How Many Real Estate Agents Are There? Agents By State In The United States For 2026
America has ~3 million real estate licenses, about 1.4 million Realtors, and 181,890 employed agents in the 49 states BLS publishes. See agents by state.
America can’t agree on how many real estate agents it has, so we ranked the real estate agents by state and sorted the three honest answers out. There are roughly 3 million active licenses, about 1.4 million Realtors by the latest industry count of a shrinking trade association, and 181,890 people across the 49 published states whose actual job, per federal payroll data, is real estate agent.
A license isn’t a career: about 3 million licenses shrink to 1.4 million Realtors and then to 182,000 employed agents in the states the payroll data covers.
The Realtor count has fallen from a peak near 1.6 million, the measured core of the much-hyped agent exodus.
Utah has the highest concentration of employed agents, at 2.989 per 1,000 jobs, ahead of Arizona and Florida.
New Jersey, of all places, has the lowest published concentration, at 0.224 per 1,000 jobs.
The famous map showing Florida first is the 2022 edition of this data; in the newest edition Florida’s concentration has fallen by more than a quarter.
The map, the full state table, and who actually earns what are below.
Which state has the most real estate agents?
Depends on the measure, so here are both. By raw employed-agent counts, Florida leads with 24,440, then California at 22,370 and Texas at 21,270. By concentration, the crown moves west: Utah has 2.989 employed agents per 1,000 jobs, ahead of Arizona at 2.577 and Florida at 2.489.
The bottom of the concentration list has a surprise in it. New Jersey, America’s densest state, has the thinnest employed-agent bench at 0.224 per 1,000 jobs, below Connecticut and Vermont; a commuter state’s agents often hang their licenses with New York brokerages or work as independent contractors, which payroll data doesn’t see.
Map: employed real estate agents per 1,000 jobs by state, ranked, darkest = highest concentration (Utah). Colorado and Massachusetts are unshaded: BLS withholds their agent employment this edition. BLS OES, May 2024.Employed agents per 1,000 jobs, from 0.224 in New Jersey to 2.989 in Utah (49 published states).
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024.
The table below shows every state’s employed agents, their concentration per 1,000 jobs, and mean wages, plus broker counts where published. Colorado and Massachusetts carry a wage but no count and no rank: the federal data withholds their agent employment and concentration this edition, not their pay. Sort it however you want.
Real estate agents by state: employed agents, concentration per 1,000 jobs, and mean wages (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024; covers employees whose primary job is agent, not independent contractors). Colorado and Massachusetts: BLS withholds their agent employment this edition, so they carry a mean wage but no count and no rank. Click a header to sort.
Rank
State
Employed agents
Per 1,000 jobs
Mean wage
Brokers
1
Utah
5,110
2.989
$58,350
400
2
Arizona
8,240
2.577
$68,570
n/a
3
Florida
24,440
2.489
$73,330
n/a
4
North Carolina
10,140
2.071
$61,480
1,330
5
Oklahoma
3,370
1.995
n/a
n/a
6
South Carolina
3,900
1.717
$72,750
1,490
7
Rhode Island
850
1.713
$62,570
n/a
8
Nebraska
1,670
1.642
$52,370
350
9
Nevada
2,480
1.623
$65,970
310
10
Delaware
740
1.553
$62,190
n/a
11
Washington
5,470
1.547
$81,390
110
12
Texas
21,270
1.536
$73,360
3,370
13
Wisconsin
4,250
1.454
$68,460
710
14
Montana
660
1.302
$82,330
310
15
Arkansas
1,630
1.261
$51,440
n/a
16
California
22,370
1.239
$76,220
7,250
17
Virginia
4,950
1.217
$68,100
1,580
18
Maine
770
1.211
$70,410
n/a
19
Idaho
1,010
1.192
$45,880
n/a
20
Georgia
5,750
1.184
$68,030
4,160
21
Hawaii
680
1.095
$62,950
n/a
22
New York
10,040
1.053
$104,320
n/a
23
North Dakota
430
1.012
$72,710
n/a
24
Wyoming
280
1.01
$55,580
n/a
25
New Mexico
810
0.944
$83,760
290
26
Louisiana
1,780
0.931
$49,960
550
27
Kansas
1,320
0.924
$76,520
460
28
Maryland
2,530
0.921
$60,630
n/a
29
Oregon
1,790
0.912
$62,770
1,620
30
Alabama
1,880
0.901
$55,450
450
31
Indiana
2,860
0.898
$70,900
840
32
Pennsylvania
5,250
0.873
$63,210
1,100
33
Minnesota
2,480
0.849
$70,080
1,090
34
Tennessee
2,650
0.808
n/a
550
35
Ohio
4,230
0.766
$54,010
400
36
South Dakota
330
0.729
$63,160
n/a
37
Illinois
4,220
0.696
$57,560
1,620
38
Kentucky
1,320
0.661
$52,420
150
39
District of Columbia
450
0.635
$70,420
n/a
40
Mississippi
710
0.613
$65,060
70
41
Missouri
1,760
0.603
$48,200
1,580
42
Alaska
160
0.488
$87,000
220
43
Michigan
2,070
0.471
$63,660
660
44
West Virginia
310
0.438
$69,610
140
45
New Hampshire
290
0.43
$67,780
160
46
Iowa
670
0.429
$46,070
740
47
Vermont
90
0.302
$100,490
n/a
48
Connecticut
480
0.286
$59,800
n/a
49
New Jersey
950
0.224
$79,370
n/a
–
Colorado
n/a
n/a
$71,880
n/a
–
Massachusetts
n/a
n/a
$93,450
n/a
Source: BLS OES, May 2024, occupations 41-9022 and 41-9021.
