What’s the Average California Real Estate Commission Rate?
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 in California 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 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. But how does that compare to the average real estate commission rate in the Golden State?
In this post, we’ll help you determine how much commission you might pay on your California home sale, and what options are available to earn the highest proceeds possible.
What’s the average real estate commission in California?
According to HomeLight’s Agent Commissions Calculator, you can expect to pay approximately 5.8% in commissions to a full-service agent when selling a home in California, with some variation based on location within the state. On a property worth the current statewide median home sale price of $900,720, that amounts to about $52,242 in commission costs.
Here’s a breakdown of how much you might pay in real estate commissions based on local commission data and what a home sells for in six of the largest cities in the Golden State:
California city
Median home price
Avg. commission rate
Typical commission
Los Angeles Metro
$835,000
4.58%
$38,243
San Diego
$1,054,180
4.82%
$50,811
San Francisco Bay Area
$1,400,000
5.46%
$76,440
Fresno
$428,890
5.66%
$24,275
Sacramento
$560,000
5.18%
$29,008
Median home prices: California Association of Realtors, June 2024
HomeLight gathers agent commission data from cities throughout the U.S. To see if we have commission rates for your city, try our Agent Commissions Calculator. You might also be interested in our Net Proceeds Calculator and Home Value Estimator.
Still curious about commission rates in California? Here are the answers to common questions about real estate agent commissions:
Who pays real estate commission fees?
The commission is typically paid by the home seller, and the seller’s agent will then split the commission with the buyer’s agent.
As top San Francisco Bay area agent Carl Medford explains, “Typically, 2.5% goes to the listing broker out of which the listing agent is paid; and, the same thing on the buyer’s side.”
However, “Everything in real estate is negotiable — including commissions,” adds Medford, who was named a HomeLight Top Producer in 2021 and received the Bay East Pinnacle Award for eight years.
Because agent compensation can vary wildly, listing agents include the buyer’s agent commission on the multiple listing service (MLS) description. That way, the commission structure is transparent before the buyer’s agent shows the house.
When is the commission paid?
The real estate commission will automatically be deducted from the sale proceeds at the time of closing. Until then, you won’t owe any money to the real estate agent.
