How much does a Real Estate Agent make in Virginia?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $61,790 for Real Estate Agents in Virginia as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $40,200 and the 75th-percentile is $81,230.

How are Virginia 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 Virginia employ?

BLS OES counts 4,950 Real Estate Agents employed in Virginia in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

Where does Virginia rank for Real Estate Agent pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Virginia 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.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Virginia?

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 Virginia.

Commission split, brokerage cap, and team-lead economics in Virginia?

Virginia commission structures are typically 5-6% of sale price, split between buyer and seller side, then split again between brokerage and agent at ratios from 50/50 (entry-level) to 90/10 or 100% post-cap (senior agents at high-cap brokerages like Keller Williams or eXp). A Virginia agent producing $5M in transaction volume at 2.5% gross side commission and a 70/30 post-cap split keeps roughly $87,500 — but must net out brokerage fees, MLS dues, E&O insurance, marketing, transaction coordinator fees, and self-employment tax. Realistic take-home is typically 50-65% of headline gross commission income. Team-lead and rainmaker agents extract a share of team-member production, which is the primary path to top-quartile earnings in Virginia.

Is the Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia's competitive metros. Combined with cyclically suppressed transaction volume in 2024-2025 high-rate environment, gross commission income for the median Virginia 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.

How Much Do Real Estate Agents Make in Virginia? $62K (2026 BLS + BEA)

TL;DR

Headline Real Estate Agent pay in Virginia is $61,790. Real take-home, after the state's cost-of-living index, lands at $60,978.
Cost of living tracks roughly with the national index, so nominal and real wages stay close.
Bottom quartile $40,200, top quartile $81,230. The P90 ($106,480) is roughly 3.1× the P10 ($34,860).
On a real-wage basis, this state sits at #13 of 51; nominal rank is #10.

Wage breakdown — Virginia

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$34,860	$34,402
P25 (lower quartile)	$40,200	$39,672
P50 (median)	$61,790	$60,978
P75 (upper quartile)	$81,230	$80,163
P90 (top tier)	$106,480	$105,081
Mean	$68,100	$67,205
Employment	4,950 Real Estate Agents in Virginia

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Virginia index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	101.3
Goods	101.1
Services	92.4
Rents	105.6

Virginia's overall RPP (101.3) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Virginia (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)	$61,790	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$5,277	8.5% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$2,807	2–5.75% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$4,727	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$48,980	79.3% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$48,336	÷ (101.3 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Virginia state-tax burden means for Real Estate Agent take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 4.5% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $48,980 (79.3% of gross). After the 101.3 RPP, real take-home is $48,336.

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. Virginia sits at #10 on nominal pay and #13 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Virginia falls 3 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Real Estate Agent make in Virginia?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $61,790 for Real Estate Agents in Virginia as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $40,200 and the 75th-percentile is $81,230.
How are Virginia 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 Virginia employ?: BLS OES counts 4,950 Real Estate Agents employed in Virginia in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
Where does Virginia rank for Real Estate Agent pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Virginia 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.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Virginia?: 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 Virginia.
Commission split, brokerage cap, and team-lead economics in Virginia?: Virginia commission structures are typically 5-6% of sale price, split between buyer and seller side, then split again between brokerage and agent at ratios from 50/50 (entry-level) to 90/10 or 100% post-cap (senior agents at high-cap brokerages like Keller Williams or eXp). A Virginia agent producing $5M in transaction volume at 2.5% gross side commission and a 70/30 post-cap split keeps roughly $87,500 — but must net out brokerage fees, MLS dues, E&O insurance, marketing, transaction coordinator fees, and self-employment tax. Realistic take-home is typically 50-65% of headline gross commission income. Team-lead and rainmaker agents extract a share of team-member production, which is the primary path to top-quartile earnings in Virginia.
Is the Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia's competitive metros. Combined with cyclically suppressed transaction volume in 2024-2025 high-rate environment, gross commission income for the median Virginia 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.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-08.

Cross-comparison: see how Virginia 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.