Which Real Estate Companies Pay Agents a Base Salary?

The Independent Contractor Norm

Real estate agents are paid by commission, and most are not employees of the firm they work through. According to the National Association of REALTORS 2026 Member Profile, released June 25, 2026, 86% of REALTORS were independent contractors at their firms in 2025. The same report, as reported by RISMedia and the Florida REALTORS oversample, puts 53% of REALTORS with independent companies. Under that arrangement the firm does not pay a wage. The agent receives a share of each commission and pays the costs of doing business.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes the same pattern from the pay side. According to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, real estate sales agents had a median annual wage of $52,830 and brokers $73,220 in May 2025, and both earn most of their income from commissions. A fixed salary is therefore the exception in the occupation, not a standard option that agents can shop for.

Real estate teams are a small share of the market. According to the NAR 2026 Member Profile, 21% of REALTORS worked as part of a team in 2025, and the median team had four members. A team leader decides how team members are paid, so team-level arrangements are where a salary, draw or bonus is most likely to be offered. The model for splitting commission inside a team is covered in How Do Real Estate Teams Split Commission?

What Redfin Changed in 2024

Redfin is the national brokerage most associated with salaried agents, because it employed its lead agents. According to Redfin's annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2024, in January 2024 the company began paying lead agents a larger transaction bonus in lieu of a base salary in four pilot markets. It expanded the plan to seven additional markets in May 2024 and to 25 more in August 2024, and in October 2024 it moved all lead agents to the plan. The same filing gives an average of 1,765 lead agents for 2024.

According to The Close, the plan, called Redfin Next, replaced the company's salary-heavy compensation system with variable, commission-based pay. Lead agents remained employees, with medical, dental and vision coverage and a 401(k) match, and splits could be as high as 75%, though the maximum is not paid on every closing. The two sources agree on the central fact: the base salary was replaced by pay that depends on closings, and the employee relationship was kept.

No other national brokerage could be confirmed by two independent sources as paying agents a base salary, so this page does not name one. Offers that exist at regional firms, at teams and for support roles are described by the employer and should be read in the agreement itself. Agents who want an employer-style arrangement can apply the questions in What Questions Should You Ask Before Joining a Real Estate Team?

Pay Models Used by Teams

Teams use four broad structures. They differ in who carries the risk of a slow month.

These are structures, not published rates. Teams set terms privately and none of the sources reviewed for this page publishes a national figure for team base pay, so none is given. A draw is the one most often confused with a salary. It is an advance that is repaid from future commissions, and the agreement should state what happens to an unpaid balance if the agent leaves. The commission model most agents see is explained in What Is a Good Commission Split in Real Estate?

According to Paperless Pipeline's team split guide, published July 23, 2026, a $400,000 sale at a 3% side is $12,000 in gross commission. For illustration only, a salary of $3,000 a month is $36,000 a year, which equals the gross commission from three sales of that size before any brokerage cut. A team that pays such a salary must recover at least that amount, plus its own costs, from the agent's production, usually through a lower split. This is arithmetic on stated assumptions and not a published team figure.

Income Data That Explains the Appeal

Interest in salaried work tracks how uneven the first years are. According to the NAR 2026 Member Profile, median gross income for REALTORS was $59,200 in 2025, up from $58,100. By experience, REALTORS with two years or less in the business had a median of $8,000, and those with 16 or more years had a median of $88,500. According to HousingWire and the NAR feature sheet, the same figures hold for those groups.

The agent preferences in Redfin's 2025 Industry Survey of 500 agents at other brokerages, fielded by Ipsos from December 2024 to January 2025, point the same way. According to the survey, as published by Redfin and summarized by nowbam, 78.4% rated the commission split very important when choosing a brokerage, and 54.8% would prefer less investment in training, marketing and technology in exchange for a better split. Agents as a group, in other words, tend to trade guaranteed support for a bigger share of what they close, which is the reverse of a salary. The broader decision is covered in Should a Real Estate Agent Join a Team?

How Federal Tax Treats Agents

The commission-only norm has a legal basis. According to Thomson Reuters Tax and Patriot Software, section 3508 of the Internal Revenue Code treats a licensed real estate agent as a statutory nonemployee when three conditions are met: the agent holds a real estate license, all payments for the agent's services are related to sales or other output rather than hours worked, and a written contract states that the agent will not be treated as an employee for federal tax purposes. A statutory nonemployee is treated as self-employed for federal income and employment taxes, which is why most agents receive a Form 1099 and pay self-employment tax.

A salary tied to hours worked does not fit the second condition, which is why salaried arrangements are usually run through payroll with a W-2. Classification can also depend on state law and on how much control the firm exercises, and a Form 1099 or a contract does not settle the question by itself. Agents should obtain the classification in writing and consult a tax professional about their own situation. This page is general information and not tax advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Established real estate agents who want their sphere, content and brand running on a system they own, whatever the pay structure, can schedule a call with Blake Suddath and Tyler Lewis at theinnercirql.com/agents/.