Best and Worst Places to Work as a Real Estate Agent

As in most things real estate, it’s all about location, location, location.

WalletHub recently released its study on the best and worst places for a real estate agent to work. WalletHub considered 19 factors in two categories to make its determinations. The first category looked at the health of the local housing market in some 179 metros, 150 of the largest metros, and the second category looked at job-related factors such as the average number of sales associates and/or agents, the median starting income and the difficulty of getting licensed in each given area. Here are WalletHub’s results:

The 10 Best Places for a Real Estate Agent to Work

1. Seattle
   1. Low DOM
   2. High building permit activity
2. Salem Or
   1. High number of sales associates and/or agents
   2. High income growth between 2015-2017
3. San Francisco
   1. Highest median home price
   2. Low unemployment rate
4. Oakland
   1. Low DOM
   2. Homes sell close to asking price
5. San Jose
   1. High median home price
   2. Low unemployment rate
6. Denver
   1. High starting income
   2. High building permit activity
7. Fremont CA
   1. High median home price
   2. Low DOM
8. Boston
   1. Low unemployment rate
   2. Low number of hours needed for licensing
9. Washington DC
   1. High demand for real estate jobs through 2026
   2. High starting income
10. Phoenix
    1. High annual wage growth
    2. High home turnover rate 2015-2017

The 10 Worst Places for a Real Estate Agent to Work

1. Albuquerque
   1. Low starting income
   2. Few home flips
2. Jackson MS
   1. High unemployment rate
   2. Low median home price
3. Fort Smith AR
   1. Low starting income
   2. Low median home price
4. Gulfport MS
   1. Low starting income
   2. Low demand for real estate jobs through 2026
5. Fayetteville NC
   1. Low starting income
   2. High DOM
6. Corpus Christi TX
   1. High number of hours needed for licensing
   2. Poor Zillow forecast for home value
7. Detroit
   1. Lowest median home price
   2. High unemployment rate
8. El Paso
   1. Low wage growth 2015-2017
   2. High number of hours needed for licensing
9. Shreveport LS
   1. High unemployment rate
   2. High DOM
10. Brownsville TX
    1. Low median home price
    2. High unemployment rate