington – nonmetropolitan area1.39$37.08$77,130
Central Montana – nonmetropolitan area 0.84$32.43$67,460
East Central, Pennsylvania – nonmetropolitan area 0.79$31.44$65,390
Capital – Northern New York – nonmetropolitan area 0.21$31.26$65,020

Real Estate Agent Career Information Video

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Noel Griffith, Ph.D.
Noel Griffith is a Doctor of Philosophy with a strong interest in educational research. He has been an editor-in-chief of CareersWiki.com since 2014. Noel is an avid reader (non-fiction), enjoys good food, live theatre, and helping others make wiser career decisions.

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