Real Estate Agent · North Dakota · SOC 41-9022
2026 Real Estate Agent Pay in North Dakota: 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
- $61,830 is the BLS median wage for Real Estate Agents in North Dakota; $70,123 is the BEA-adjusted purchasing-power equivalent.
- Real Estate Agent ranking: #9 on the BLS table, #7 once cost of living is in.
- Below-100 RPP flips this state above its nominal rank in real-wage terms; the gap is about $8,293.
- Wage envelope: $37,010 (P10) to $120,030 (P90), with quartiles at $49,080 and $92,820.
Wage breakdown — North Dakota
| Percentile | Nominal (BLS) | Real (BEA RPP-adjusted) |
|---|---|---|
| P10 (entry tier) | $37,010 | $41,974 |
| P25 (lower quartile) | $49,080 | $55,663 |
| P50 (median) | $61,830 | $70,123 |
| P75 (upper quartile) | $92,820 | $105,269 |
| P90 (top tier) | $120,030 | $136,129 |
| Mean | $72,710 | $82,462 |
| Employment | 430 Real Estate Agents in North Dakota | |
Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity
| Component | North Dakota index (US = 100) |
|---|---|
| All-items RPP | 88.2 |
| Goods | 97.0 |
| Services | 75.0 |
| Rents | 69.3 |
North Dakota sits below the national baseline (RPP 88.2), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 69.3.
After-tax take-home — North Dakota (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) | $61,830 | nominal median |
| Federal income tax | −$5,282 | 8.5% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied |
| State income tax | $0 | 0–2.5% (graduated, 2026) |
| FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%) | −$4,730 | SS capped at $183,600 wage base |
| Take-home (after-tax) | $51,818 | 83.8% of gross |
| Real take-home (RPP-adjusted) | $58,768 | ÷ (88.2 / 100) BEA cost-of-living |
What the North Dakota state-tax burden means for Real Estate Agent take-home
North Dakota's state tax is light at this income tier (~0.0% effective). The bigger compensation lever is the below-baseline cost of living (RPP 88.2), which lifts real take-home above nominal after-tax — net real after-tax $58,768.
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. North Dakota sits at #9 on nominal pay and #7 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, North Dakota climbs 2 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.
Frequently asked questions
- How are North Dakota 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.
- How many Real Estate Agents does North Dakota employ?
- BLS OES counts 430 Real Estate Agents employed in North Dakota in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
- Why is the BEA RPP for North Dakota different from a single CPI number?
- BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. North Dakota's overall index of 88.2 reflects rents 69.3, services 75.0, and goods 97.0.
- How wide is the wage spread in North Dakota?
- P10 to P90 spans $37,010 to $120,030. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
- Is North Dakota a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Real Estate Agents?
- Yes — the BEA RPP of 88.2 is below the national 100 baseline, so nominal $61,830 stretches to a real-wage equivalent of $70,123. The take-home advantage versus a higher-RPP state is meaningful for Real Estate Agents comparing offers across regions.
- Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for North Dakota?
- The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within North Dakota.
- 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.
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 North Dakota 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.