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Real Estate Brokers: Career Profile
Operate real estate office, or work for commercial real estate firm, overseeing real estate transactions. Other duties usually include selling real estate or renting properties and arranging loans.
What Tasks Do Real Estate Brokers Do?
The core tasks performed by real estate brokers cover:
- Sell, for a fee, real estate owned by others.
- Obtain agreements from property owners to place properties for sale with real estate firms.
- Act as an intermediary in negotiations between buyers and sellers over property prices and settlement details and during the closing of sales.
- Generate lists of properties for sale, their locations, descriptions, and available financing options, using computers.
- Manage or operate real estate offices, handling associated business details.
- Compare a property with similar properties that have recently sold to determine its competitive market price.
- Maintain knowledge of real estate law, local economies, fair housing laws, types of available mortgages, financing options, and government programs.
- Monitor fulfillment of purchase contract terms to ensure that they are handled in a timely manner.
Skills and Knowledge
Top real estate brokers draw on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.
Top Skills
The abilities most important for this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:
Core Knowledge
Other Real Estate Brokers Job Titles
This career also goes by job titles like:
- Broker
- Broker Associate
- Buyer Broker
- Buyers Agent
- Closing Agent
- Contract Specialist
- Dealer
- Designated Broker
How Many Real Estate Brokers Are There?
There are roughly 981,510 real estate brokers working in the United States today. This occupation is expected to grow by +5.1% over the projection horizon.
Real Estate Brokers Pay
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual median | $36,148 |
| Hourly median | $17.38 |
| 10th percentile | $23,540 |
| 25th percentile | $29,844 |
| 75th percentile | $42,452 |
| 90th percentile | $48,756 |
Pay can vary substantially based on experience, location, and industry.
Pay by State
| State | Annual median salary |
|---|---|
| Iowa | $116,920 |
| Massachusetts | $112,180 |
| New York | $94,170 |
| New Jersey | $92,890 |
| Connecticut | $90,910 |
| Nevada | $86,730 |
| Maryland | $82,500 |
| Vermont | $82,270 |
| California | $82,050 |
| Washington | $81,450 |
| Utah | $81,230 |
| Colorado | $79,400 |
| New Mexico | $77,940 |
| Indiana | $76,330 |
| Pennsylvania | $74,990 |
| Oregon | $70,860 |
| North Dakota | $70,820 |
| Delaware | $68,320 |
| Texas | $66,700 |
| Tennessee | $66,670 |
| Minnesota | $66,310 |
| Kentucky | $64,210 |
| Arkansas | $63,890 |
| Wisconsin | $63,690 |
| Florida | $63,440 |
| North Carolina | $62,660 |
| Alabama | $62,000 |
| Alaska | $59,860 |
| Montana | $59,310 |
| Missouri | $58,690 |
| Michigan | $58,640 |
| Virginia | $55,660 |
| Illinois | $55,290 |
| Arizona | $54,460 |
| South Carolina | $54,300 |
| Maine | $53,340 |
| Nebraska | $47,170 |
| Hawaii | $47,050 |
| Ohio | $45,850 |
| Mississippi | $43,670 |
| West Virginia | $43,600 |
| Kansas | $40,930 |
Pay by U.S. Region
Pay for real estate brokers shift depending on where you work. These regions lead on median pay:
| Region | Median annual wage | Share of U.S. jobs | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Far Western US | $79,776 | 27.9% | 1.46 |
| Middle Atlantic | $74,990 | 3.2% | 0.57 |
| Rocky Mountains | $71,659 | 2.1% | 1.23 |
| Plains States | $67,977 | 12.4% | 1.39 |
| Southwest | $67,590 | 10.7% | 0.78 |
| Great Lakes | $60,508 | 12.4% | 0.70 |
| Southeast | $32,048 | 30.7% | 1.76 |
Where the Jobs Cluster
| Metro area | State | Median annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | IA | $157,100 | 330 |
| Springfield, MA | MA | $123,090 | |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | MA | $108,910 | |
| Vallejo, CA | CA | $106,680 | 50 |
| Boise City, ID | ID | $106,420 | |
| Reno, NV | NV | $105,220 | 120 |
| Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC | SC | $99,990 | 170 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | NY | $97,500 |
Industry Breakdown
Most real estate brokers are concentrated in the following sectors:
| Industry | Employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | 43,010 | $71,990 |
| Finance and Insurance | 3,160 | $76,600 |
| Construction | 1,150 | $64,130 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 840 | $62,940 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 510 | $79,280 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 90 | $73,320 |
Real Estate Brokers work in the following industries:
Tech Stack
- Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Photoshop (hot technology)
- Web page creation and editing software: Facebook (hot technology)
- Accounting software: Intuit QuickBooks (hot technology)
- Data base user interface and query software: Microsoft Access (hot technology)
- Web platform development software: Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP (hot technology)
- Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
- Office suite software: Microsoft Office software (hot technology)
- Electronic mail software: Microsoft Outlook (hot technology)
- Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint (hot technology)
- Word processing software: Microsoft Word (hot technology)
- Customer relationship management CRM software: Salesforce software (hot technology)
- Data base user interface and query software: Yardi software (hot technology)
What the Workplace Is Like
The on-the-job environment of real estate brokers reflects the following characteristics:
- Telephone Conversations
- Freedom to Make Decisions
- Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams
How to Become Real Estate Brokers
Entry-level real estate brokers positions require a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry-level education. The role falls in Considerable Preparation Needed (Job Zone 4), reflecting the level of preparation typically expected.
Related Careers
Similar Occupations
- Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers (Primary-Short)
- Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products (Supplemental)
- Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products (Primary-Long)
- Appraisers of Personal and Business Property (Primary-Long)
- Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate (Primary-Short)
- Credit Analysts (Supplemental)
- Financial and Investment Analysts (Primary-Short)
- Personal Financial Advisors (Supplemental)
About the Data
Statistics shown above are sourced from the following authoritative sources:
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
- BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
- O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.
SOC code: 41-9021.00 (Real Estate Brokers).
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