Real Estate Sales Agents
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Speciality
OverviewSalaryAboutEducationWhere are the jobsEmploymentGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Rent, buy, or sell property for clients. Perform duties such as study property listings, interview prospective clients, accompany clients to property site, discuss conditions of sale, and draw up real estate contracts. Includes agents who represent buyer.
This career appears to require experience.
Highlights
Undergraduate program resulting in the highest median salary ($69K): Economics
Largest undergraduate program (11.8% of workers): General Business
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
AgentRealEstateSalesConsultantLeasingApartmentRentalSpecialistProfessionalRightWayClosingLandAssociateRealtorAgriculturalBuildingBuyers'CoordinatorContractsHomeIndustrialCloserListingSalespersonResidenceResidentialPropertyBuyerRepresentative
SOURCES:
2018 SOC codes
2020 CareerOneStop
25.2 O*NET
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Responsibilities and activities

Real estate brokers and sales agents typically do the following:

  • Solicit potential clients to buy, sell, and rent properties
  • Advise clients on prices, mortgages, market conditions, and related information
  • Compare properties to determine a competitive market price
  • Generate lists of properties for sale, including details such as location and features
  • Promote properties through advertisements, open houses, and listing services
  • Take prospective buyers or renters to see properties
  • Present purchase offers to sellers for consideration
  • Mediate negotiations between buyer and seller
  • Ensure that all terms of purchase contracts are met
  • Prepare documents, such as loyalty contracts, purchase agreements, and deeds

Because of the complexity of buying or selling a residential or commercial property, people often seek help from real estate brokers and sales agents.

Most real estate brokers and sales agents sell residential property. Others sell commercial property, and a small number sell industrial, agricultural, or other types of real estate.

Brokers and agents can represent either the buyer or the seller in a transaction. Buyers’ brokers and agents meet with clients to understand what they are looking for in a property and how much they can afford. Sellers’ brokers and agents meet with clients to help them decide how much to ask for and to convince them that the agent or broker can find them a qualified buyer.

Real estate brokers and sales agents must be knowledgeable about the real estate market in their area. To match properties to clients’ needs, they should be familiar with local communities, including knowing the crime information and the proximity to schools and shopping. Brokers and agents also must stay current on financing options; government programs; types of available mortgages; and real estate, zoning, and fair housing laws.

The following are examples of types of real estate brokers and sales agents:

Real estate brokers are licensed to manage their own businesses. As independent businesspeople, brokers often sell real estate owned by others. In addition to helping clients buy and sell properties, they may help rent or manage properties for a fee. Many operate a real estate office, handling business details and overseeing the work of sales agents.

Real estate sales agents must work with a broker. Sales agents often work for brokers on a contract basis, earning a portion of the commission from each property they sell.

SOURCES:
2020 Occupational Outlook Handbook
Salary
Median salary: $49,040 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $33,370 and $76,720.
$49K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K$120K
SOURCES:
2019 BLS Occupational Employment
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
SOURCES:
2019 BLS Occupational Employment
Fewer details
Salary growth for real estate brokers and sales agents
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$54K$53K$53K$53K$50K$27K$53K$53K$40K$0$50K$100K$150K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
020K40K60K80K100K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
About Real Estate Sales Agents
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
SOURCES:
2018-2020 CPS
2019 ACS microdata
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of real estate sales agents who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Time Pressure (91%)
  • Consequence of Error (50%)
  • High Conflict Frequency (38%)
  • Unpleasant or Angry People (37%)
SOURCES:
25.2 O*NET
Fewer details
Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Real Estate Sales Agents? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Business skills
Because most brokers are self-employed, they must manage every aspect of their business. This task includes reaching out to prospective clients, handling their finances, and advertising their services.
Interpersonal skills
Strong interpersonal skills are essential for real estate brokers and sales agents, because they spend much of their time interacting with clients and customers. To attract and keep clients, they must be pleasant, enthusiastic, and trustworthy.
Organizational skills
Real estate brokers and sales agents must be able to work independently, managing their own time and organizing, planning, and prioritizing their work.
Problem-solving skills
Real estate brokers and sales agents need to be able to quickly (sometimes immediately) address concerns clients or potential customers may have with a property. They also mediate negotiations between seller and buyer.
SOURCES:
2020 Occupational Outlook Handbook
Injury and Illness
About 2 real estate sales agents become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, which reflects fewer events than in 58% of other careers.
All injuries and illnesses
SOURCES:
2019 BLS Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by real estate sales agents
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), real estate sales agents typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as real estate brokers and sales agents as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for real estate sales agents

Real estate brokers and sales agents must complete some real estate courses to be eligible for licensure. Although most brokers and agents must take state-accredited prelicensing courses to become licensed, some states may waive this requirement if the candidate has taken college courses in real estate.

As the real estate market becomes more competitive and complex, some employers are preferring to hire candidates with a college degree. Some community colleges, colleges, and universities offer courses in real estate. Some offer associate’s and bachelor’s degree programs in real estate, and many others offer certificate programs. Courses in finance, business administration, economics, and law also can be useful.

