Real Estate Agent Commission: How Much Do Agents Make in 2024?

Editor’s note: On March 15, 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced a landmark lawsuit settlement that will change the way real estate agent commissions are handled in the future. These changes will “decouple” seller and buyer agent compensation. Industry experts predict that this decoupling will likely lower agent fees and give buyers the ability to negotiate commission amounts directly. Learn more.

Most real estate agents get paid through commissions. Commissions are typically calculated as a percentage of a property’s sale price, though some brokerages will charge a flat fee. The average real estate agent commission rate nationwide is 5.8% of the home sale price, according to HomeLight’s real estate transaction data of thousands of home sales each year. The commission is generally paid by the home seller, and the seller’s agent will then split the commission with the buyer’s agent.

Generally, you can expect to pay between 5%-6% in agent commissions when selling a home in 2024, with some variation based on location. On a property worth the median home sale price of $426,900 as of June 2024, that amounts to $21,345 – $25,614 in commission costs.

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Here’s a breakdown of how much you would pay in real estate commissions based on what a home sells for:

Home price
5.8% real estate agent commission

$200,000
$11,600

$350,000
$20,300

$500,000
$29,000

$750,000
$43,500

$1,000,000
$58,000

Still curious about commission? Here are the answers to common questions about real estate agent commissions:

Who pays real estate commission fees?

Typically, the seller in a transaction will pay commission fees in full. As top real estate agent Rachel Moussa of Flower Mound, Texas explains, in most places, “the standard is for sellers to pay both the listing agent and the buyer’s agent’s commission. The listing agent puts on the MLS what percentage the seller has agreed to pay cooperating brokers.”