How much do real estate agents make per sale?

Short answer

On a $400,000 home with a 2.5% side commission, the listing brokerage collects $10,000 and the agent keeps $5,000–$8,500 after the brokerage split, before tax and business expenses. Newer agents on 50/50 splits keep the least; high-producers on 90/10 or capped plans keep the most.

Agent take-home on a $400,000 sale (2.5% side)

Split	Agent gross	After 25% expenses
50/50 new agent	$5,000	$3,750
70/30	$7,000	$5,250
80/20	$8,000	$6,000
90/10 or post-cap	$9,000	$6,750
Team member (pre-split lead)	$2,500–$5,000	$1,875–$3,750

How to read this table

90/10 or post-cap sits at the top of the table ($9,000) — $6,750. If your situation looks like this row, plan against the upper half of the range rather than the midpoint.
Team member (pre-split lead) anchors the bottom ($2,500–$5,000) — $1,875–$3,750. Treat this as the conservative case you should still be profitable at.
The gap between the top and bottom row is roughly 3.6×. That spread is why a single blended average is close to useless here — pick the row that matches your setup instead of averaging the column.
With 5 reference points in the "agent take-home on a $400,000 sale (2.5% side)" table, the fastest way to use this page is to find the closest row, take its agent gross, then stress-test it ±30% before you build a plan on it.

Context

Per-sale income is misleading without transaction volume: the median agent closes fewer than a dozen sides a year, which is why median agent income sits far below what a single commission suggests. Expenses are the other half — MLS dues, brokerage fees, marketing, transaction coordination and self-employment tax typically consume 20–35% of gross commission. Commission structures also continue to shift after recent buyer-agreement changes, so buyer-side compensation is now negotiated more explicitly than it used to be.

What moves this number

Financing terms

Rate, down payment and amortisation drive cash-on-cash return more than purchase price does. The same building can cash-flow or bleed depending on the loan.

True operating expense ratio

Management, insurance, tax, maintenance, vacancy and capital reserve typically consume 35–50% of gross rent. Models that skip reserves overstate returns badly.

Vacancy and turnover

One 45-day vacancy plus a turn can erase a year of thin cash flow. Underwrite 5–8% vacancy even in tight markets.

Local regulation

Rent rules, short-term rental caps and licensing requirements change the achievable revenue of an identical property between neighbouring cities.

Methodology

Commission-side arithmetic at common brokerage split structures, with a 25% business-expense load applied before tax.

Assumptions and caveats

Returns exclude appreciation and principal paydown unless a row states otherwise.
Local tax, insurance and regulation can move these figures by several points in either direction.
This page was last reviewed on 2026-08-12. Ranges are updated as new data lands, so re-check before using them in a contract or a plan.
Use these numbers as a starting range, not a guarantee — your own historical data always beats a benchmark.

Frequently asked questions