If you’ve ever wondered what a Realtor’s commission is on a million-dollar house, you might be surprised to learn that the answer is both simpler and more complicated than you’d expect. We’re going to cover the ins and outs of real estate commissions on high-end homes, as well as offer some expert tips on what to consider before selling a luxury property. And we’re diving straight in. On one hand, calculating commission is pretty straightforward in terms of math. The average real estate commission in the United States is 5.8%, with a commission rate of 5%-6% of the sales price being the standard range. For our first example, let’s call it 6% and quickly run the numbers: So, if a house sells for a million dollars, a 6% commission would be $60,000. Easy enough! But this is where things get more complicated because there are usually two Realtors involved in selling a house — the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent. In a standard transaction, the two agents will typically split the commission equally. So, in this example, they’ll each earn $30,000. This still sounds like a nice payday, right? And it is! Except there’s one more split on each side, because both of those agents will likely have a brokerage — think of this as a head office — keeping a percentage of their earnings. This number can vary quite a bit, with new agents splitting commissions 50/50 with their brokerage, and highly experienced agents on splits perhaps as high as 90/10 — with the agent keeping the lion’s share. For purposes of our example, let’s say both agents are on a 70/30 split with their brokerage. Variables aside, it’s fair to say that a Realtor’s commission on a million-dollar house is approximately $21,000. Once you understand how to calculate commissions, it’s easy to estimate what an agent’s ballpark earnings might be anywhere in the country using the national average commission rate of 5.8% — and then apply the 50/50 split between two agents and factor in a general 70/30 brokerage split. Let’s look at how the real estate commissions might break down in the cities on Kiplinger’s list of the 15 Most Expensive Housing Markets in the U.S. Rather than the national average rate of 5.8%, we’ll use typical local commission percentages in each market that we’ve pulled from home sales data. Once you know that commission rates are roughly between 5% and 6% nationwide, you can quickly calculate a Realtor’s commission — whether the home price is a million dollars or $100,000. 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.How does real estate commission work?
Which cities have the highest home prices and commissions?
U.S. city
Average home price
Typical commission percentage
Total commission from sale
Seller/buyer agent’s 50/50 split
After 70/30 broker fee
Manhattan, New York
$2,434,977
4.72%
$114,930
$57,465
$40,225
Honolulu, Hawaii
$1,605,915
5.80%
$93,144
$46,572
$32,600
San Francisco, California
$1,502,557
5.04%
$75,728
$37,864
$26,505
Brooklyn, New York
$1,349,755
4.92%
$66,408
$33,204
$23,243
Orange County, California
$1,248,882
4.94%
$61,694
$30,847
$21,593
Washington, D.C.
$1,156,418
5.30%
$61,290
$30,645
$21,452
Los Angeles, California
$1,098,874
5.25%
$57,690
$28,845
$20,192
Arlington, Virginia
$1,057,001
5.23%
$55,280
$27,640
$19,348
Bethesda, Maryland
$1,016,715
5.08%
$51,650
$25,825
$18,078
Lake Havasu City, Arizona
$1,004,158
5.68%
$57,036
$28,518
$19,963
San Diego, California
$1,001,748
4.92%
$49,286
$24,643
$17,250
Seattle, Washington
$937,623
5.30%
$49,694
$24,847
$17,393
Alexandria, Virginia
$937,623
5.23%
$49,038
$24,519
$17,163
Queens, New York
$926,306
4.66%
$43,166
$21,583
$15,108
Boston, Massachusetts
$921,897
5.50%
$50,704
$25,352
$17,746
