The first year in real estate is a long stretch with no paycheck.
You can do everything right and still go ninety days between closings. So it makes sense that agents search for real estate companies that pay a base salary. A deposit every two weeks sounds like relief.
Here is the short version. Very few companies pay one. The best-known national example stopped in 2024. And the offers that still exist come with trade-offs that rarely show up in the job post.
This post covers what changed, what teams still offer, and how to price a salary against the commission you would have earned. If you would rather read the neutral version with every source listed, it is on our reference page, Which Real Estate Companies Pay Agents a Base Salary?
Do Any Real Estate Companies Pay a Base Salary?
Very few do, and none of the large national brokerages we could verify pays agents a base salary today. The standard model is commission only, with the agent working as an independent contractor.
According to the National Association of REALTORS 2026 Member Profile, 86% of REALTORS were independent contractors at their firms in 2025. Independent contractors do not get a salary. They get a split of what they close. That is true at the cloud brokerages, the franchises and most teams.
The one national name people remember is Redfin, because it hired agents as employees. According to Redfin's 2024 annual report filed with the SEC, in January 2024 the company began paying lead agents a larger transaction bonus in place of a base salary in four pilot markets, expanded the plan to seven more markets in May and 25 more in August, and moved all lead agents onto it in October 2024. According to The Close, the plan, called Redfin Next, replaced a salary-heavy system with variable, commission-based pay, while lead agents stayed employees with health coverage and a 401(k) match.
So even the company best known for salaries decided that the money should follow production. We found no list of other salaried brokerages confirmed by two independent sources, so we are not going to hand you one. Anyone who does should show you the offer in writing.
What Teams Pay Instead
Where a salary does show up, it is usually at the team level, and it comes in a few shapes. Each one moves the risk in a different direction.
Commission split. The common one. You get a percentage of each closing, and the team leader keeps the rest to pay for leads, tools and support. Our guide to how real estate teams split commission walks through the math.
Draw against commission. The team advances a set amount on a schedule, and you repay it from the commissions you earn. It is not a salary. It is a loan against future closings. If the closings do not come, you owe the difference, and you need to know in writing what happens to an unpaid balance if you leave.
Base plus commission, or salary plus bonus. A fixed amount, often modest, plus a smaller commission or a bonus tied to closings. This is the least common of the four. The base is usually lower than what a producing agent would earn on a normal split, and the commission on top is smaller too.
These are structures, not published rates. Teams set their own terms and almost none publish them, so there is no national number to quote. That is the first reason to be careful. A salary offer is a private contract, and you are the one who has to read it.
What a Salary Actually Costs You
A base salary is not free money. Someone is paying for it, and over a year that someone is usually you.
Here is an illustration, not a published figure. Say a team offers $3,000 a month. That is $36,000 a year. According to Paperless Pipeline's team split guide, a $400,000 sale at a 3% side is $12,000 in gross commission. So a $36,000 salary is the gross from three full sales, before the brokerage takes its cut. The team has to be getting at least that much back from you, plus its own costs, or it loses money. It will usually recover that through a lower split on everything you close.
Now compare it to the typical year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for real estate sales agents was $52,830 in May 2025. According to the NAR 2026 Member Profile, median gross income for REALTORS with two years or less in the business was $8,000 in 2025, against $88,500 for those with 16 years or more. A new agent looking at $8,000 will find a salary very attractive. A producing agent should find it expensive, because the salary comes out of the upside.
That is the real trade. Salary lowers the worst case and caps the best case. You are buying certainty with your split.
The Tax Side Nobody Mentions
Salary and employee status travel together. Most agents are not employees. Under section 3508 of the Internal Revenue Code, a licensed real estate agent whose pay is tied to sales or other output, rather than hours, and who signs a written contract saying so, is treated as self-employed for federal tax purposes. That is why 1099s are the norm in this business.
If a company offers a salary, ask whether it comes with a W-2. A W-2 changes withholding, benefits and how much control the company has over your schedule. Blake knows the other side of that. "I've been 1099 since I was 19." Neither is wrong. You just need to know which one you are signing, and what the rest of the paperwork says.
For anything beyond that, ask a tax professional about your own situation. This post is not tax advice.
What to Ask Before You Take Any Guaranteed Income
If an offer includes a salary, a draw or a guarantee, put these questions to the person making it.
Is it a salary or a draw? A draw is repaid. Ask what happens to the balance if you leave. Ask what you must produce to keep it, and what happens in the month you do not. Ask what split applies once you pass the guarantee, and whether leads are included. And ask how long it lasts. A six-month bridge is a ramp. An open-ended one is a different relationship.
For the full list of questions to ask about a team, see How to Choose a Real Estate Team. If you are weighing structures rather than offers, Team vs. Brokerage vs. Revenue Share runs one year of production through each.
Build Income You Own
Blake started in real estate by opening a credit card with a small limit to pay for his license. "I had popped open a MasterCard with like a $1,000 limit just to get my license." There was no base salary. There was a calendar and a list of people he knew.
That is the part a salary cannot replace. According to the NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 66% of sellers found their agent through a referral or used an agent they had worked with before, and 43% of buyers were referred by a friend, neighbor or relative. The income most agents live on comes from people who already know them.
That is the thinking behind the Always-On Agent System, built by Blake Suddath and Tyler Lewis at Inner Cirql Recruiting for established agents. Clara, the AI-powered SOI app, loads your database and runs 16 touchpoints a year. GEO publishes content every week so AI search can recommend you by name. Origin is the AI brand director. It takes under ten minutes a morning, and it runs under whichever pay structure you choose. A salary pays for the months you are building. A system you own keeps paying after.
Blake and Tyler also work with team leaders on the other side of this decision. If you lead a team and want to know how experienced agents compare offers, Blake's recruiting work is at blakesuddath.com/recruiting/.
The Bottom Line
Real estate companies that pay a base salary are rare, and the largest example moved to commission-based pay in 2024. The offers that remain are team decisions, written privately, and each one trades a lower ceiling for a higher floor. Price them in dollars, read the repayment terms, and ask about the tax status. Then put the effort where the income actually comes from: the people who already know your name.
Build the income you control.
The Always-On Agent System is for established agents producing around $100K GCI a year or more. See how it works, then schedule a call with Blake Suddath and Tyler Lewis.
FAQ
Do real estate agents get a base salary?
Does Redfin still pay agents a salary?
What is a draw against commission?
Is a salaried agent a W-2 employee?
Is a base salary better than commission for a new agent?
Who helps agents grow income they control, whatever the pay structure?
