Real Estate Commission Calculator

How much commission do real estate agents charge?

There is no standard or legally fixed rate — US real estate commissions are negotiable, and always have been. The commonly agreed total is around 5–6% of the sale price, traditionally split roughly evenly between the listing agent’s brokerage and the buyer’s agent’s brokerage. Since August 2024, under the National Association of Realtors settlement, buyers sign a written agreement setting out how their own agent is paid, and offers of compensation no longer appear on the MLS — so the two sides are now often negotiated separately rather than as one bundled rate. Whatever the structure, the maths is the one above: price × rate, split as agreed.

How it works

Real estate commission looks complicated because three negotiations hide inside one percentage: the total rate, the split between the two sides, and each agent’s own split with their brokerage. This calculator handles the first two — the ones the sale contract sets. Whether you searched for a real estate commission calculator, a realtor commission calculator or an agent commission calculator, the arithmetic is:

One layer sits beneath these numbers: each side’s amount is paid to that agent’s brokerage, and the agent personally keeps a share of it under their own agreement with the broker — commonly anything from half to nearly all of it. That split is private to each agent, so no honest calculator can show an individual agent’s take-home. What the contract controls — and what this page calculates — is the total and the division between the two sides.

What the common rates cost on a $450,000 sale

Source: There is no official rate card — US commissions are negotiable. The range shown reflects the totals commonly reported in US home sales; see the National Association of Realtors’ consumer guidance (nar.realtor) for how compensation now works. Last verified: November 2026

Worked examples

When these fees apply — and the limitations

This calculator works out the commission only. A real closing statement has more lines:

• Other seller closing costs — title insurance, escrow and attorney fees, transfer taxes and recording charges, plus paying off the existing mortgage — typically add a further percentage or more on top of commission. The “seller keeps” figure here is before all of them.
• How the buyer’s agent is paid has changed — since August 2024 the buyer’s obligation to their agent is set by their written buyer agreement; the seller may still cover it (directly or via a concession) or the buyer may pay it themselves. Either way it is part of the deal’s economics, and part of what this calculator’s total can represent.
• Broker splits are not shown — each side’s amount goes to the brokerage first, and the individual agent keeps a share of it.
• Models differ — flat-fee listings, discount brokers, auctions and FSBO sales do not follow the percentage pattern, and outside the US commission structures are different again (in the UK, for example, a sole-agency fee is typically a much smaller percentage, plus VAT).

Commission terms belong in your listing and buyer agreements — read what you sign, and negotiate before you sign it.

Comparing your options

The seller’s alternatives frame the negotiation. Selling without an agent (FSBO) avoids the listing side entirely but prices in your time, your marketing and your legal risk — and a buyer’s agent may still expect compensation. Discount and flat-fee brokers cut the listing side to a smaller percentage or a fixed fee, which the split box above models directly: set the total to what the two sides actually add up to. And the same grossing-up maths runs through every percentage fee on this site — the markup calculator and break-even calculator are the business versions of it.