{"id":36090,"date":"2023-05-31T11:56:40","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T18:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=36090"},"modified":"2025-07-24T08:37:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T15:37:03","slug":"average-real-estate-commission-rate-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/average-real-estate-commission-rate-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the Average Washington Real Estate Commission Rate?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: On March 15, 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> a landmark lawsuit settlement that will change the way real estate agent commissions are handled in the future. These changes will \u201cdecouple\u201d seller and buyer agent compensation. Industry experts predict that this decoupling will likely lower agent fees and give buyers the ability to negotiate commission amounts directly. <\/span>Learn more<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Most real estate agents in Washington get paid through commissions. Commissions are typically calculated as a percentage of a property\u2019s sale price, though some brokerages will charge a flat fee. The average agent commission<\/a> rate nationwide is 5.8% of the home sale price, according to HomeLight\u2019s real estate transaction data of thousands of home sales each year. But how does that compare to the average real estate commission rate in Washington?<\/p>\n

In this post, we\u2019ll help you determine how much commission you might pay on your Washington home sale, and what options are available to earn the highest proceeds possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n \"homelight\n <\/div>\n \n

Find a Washington Agent 100% Worth Their Commission<\/h3>\n

HomeLight can connect you with a top-performing, trusted agent in your Washington market. We analyze over 27 million transactions and thousands of reviews to determine which agent is best for you based on your needs.<\/p>\n \n

\n Get Started<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n

What’s the average real estate commission in Washington?<\/h2>\n

According to top-performing Tacoma real estate agent Kris Shook<\/a>, you can expect to pay between 5%-6% in agent commissions when selling a home in Washington, with some variation based on location within the state. On a property worth the current statewide median home sale price of $535,000<\/a>, that amounts to $26,750\u2013$32,100 in commission costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m used to getting 2.5% to 3%. That’s kind of the common commission that we get as the buyer\u2019s agent: 2.5% to 3%,\u201d says Shook, who works with 77% more single-family homes than the average Tacoma agent. The seller\u2019s agent typically takes another 2.5% to 3% commission, he adds, which makes up the estimate of 5%-6%.<\/p>\n

Using an overall statewide average of 5.5%, here\u2019s a breakdown of how much you might pay in real estate commissions based on what a home sells for in six of the largest cities in Washington:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Washington city\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nMedian home price<\/strong><\/td>\nTypical commission at 5.5%<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Seattle<\/td>\n$825,091<\/td>\n$45,380<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spokane<\/td>\n$407,190<\/td>\n$22,395<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tacoma<\/td>\n$460,804<\/td>\n$25,344<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vancouver<\/td>\n$484,567<\/td>\n$26,651<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bellevue<\/td>\n$1,359,810<\/td>\n$74,790<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kent<\/td>\n$611,181<\/td>\n$33,615<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Median home prices calculated from multiple public sales data sources<\/em><\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/a>. You might also be interested in our Home Value Estimator<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still curious about commission rates in Washington? Here are the answers to common questions about real estate agent commissions:<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Who pays real estate commission fees?<\/h2>\n

The commission is typically paid by the home seller, and the seller\u2019s agent will then split the commission with the buyer\u2019s agent.<\/p>\n

Shook explains, \u201cIt’s common that the seller pays it. That is not necessarily how it always goes, but I would say about 99.9 percent of the time that is how it is handled.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says that sometimes the buyer may pay the fee for the buyer\u2019s agent if the seller will not pay it. Shook says that doesn’t happen in the current market, but it has before. \u201c[In the past] builders, especially the big national builders, started taking away what the commission would be to that buyer\u2019s agent. So, for example, in the listing in the MLS, it’s going to say how much of a commission is being given to the agent who brings the buyer and \u2014 at one point \u2014 some of the big national builders we’re paying zero to the buyer\u2019s agent.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learn the average Washington State real estate commission rate and how much you might pay a WA Realtor to sell your house. Get tips for the highest proceeds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":336,"featured_media":37452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[322,808,1309],"tags":[1310],"class_list":["post-36090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-logistics","category-real-estate-agent-commissions","category-washington-real-estate","tag-selling-a-house-in-washington"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat\u2019s the Average Washington Real Estate Commission Rate?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn the average Washington State real estate commission rate and how much you might pay a WA Realtor to sell your house.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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