Real Estate Sales Agents
SOC 41-9022 · 2024-2034
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.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $58,084per year
- Projected openings
- 33,780
- Projected change
- +5.6%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Negotiation
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Critical Thinking
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $90,206 | 1,740 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $88,989 | 80 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $79,950 | 140 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $76,321 | 430 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $75,374 | 3,700 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $75,374 | 2,910 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $74,030 | 130 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $70,492 | 70 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $70,339 | 60 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $65,328 | 120 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $64,439 | 240 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $64,111 | 330 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $62,915 | 200 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $61,586 | 270 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $61,355 | 12,990 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $61,177 | 1,780 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $60,717 | 2,160 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $60,165 | 460 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $58,754 | 70 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $58,754 | 150 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $58,293 | 80 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $57,977 | 7,050 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $57,803 | 750 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $57,373 | 4,930 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $47,843 | 210 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $44,418 | 390 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | Not reported | 30 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | Not reported | 140 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | Not reported | 860 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | Not reported | 120 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $40,516
- A quarter earn under
- $45,935
- Half earn under
- $58,084
- Three quarters earn under
- $78,963
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $112,334
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real Estate Brokers | $81,183 | 16,590 | +6% |
| Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers | $78,322 | 67,150 | +7.7% |
| Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents | $80,456 | 41,030 | -1% |
| Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | $81,587 | 164,660 | +4.7% |
| Counter and Rental Clerks | $45,420 | 77,120 | +3.2% |
| Personal Financial Advisors | $132,516 | 28,210 | +9.4% |
Programs that train for this job — 3
Real Estate Licensure (Online)
UC Irvine Continuing Education · Irvine · $3,005
Real Estate Agent & Loan Processing
Cosmotek College · San Jose · $6,000
Bus: Real Estate Salesperson Certificate
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $995