Real Estate Sales Agents salary in Cedar Rapids, IA
Median pay for real estate sales agents in Cedar Rapids, IA: $48,240/yr
Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $39,800 – $72,060 · about 50 employed locally
Below the typical metro median ($50,020) by −$1,780 (-4%).
What it's really worth in Cedar Rapids
With Cedar Rapids's cost of living at 90 (US=100), that $48,240 has the buying power of about $53,608 in an average-cost US metro.
Local context: median household income $75,477 · median home $244,344 · median rent $1,234/mo.
How Cedar Rapids ranks for this job
On raw pay, Cedar Rapids, IA is 96th of the 167 metros we hold real estate sales agents wages for. Once Cedar Rapids's cost of living is applied, it ranks 77th.
Pay here goes further than the headline number suggests — Cedar Rapids is one of the places where real estate sales agents gain ground in real terms, because local costs are low relative to what the job pays.
What that salary buys in Cedar Rapids
A median home in Cedar Rapids, IA costs $244,344 — about 5.1× this salary, against a typical US metro figure of 4.7×. Buying is harder here than in the average metro on this income.
Median rent of $1,234/mo works out at 31% of gross pay — above the conventional 30% affordability ceiling, so renting would stretch this salary.
Where real estate sales agents earn more
Pay on its own is only half the picture, so each row shows what rent costs there relative to Cedar Rapids.
| Metro | Median pay | vs Cedar Rapids | Rent vs Cedar Rapids |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | $103,960 | +116% | 2.8× |
| Buffalo, NY | $83,670 | +73% | 1.2× |
| Rochester, NY | $83,200 | +72% | 1.3× |
| Seattle, WA | $80,950 | +68% | 1.8× |
Same job elsewhere in IA
| Metro | Median pay | vs Cedar Rapids | Rent vs Cedar Rapids |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davenport, IA | $72,450 | +50% | 0.8× |
| Des Moines, IA | $52,260 | +8% | 1× |
Staying in IA keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.
Other jobs in Cedar Rapids
Source: US BLS OEWS (May 2023) median annual wage; cost of living from BEA; home price and rent from Zillow; household income from US Census ACS. Rankings are across the 167 metros we hold wage data for in this occupation. Estimates for guidance only. See methodology.