Real Estate Agent · Missouri · SOC 41-9022
2026 Real Estate Agent Pay in Missouri: BLS Median + Real Take-Home
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2024 reference period · BEA Regional Price Parity 2023 vintage · Last synced 2026-05-08.
TL;DR
- Missouri pays Real Estate Agents a BLS median of $38,910 — the more useful number is $42,709, what that paycheck buys after rent and services.
- Quartile range $30,640 (bottom 25%) to $56,850 (top 25%); the P10-P90 envelope is $27,230 to $88,320.
- Below-100 RPP flips this state above its nominal rank in real-wage terms; the gap is about $3,799.
- Nominal: #46/51 · Real: #46/51 — ranking shifts by 0 positions after RPP.
Wage breakdown — Missouri
| Percentile | Nominal (BLS) | Real (BEA RPP-adjusted) |
|---|---|---|
| P10 (entry tier) | $27,230 | $29,889 |
| P25 (lower quartile) | $30,640 | $33,632 |
| P50 (median) | $38,910 | $42,709 |
| P75 (upper quartile) | $56,850 | $62,401 |
| P90 (top tier) | $88,320 | $96,944 |
| Mean | $48,200 | $52,907 |
| Employment | 1,760 Real Estate Agents in Missouri | |
Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity
| Component | Missouri index (US = 100) |
|---|---|
| All-items RPP | 91.1 |
| Goods | 97.3 |
| Services | 85.6 |
| Rents | 70.5 |
Missouri sits below the national baseline (RPP 91.1), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 70.5.
After-tax take-home — Missouri (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)
Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median
| Layer | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Gross BLS P50 (Real Estate Agent) | $38,910 | nominal median |
| Federal income tax | −$2,531 | 6.5% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied |
| State income tax | −$1,010 | 0–4.95% (graduated) |
| FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%) | −$2,977 | SS capped at $183,600 wage base |
| Take-home (after-tax) | $32,392 | 83.2% of gross |
| Real take-home (RPP-adjusted) | $35,555 | ÷ (91.1 / 100) BEA cost-of-living |
What the Missouri state-tax burden means for Real Estate Agent take-home
Mid-band state-tax burden at 2.6% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $32,392 (83.2% of gross). After the 91.1 RPP, real take-home is $35,555.
Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).
National context
Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $56,320 for Real Estate Agents with mean pay of $70,970 and total employment of 190,600. Missouri sits at #46 on nominal pay and #46 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. Nominal and real ranking are the same — cost of living and pay scale together.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the real (cost-adjusted) Real Estate Agent salary in Missouri?
- After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 91.1 for Missouri), the real-wage equivalent is $42,709 — what the $38,910 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $33,632 to $62,401.
- How are Missouri Real Estate Agent salaries calculated on this page?
- Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
- What does the top of the Real Estate Agent pay scale look like in Missouri?
- The 90th percentile lands at $88,320. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $56,850.
- Where does Missouri rank for Real Estate Agent pay?
- On nominal BLS wages alone, Missouri ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
- Is Missouri a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Real Estate Agents?
- Yes — the BEA RPP of 91.1 is below the national 100 baseline, so nominal $38,910 stretches to a real-wage equivalent of $42,709. The take-home advantage versus a higher-RPP state is meaningful for Real Estate Agents comparing offers across regions.
- When does this data update?
- BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
- Is the Missouri real estate market shift (post-2024 NAR commission settlement) affecting agent pay?
- The 2024 NAR settlement on buyer-broker commission disclosure has compressed effective commissions in Missouri markets where buyers now negotiate buy-side fees explicitly. Anecdotal early data shows 0.25-0.75 percentage points of buy-side commission compression in Missouri's competitive metros. Combined with cyclically suppressed transaction volume in 2024-2025 high-rate environment, gross commission income for the median Missouri agent has declined roughly 15-30% from the 2021-2022 peak. The BLS figure on this page reflects the most recent OEWS release date noted on the page; current-year realized earnings are likely below it for the typical commission-only agent.
Sources & methodology
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 41-9022, 2024 reference period.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
- Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
- See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.
Cross-comparison: see how Missouri Real Estate Agent pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.