The most powerful argument for rethinking your brokerage relationship does not come from a competitor. It comes from the industry's own published data — official income disclosures, earnings press releases, and survey results that most agents never read. We have compiled the most important statistics here, with every source cited and linked.
CEO & Founder, Texas Broker Sponsor™ · Designated Broker · Licensed Broker Since 2012
Published Feb 22, 2026
10 min read
71%
of licensed agents closed zero transactions in 2024
Redfin / Inman, Jan 2025
29%
of eXp agents earned $0 in all of 2023
eXp Income Disclosure, 2024
42%
of active agents earned under $50,000 in 2024
Redfin Agent Survey, 2024
2%
of KW agents ever earned $100K+ in lifetime profit share
KW Press Release, Jul 2024
Source: Joe Rath, Redfin — Inman Connect New York, January 24, 2025
In January 2025, Joe Rath, Senior Director of Brokerage Operations and Head of Industry Relations at Redfin, presented the following data at Inman Connect New York — the real estate industry's most prominent annual conference:
"Thirty percent of agents do all the business. Seventy-one percent of agents did not close a transaction last year."
— Joe Rath, Head of Industry Relations, Redfin | Inman Connect NY, January 24, 2025
This figure is drawn from MLS-registered license data and includes all license holders — part-time agents, referral-only licensees, and administrators who hold a license but are not actively selling homes. It is not exclusively a measure of full-time professional agents.
For context, the National Association of Realtors' own 2025 Member Profile — which surveys dues-paying active members — shows a more favorable picture: only 5% of NAR members reported zero transactions in 2024, and the median active member closed 10 deals. The honest interpretation sits between these two data points.
What is not in dispute: Rath also reported that 42% of active agents earned less than $50,000 in 2024, and that the share of agents who would recommend being a real estate agent hit an all-time low in 2024. The primary reasons cited were unpredictable income and difficulty finding customers.
Active Agent Income Distribution — 2024
Source: Redfin 2024 Agent Survey, presented at Inman Connect New York, January 2025
Nearly half of all active agents
Estimated from survey data
Top 30% of active agents
Note: Percentages are approximate based on reported survey ranges. Survey covers active agents only — not all licensed agents.
Source: eXp Realty U.S. Average Income Disclosure 2024 (2023 data) + eXp World Holdings Q4/FY2023 Earnings Release
eXp Realty publishes an annual U.S. Average Income Disclosure. The 2024 edition covers calendar year 2023. Cross-referencing it with eXp World Holdings' official Q4/FY2023 earnings release reveals a figure that does not appear in any of eXp's marketing materials.
| Data Point | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total eXp agents (Dec 31, 2023) | 87,515 | eXp Q4/FY2023 Earnings Release |
| Agents who received at least 1 payment in 2023 | 61,960 | eXp Income Disclosure 2024 |
| Agents who received ZERO payments in 2023 | 25,555 | 29.2% of total agent count |
| Total revenue share paid in 2023 | $176 million | eXp Income Disclosure 2024 |
| Average revenue share per agent (if evenly distributed) | ~$2,011 | Calculated: $176M ÷ 87,515 |
The income disclosure's own table starts at ">$0" — meaning the agents who earned exactly $0 are not included in the distribution at all. They are the invisible majority. Nearly one in three eXp agents generated no income from the brokerage in 2023.
It is also important to note that eXp's income disclosure table combines commissions and revenue share into a single figure. It does not isolate revenue share income from commission income. An agent who earned $120,000 entirely from closing transactions and an agent who earned $120,000 entirely from revenue share appear in the same income bracket. The number of agents earning meaningful revenue share income — as opposed to commission income — is not disclosed.
Source: Keller Williams Press Release, July 23, 2024
In July 2024, Keller Williams celebrated a significant milestone: $2 billion in total lifetime profit share distributed to agents since the program's inception in 1996. The press release included a detailed breakdown of who earned it.
KW Lifetime Profit Share Earners — Out of ~160,000 US Agents
Source: Keller Williams Press Release, July 23, 2024 — kwri.kw.com
386 agents — 0.24% of total KW agents
3,077 agents — 1.92% of total KW agents
6,648 agents — 4.15% of total KW agents
~153,352 agents — 95.85% of total KW agents
The $2 billion headline is designed to impress. But divided by 160,000 agents and 28 years of program history, it works out to approximately $446 per agent per year on average — and that average is dramatically skewed upward by the 386 agents who have earned $500,000 or more over their entire career.
