Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of real estate agent salary by state for the United States:
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West Virginia has the highest real estate agent salary of $111,744
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Hawaii has the lowest real estate agent salary of $53,112
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The national average salary for real estate agents is $91,788
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The national hourly pay for real estate agents is $44.13
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do real estate agents get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for real estate agent by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for real estate agents after this adjustment? That would be West Virginia.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for real estate agent salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Real Estate Agents By State
| Rank | State | Average Real Estate Agent Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Virginia | $111,744 | $81,000 | $153,000 |
| 2 | New York | $111,641 | $84,000 | $147,000 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | $111,225 | $88,000 | $139,000 |
| 4 | Vermont | $110,113 | $89,000 | $136,000 |
| 5 | Washington | $105,662 | $76,000 | $145,000 |
| 6 | Connecticut | $102,657 | $78,000 | $133,000 |
| 7 | Montana | $102,469 | $73,000 | $141,000 |
| 8 | Alaska | $101,152 | $87,000 | $116,000 |
| 9 | South Dakota | $100,735 | $71,000 | $141,000 |
| 10 | New Jersey | $100,016 | $75,000 | $132,000 |
| 11 | California | $99,733 | $68,000 | $145,000 |
| 12 | Michigan | $99,710 | $73,000 | $135,000 |
| 13 | North Dakota | $99,600 | $73,000 | $134,000 |
| 14 | Virginia | $97,278 | $71,000 | $132,000 |
| 15 | Maine | $96,114 | $79,000 | $116,000 |
| 16 | Utah | $95,336 | $65,000 | $138,000 |
| 17 | Pennsylvania | $94,778 | $70,000 | $126,000 |
| 18 | Rhode Island | $94,648 | $74,000 | $120,000 |
| 19 | New Hampshire | $94,607 | $76,000 | $117,000 |
| 20 | Georgia | $94,036 | $65,000 | $135,000 |
| 21 | Colorado | $93,944 | $64,000 | $136,000 |
| 22 | Alabama | $93,438 | $64,000 | $135,000 |
| 23 | Missouri | $93,041 | $64,000 | $133,000 |
| 24 | Iowa | $91,053 | $64,000 | $128,000 |
| 25 | Nebraska | $88,923 | $62,000 | $127,000 |
| 26 | Idaho | $88,878 | $62,000 | $126,000 |
| 27 | Oklahoma | $87,080 | $59,000 | $127,000 |
| 28 | New Mexico | $85,523 | $57,000 | $126,000 |
| 29 | Kentucky | $85,320 | $60,000 | $120,000 |
| 30 | Indiana | $85,122 | $60,000 | $119,000 |
| 31 | Arkansas | $84,969 | $58,000 | $123,000 |
| 32 | Ohio | $84,925 | $61,000 | $116,000 |
| 33 | Oregon | $84,533 | $60,000 | $118,000 |
| 34 | Wisconsin | $84,197 | $61,000 | $115,000 |
| 35 | Tennessee | $84,064 | $58,000 | $120,000 |
| 36 | Texas | $82,847 | $55,000 | $122,000 |
| 37 | Mississippi | $80,383 | $54,000 | $117,000 |
| 38 | Arizona | $80,237 | $54,000 | $118,000 |
| 39 | South Carolina | $80,203 | $56,000 | $113,000 |
| 40 | Nevada | $79,556 | $54,000 | $116,000 |
| 41 | Delaware | $78,993 | $58,000 | $106,000 |
| 42 | Maryland | $78,360 | $58,000 | $105,000 |
| 43 | Kansas | $75,823 | $52,000 | $109,000 |
| 44 | Illinois | $73,479 | $52,000 | $102,000 |
| 45 | Minnesota | $72,392 | $52,000 | $99,000 |
| 46 | Florida | $71,492 | $47,000 | $107,000 |
| 47 | North Carolina | $68,227 | $48,000 | $95,000 |
| 48 | Louisiana | $66,391 | $44,000 | $98,000 |
| 49 | Wyoming | $61,945 | $43,000 | $88,000 |
| 50 | Hawaii | $53,112 | $41,000 | $68,000 |
Methodology: Real Estate Agent Salary By State
To better understand real estate agent pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for real estate agents by state.
We took the average annual salary data for real estate agents from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for real estate agents.
Real Estate Agent Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for real estate agents?
The highest-paid state for real estate agents is West Virginia with an average salary of $111,744 per year.
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What city pays real estate agents the most?
Long Beach, NY pays real estate agents the most with an average salary of $111,838 per year.
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What is the worst state for real estate agents?
The worst state for real estate agents is Hawaii with an average salary of $53,112 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