Brokers intending to open their own company often take business courses, such as marketing and accounting.

In addition to offering prelicensing courses, many real estate associations have courses and professional development programs for both beginners and experienced agents. These courses cover a variety of topics, such as real estate fundamentals, real estate law, and mortgage financing.

Details: Licensing and certification recommended for real estate sales agents

All real estate brokers and sales agents must be licensed. Licensing requirements vary by state, but most have similar basic requirements:

Candidates must:

  • be 18 years old
  • complete a number of real estate courses
  • pass an exam

Some states have additional requirements, such as passing a background check. Licenses typically are not transferable among states. However, some states have reciprocity agreements in that they will accept some requirements used to get a license in another state (such as course hours).

To obtain a broker’s license, individuals generally need 1 to 3 years of experience as a licensed sales agent. They also must take additional formal training courses. In some states, a bachelor’s degree may be substituted in place of some experience or training requirements.

State licenses typically must be renewed every 2 to 4 years. In most states, brokers and agents must complete continuing education courses to renew their license. To verify exact licensing requirements, prospective brokers and agents should contact the real estate licensing commission of the state in which they wish to work.

SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Education level of Real estate brokers and sales agents
About 51% of real estate brokers and sales agents have at least a bachelor's degree.
Education attained by real estate brokers and sales agents
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
SOURCES:
2021 Ididio: Award levels
2019 ACS microdata
Top college degrees
Here are the top college degrees held by the 49% of people in this job who have at least a bachelor's degree. Some of degrees may link to multiple programs due to the way Census classifies college majors. Click on a program to learn more about career opportunities for people who major in that field.
  1. Business/Commerce
  2. Business Management and Administration
  3. Marketing
  4. Finance
  5. Communications
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Fewer details
College majors held by real estate brokers and sales agents
This table shows the college majors held by people working as real estate brokers and sales agents. If you see "**" before the name of a degree/program, that means this field is one that the Department of Education believes is preparatory for this career. However, you can see from this list that those recommendations are far from your only path to this job!
Major
Select any title to learn more about that degree
Salary comparison for bachelor's only
Higher
Similar
Lower
Career salary (tail) versus Career/Major salary (dot)
Does the bachelor's-only salary rise or fall with this major?
$45K$75K
Salary for bachelor's-only
For people with this career and major
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Salary for all workers
For people with this career and major
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Education for Career and Major
Bachelor's
Master's
Professional
Doctorate
Workers with this career/major
Percentage in this career with this major
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
2010 CIP Codes
Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Program
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
SOURCES:
2010 CIP Codes
Not so much?
The link between degrees and this career
With the following sankey diagram, you can follow the top ten bachelor's degrees held by people working as real estate brokers and sales agents, and then, in turn, you can see the 10 occupations that hire the most of each degree's graduates. We hope this provides ideas for similar jobs and similar fields of study.
Expand degrees
General BusinessBusiness Management ...MarketingFinanceCommunicationsPsychologyEconomicsAccountingPolitical Science an...English Language and...All other degreesThis jobTop 10 majors
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Real estate brokers and sales agents per 1,000 workers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Fewer details
Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most real estate sales agents? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as real estate sales agents. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where real estate sales agents earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for real estate brokers and sales agents compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for real estate brokers and sales agents.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which real estate brokers and sales agents earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Real estate brokers and sales agents (ACS for all specialties)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
SOURCES:
2019 BLS Occupational Employment
2019 BEA Regional Price Parities
Employment
22% of Real estate brokers and sales agents are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 22% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 71% of careers.
22%0%20%40%60%80%100%
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
SOURCES:
2021 Ididio: Comparing employment
2019 ACS microdata
Fewer details
Distribution: Salaries of real estate brokers and sales agents by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$51K$50K$63K$48K$62K$55K$52K$69K$0$50,000$100,000$150,000Self-employed not incorporatedSelf-employed incorporatedFederal governmentState governmentLocal governmentPrivate not-for-profitPrivate for-profitAll
SOURCES:
2021 Ididio: Comparing employment
2019 ACS microdata
Gender
Real estate brokers and sales agents and gender
With 52% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 63% of careers.
Gender of Real estate brokers and sales agents
Men (48%)
Women (52%)
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$45K$57K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Fewer details
Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
52%0%20%40%60%80%100%
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women by 19%, and the difference for real estate brokers and sales agents tops that, with the median salary for men 28% higher than the median salary for women.
28%0%20%40%60%80%100%
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Real estate brokers and sales agents
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Real estate brokers and sales agents.
Race/origin of real estate brokers and sales agents
White (84% )
Black (6% )
Asian (5% )
Other (2% )
Multiracial (2% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (0% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$38K$41K$41K$51K$51K$51K$52K$0$50K$100K$150KOtherBlackHispanicMultiracialAsianAmerican IndianWhite
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
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