For the vast majority of KW agents, profit share is a negligible line item on their annual income statement. The agents who built meaningful profit share income did so by becoming dedicated recruiters — a fundamentally different business from selling and listing homes.
Source: Redfin 2024 Agent Survey, Inman Connect New York, January 2025
When Redfin surveyed active real estate agents on the most important factors in choosing a brokerage, the results were unambiguous: 78% of respondents said commission split and/or fees were the most important factor. Technology, training, brand recognition, and culture all ranked below it.
This is consistent with what agents report anecdotally — and it explains why the revenue share pitch is so effective as a recruiting tool. Agents are acutely aware of how much of their income goes to their broker. The promise of earning that money back through a downline is compelling precisely because the underlying pain point — losing 20–30% of every commission — is real and significant.
The data also revealed that 55% of agents said they would prefer their brokerage invest less in technology and training in order to improve their split. When given a direct trade-off between services and compensation, the majority chose compensation. The implication is clear: agents do not primarily join brokerages for their apps or training programs. They join for the economics.
Source: Redfin 2024 Agent Survey, Inman Connect New York, January 2025
Perhaps the most telling statistic from the Redfin survey is one that rarely makes headlines: the share of agents who would recommend being a real estate agent to others hit an all-time low in 2024. The top reasons cited were unpredictable income and difficulty finding customers.
Unpredictable income is a structural problem in commission-based work — but it is made significantly worse by a brokerage model that takes 20–30% of every check, requires a cap to be hit before the agent reaches full compensation, and charges monthly fees regardless of production. An agent on a 70/30 split who closes $80,000 in GCI in a slow year keeps $56,000 — before expenses. An agent on a flat transaction fee model who closes the same $80,000 keeps the full amount minus a flat fee per deal.
The income volatility that agents cite as their primary complaint is, in part, a brokerage structure problem — not just a market problem.
| # | Statistic | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 71% of licensed agents closed zero transactions in 2024 | Redfin / Inman Connect NY | Jan 2025 |
| 02 | 42% of active agents earned under $50,000 in 2024 | Redfin 2024 Agent Survey | Jan 2025 |
| 03 | 29% of eXp agents earned $0 in commissions or revenue share in 2023 | eXp U.S. Income Disclosure | 2024 |
| 04 | Less than 2% of KW agents have ever earned $100K+ in lifetime profit share | KW Press Release | Jul 2024 |
| 05 | 78% of agents say commission split/fees are the most important factor in choosing a broker | Redfin 2024 Agent Survey | Jan 2025 |
All statistics are sourced from primary documents. Links to original sources are provided in the citations section below.
According to data presented by Redfin's Joe Rath at Inman Connect New York (January 2025), 71% of all licensed real estate agents did not close a single transaction in 2024. This figure includes part-time, referral-only, and inactive licensees. The NAR 2025 Member Profile shows a more favorable picture for active dues-paying members: only 5% reported zero transactions, and the median active member closed 10 deals.
The Redfin 2024 Agent Survey found that 42% of active agents earned less than $50,000 in 2024, and 30% earned $100,000 or more. The NAR 2025 Member Profile reports median gross income for active NAR members at approximately $55,800 in 2024. These figures are for active agents only — not the full population of licensed agents.
According to eXp Realty's official U.S. Average Income Disclosure (2024 edition), eXp had 87,515 total agents as of December 31, 2023, but only 61,960 received any payment at all. That means approximately 25,555 eXp agents — 29.2% of the total — received zero payments of any kind from eXp in 2023.
According to Keller Williams' own press release (July 23, 2024), only 3,077 KW-affiliated associates have earned more than $100,000 in lifetime profit share since the program began in 1996. With approximately 160,000 US agents, that represents less than 2% of the total KW agent population.
According to the Redfin 2024 Agent Survey, 78% of respondents said commission split and/or fees were the most important factor in choosing a brokerage — ranking above technology, training, brand recognition, and culture.
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Ron L. Miranda has been a licensed real estate broker in Texas since 2012, with roots in Texas real estate dating back to 2008 when he founded his first brokerage entity, The Miramas Group™. He created Texas Broker Sponsor™ after recognizing that independent agents were surrendering tens of thousands of dollars annually to satisfy a single TREC requirement. Every article in The Real Estate Math Series is written or directly reviewed by Ron, using real Texas transaction data and publicly available industry sources.
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