Is there really a real estate agent exodus?
The measured part is real: National Association of Realtors membership has fallen from a peak near 1.6 million to about 1.4 million, per the industry counts published since. NAR’s own monthly tally is member-only now, so the rounded figure is the one anybody outside can check. Fewer sales spread across too many agents did exactly what you’d expect.
The dramatic versions are projections. Claims that 300,000 more will leave, or that a third of agents will disappear this year, come from industry forecasts and social media, not from anyone’s ledger. The concentration data carries the honest signal: Florida’s employed-agent density fell from 3.40 per 1,000 jobs in the widely shared 2022 edition to 2.489 in the newest one.
Three honest answers to one question.
~3,000,000active real estate licenses in Americaindustry count, attributed
~1.4 millionNational Association of Realtors members, down from a 1.6 million peakindustry counts of NAR membership
181,890people employed as real estate agents in the 49 published statesBLS payroll data, May 2024
How much do real estate agents actually make?
Among employed agents, New York pays the highest mean wage at $104,320, followed by Vermont at $100,490, Massachusetts at $93,450, Alaska at $87,000, and New Mexico at $83,760. Massachusetts is the odd one out: it has no count and no rank anywhere else on this page, because BLS withholds its agent employment this edition while publishing its pay. Those are payroll figures for people employed as agents; most agents work on commission as independent contractors, where incomes swing with the market.
That distinction explains most of the arguing about agent pay. The employed core earns salaries worth measuring; the license-holding fringe might close one deal a year or none.
Mean annual wage of EMPLOYED real estate agents, top 8 states. Massachusetts makes this list on wages alone: BLS withholds its agent employment this edition, not its pay. Most agents are commission-based independent contractors outside this data.
New York$104,320
Vermont$100,490
Massachusetts$93,450
Alaska$87,000
New Mexico$83,760
Montana$82,330
Washington$81,390
New Jersey$79,370
Source: BLS OES, May 2024.
Methodology: where these numbers come from
State figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2024 edition, occupation 41-9022, real estate sales agents, with brokers, 41-9021, carried alongside: employment, jobs per 1,000, and mean annual wages. OES counts employees whose primary job is real estate agent and excludes most independent contractors, which is why its total sits far below license and membership counts. The 181,890 figure is the sum over the 49 published states, not a national count: Colorado’s and Massachusetts’s agent employment is suppressed in this edition while their mean wages are not, so both states appear on wages and nowhere else.
The Realtor membership figure is rounded on purpose. NAR’s monthly membership report sits behind its member portal, so the public numbers are industry counts: 1,489,932 Realtors in November 2025, and more than 1.4 million as of June 2026. Its state-level membership file sits behind the same portal, so no state Realtor counts appear here. The 3 million licensee figure is the industry’s standard count of active licenses. For the market all these agents are working, our US housing statistics page covers the inventory side.
State data: BLS OES May 2024, occupations 41-9022 (agents) + 41-9021 (brokers)
Universe: employees whose primary job is agent; independent contractors excluded by design, said everywhere
NAR membership + licensee figures: attributed industry counts, national only
Colorado + Massachusetts: employment and concentration BLS-suppressed, printed as n/a and never ranked; their published mean wages are printed
The bottom line
America has three real estate agent populations stacked inside each other: 3 million licenses, 1.4 million Realtors, and 182,000 people in the published states for whom it’s the day job. The exodus is real at the middle layer and visible in the federal concentration data, and it’s mostly trimming the fringe.
If you’re hiring an agent, the shrinking is probably good news. The ones left standing do this for a living.
Frequently asked questions
How many real estate agents are there in the US?
Three honest answers: roughly 3 million people hold active real estate licenses, about 1.4 million belong to the National Association of Realtors per the latest industry counts, and 181,890 are employed as agents across the 49 published states in federal payroll data. The gaps between those numbers are part-timers and independent contractors. Pick the definition before you quote a count.
Which state do real estate agents make the most money?
New York, where employed agents earn a mean wage of $104,320 per the newest federal data, followed by Vermont at $100,490 and Massachusetts at $93,450. Those figures cover salaried agents; commission-based independent agents, the majority, earn amounts that swing with the market. High-price states generally pay agents more either way.
How many agents are leaving real estate?
The measured decline is National Association of Realtors membership falling from a peak near 1.6 million to about 1.4 million, per industry counts; claims of 300,000 more departures or a 30 percent collapse this year are projections and social media talk, not counts. NAR’s monthly membership report is member-only, so the rounded figure is the one you can verify. Watch the tally, not the predictions.
What state has the most real estate agents per capita?
Utah has the highest concentration of employed agents at 2.989 per 1,000 jobs in the newest federal data, ahead of Arizona at 2.577 and Florida at 2.489. The widely shared map showing Florida first uses the 2022 edition. New Jersey has the lowest published concentration at 0.224.
Sources
US Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 State Data: Real Estate Sales Agents (41-9022) and Real Estate Brokers (41-9021).” 2025. www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm
National Association of Realtors. “National membership counts as recited by industry sources; NAR’s own monthly membership report is member-only.” 2026. www.nar.realtor/membership
US Census Bureau. “Housing context (US housing statistics research).” 2025. data.census.gov/
Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.
He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.
If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.
