Real Estate Agent
Business & Finance
Help people buy and sell homes and negotiate the deal.
Why it matters here: One of the most active housing markets on the East Coast.
Labor Market — DMV Region
Sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS releases (DMV metro and nationwide) plus MD, VA, and D.C. workforce agencies.
Local cost of living is why DMV pay often differs from the national median.
- DMV & state figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS wage & employment estimates and Employment Projections, with OEWS area pay relatives for the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro, Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia · View source
- Occupation profiles & skills: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor) · onetonline.org
All salary figures are published estimates for groups of workers, not offers or guarantees for any individual role.
Education & Career Pathways
Multiple ways to get here — pick the one that fits your life.
Career Progression
How you can grow — with expected salary at each step.
- Entry-level Real Estate AgentLearning the role, supervised work, building core skills.$43,600
- Real Estate Agent (experienced)Independent work, mentoring newer team members.$61,720
- Senior / Lead Real Estate AgentOwning projects, specialization, higher responsibility.$93,740
- Manager or specialist trackSupervising a team or moving into a high-demand specialty.$112,488
Skills Required
What you'll actually do — and how you'll be judged.
Car, showings and open houses, evenings and weekends
Where you work
Your car, client homes, listing appointments and open houses. The brokerage office is mostly for closing and paperwork.
Hours and schedule
Evenings and weekends are prime time, because that's when clients can look. Weekdays fill with calls and paperwork.
Pace and pressure
Feast or famine — quiet weeks, then three deals under contract at once.
Who you work with
Largely independent under a broker, working with lenders, inspectors and title companies.
Physical demands
Lots of driving, walking properties, standing at open houses.
What people wear
Business professional; clients read your presentation as competence.
Remote reality
Field-based by nature; paperwork is digital and mobile.
Workplace culture: what's normal here
- Income is commission-based, so budgeting for irregular pay is a survival skill.
- Reputation and referrals drive everything; a bad transaction follows you locally.
- Disclosure rules are strict — you tell clients things they don't want to hear.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook — Work Environment, with regional detail for the DMV.
Official data behind this career
Federal statistics for DMV Region, translated into plain language.
Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metro area
Source: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables DP03, DP02, DP05)
- The DMV functions as one labor market: workers routinely cross state lines to get to work.
- The largest employment destinations are D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County.
Top places these workers go to work
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — BEA regional GDP and personal income, most recent published year
Private-sector payroll data from ADP. It is a supplemental near-real-time indicator and does not replace BLS government employment statistics.
Source: ADP National Employment Report — Most recent monthly ADP National Employment Report
- 1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OOH, OEWS, Employment Projections, CES) — Primary source for occupation wages, outlook, projected openings, education and training.
- 2U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey — Primary source for income, educational attainment, labor force and demographic context by place.
- 3Census LEHD (LODES / OnTheMap) — Primary source for where workers live versus where they work, and local workforce flows.
- 4U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Primary source for regional GDP, industry contribution, compensation and personal income.
- 5ADP National Employment Report — Supplemental near-real-time private-sector employment and pay indicator. Not a replacement for BLS.
Figures describe groups of workers, not any one person. Where an official figure is not published for a category, this page says “Data unavailable for this category.” rather than estimating.
Related Careers
Explore similar occupations with overlapping skills.
Study financial data and recommend where money should go.
Track, verify, and report the financial health of an organization.
Research audiences and build campaigns that get attention.
Recruit, onboard, and support the people side of an organization.