What Do Real Estate Agents Make? Hmmm….

I am an avid reader. Currently I am reading three books, one about Mao, one about going good to great, and the last about walking in the woods. Sprinkle in the magazines I subscribe to and I have reading material strategically placed around the home, for what ever mood I am in. Needless to say that Barnes and Noble is one of my current homes away from home (but also because my kids love going there).

So when I spied this month’s cover of Minnesota Monthly, I couldn’t resist snatching it up for a good read. The featured article is titled, “Who Makes What…Does your paycheck measure up?” Of course, being ever the inquiring mind, I just had to look and see what people make because, face it, asking about someones income is still taboo and not good etiquette.

Here are some interesting wages:
  • The Governor makes $120,000, just about as much as the Senior Curator of the Walker Art Center

  • For around $ 1 Million, you could either be the anchor of WCCO or the Gopher football coach

  • At $60,000, choices range between a registered nurse, a religious executive director, or a high-end stripper

  • The golden bar for most of us is to reach the $100,000 mark. So if this is your goal, consider these professions: Secretary of State, President of a University, professional flutist, law associate, or a morning TV host

The article took up twelve pages, which I looked through about ten times, but I couldn’t find anything about real estate agents. I mean they had income stats for surveyors, architects, roofers, landscapers and plenty of people involved in real estate, but they left all of us out, the ones that actually facilitate the transaction to closing.

I guess we just don’t cut the mustard when it comes to fancy magazine articles because we just don’t earn that much, on average, to make our profession exciting. It’s not like we are Johan Santana who rakes in $13 Million a year. Most of us are just normal people trying to make a living. Secretly I think that there isn’t any negative spin to attach to our profession so most “journalists” won’t bring us up because we are no longer news worthy. But deep down I hope they were thinking about us. Maybe they were kind enough to lump is in with “Market-Research Analysts”. One can hope!

Written by Jennifer Kirby

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