BLS OEWS · May 2025
How Much Do Real Estate Agents Make? Median Pay by State (2026)
The national median wage for wage-and-salary real estate sales agents is $52,830 per year. The mean is $69,510, across roughly 193,370 jobs — May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) data for Real Estate Sales Agents, SOC 41-9022.
Median and mean pay by state
Click a column header to sort. Em-dashes indicate values BLS suppressed for that state.
| Employment | Guide | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $60,890 | $80,820 | 1,580 | Guide → |
| Alaska | $89,170 | $88,330 | 170 | Guide → |
| Arizona | $58,780 | $70,070 | 5,610 | Guide → |
| Arkansas | $38,180 | $55,080 | 1,640 | Guide → |
| California | $57,560 | $67,570 | 17,500 | Guide → |
| Colorado | $63,670 | $73,650 | 6,120 | Guide → |
| Connecticut | $46,770 | $62,640 | — | Guide → |
| Delaware | $47,180 | $58,630 | 900 | Guide → |
| District of Columbia | $123,770 | $99,500 | 590 | Guide → |
| Florida | $49,310 | $73,600 | 26,790 | Guide → |
| Georgia | $46,730 | $65,250 | 9,940 | Guide → |
| Hawaii | $46,220 | $61,130 | 690 | Guide → |
| Idaho | $39,820 | $46,650 | 1,170 | Guide → |
| Illinois | $59,220 | $57,260 | 6,030 | Guide → |
| Indiana | $46,880 | $57,030 | 3,680 | Guide → |
| Iowa | — | — | 680 | Guide → |
| Kansas | $39,770 | $47,960 | 1,450 | Guide → |
| Kentucky | $58,610 | $63,180 | 1,120 | Guide → |
| Louisiana | $45,850 | $51,560 | 1,940 | Guide → |
| Maine | $56,930 | $64,840 | 740 | Guide → |
| Maryland | $52,630 | $67,460 | 2,940 | Guide → |
| Massachusetts | — | — | 4,530 | Guide → |
| Michigan | $57,880 | $64,380 | 2,210 | Guide → |
| Minnesota | $46,410 | $61,420 | 2,530 | Guide → |
| Mississippi | $39,550 | $52,680 | 670 | Guide → |
| Missouri | $43,960 | $56,080 | 1,590 | Guide → |
| Montana | $79,100 | $89,580 | 370 | Guide → |
| Nebraska | $47,240 | $56,920 | 1,400 | Guide → |
| Nevada | $79,990 | $83,470 | 1,490 | Guide → |
| New Hampshire | $57,620 | $70,160 | 240 | Guide → |
| New Jersey | $99,990 | $92,310 | — | Guide → |
| New Mexico | $76,170 | $85,520 | 550 | Guide → |
| New York | $102,990 | $112,730 | 8,660 | Guide → |
| North Carolina | $51,240 | $74,610 | 7,960 | Guide → |
| North Dakota | $73,920 | $72,320 | — | Guide → |
| Ohio | $46,240 | $59,310 | 5,130 | Guide → |
| Oklahoma | $47,980 | $69,060 | 3,710 | Guide → |
| Oregon | $61,610 | $65,740 | 1,940 | Guide → |
| Pennsylvania | $56,040 | $65,330 | 5,510 | Guide → |
| Rhode Island | $60,310 | $64,260 | — | Guide → |
| South Carolina | $56,580 | $79,100 | 4,930 | Guide → |
| South Dakota | $65,170 | $69,510 | 640 | Guide → |
| Tennessee | $46,250 | $57,350 | 2,360 | Guide → |
| Texas | $45,740 | $63,610 | 22,250 | Guide → |
| Utah | $50,720 | $53,610 | 4,240 | Guide → |
| Vermont | — | — | 70 | Guide → |
| Virginia | $63,980 | $72,040 | 5,750 | Guide → |
| Washington | $79,130 | $84,480 | 5,150 | Guide → |
| West Virginia | $59,050 | $61,300 | 370 | Guide → |
| Wisconsin | $58,120 | $64,190 | 5,680 | Guide → |
| Wyoming | $49,990 | $52,450 | 300 | Guide → |
Top 5 states by median pay
- 1District of Columbia$123,770
- 2New York$102,990
- 3New Jersey$99,990
- 4Alaska$89,170
- 5Nevada$79,990
Bottom 5 states by median pay
- 1Arkansas$38,180
- 2Mississippi$39,550
- 3Kansas$39,770
- 4Idaho$39,820
- 5Missouri$43,960
Salary vs. cost to get licensed
Licensing costs are trivial next to a full year of even the lowest reported median pay — but they matter as a payback-period check when you're deciding where to invest the up-front time and money. Below, the extreme states from the table above with a back-of-envelope comparison to our published licensing cost range.
Highest median pay
- District of Columbia — median $123,770Licensing $460–$800 · payback ≈ 1–2 working days
- New York — median $102,990Licensing $300–$650 · payback ≈ 1–2 working days
- New Jersey — median $99,990Licensing $575–$975 · payback ≈ 2–3 working days
- Alaska — median $89,170Licensing $1,150–$1,800 · payback ≈ 4–6 working days
- Nevada — median $79,990Licensing $600–$1,000 · payback ≈ 2–4 working days
Lowest median pay
- Arkansas — median $38,180Licensing $480–$700 · payback ≈ 4–5 working days
- Mississippi — median $39,550Licensing $425–$650 · payback ≈ 3–5 working days
- Kansas — median $39,770Licensing $510–$910 · payback ≈ 4–6 working days
- Idaho — median $39,820Licensing $950–$1,450 · payback ≈ 7–10 working days
- Missouri — median $43,960Licensing $500–$850 · payback ≈ 3–6 working days
Payback = licensing cost range ÷ state median annual pay, expressed in working days assuming 260 workdays per year. This is a rough anchor, not a forecast — most agents earn commission income not reflected in BLS wage figures.
Source & verification
Real Estate Sales Agents (SOC 41-9022). Data period: May 2025. Retrieved from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release.
- https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm
- https://www.bls.gov/oes/2025/may/oessrcst.htm
- https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0000000/2025
Last verified 2026-07-08.