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Real Estate Sales Agents salary in Hickory, NC

Median pay for real estate sales agents in Hickory, NC: $50,820/yr

Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $31,620 – $92,630

Above the typical metro median ($50,020) by +$800 (+2%).

What it's really worth in Hickory

With Hickory's cost of living at 89 (US=100), that $50,820 has the buying power of about $56,862 in an average-cost US metro.

Local context: median household income $57,943 · median home $271,739 · median rent $1,496/mo.

Full Hickory cost of living & taxes →

How Hickory ranks for this job

On raw pay, Hickory, NC is 78th of the 167 metros we hold real estate sales agents wages for. Once Hickory's cost of living is applied, it ranks 56th.

Pay here goes further than the headline number suggests — Hickory 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 Hickory

A median home in Hickory, NC costs $271,739 — about 5.3× 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 $1,496/mo works out at 35% 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 Hickory.

MetroMedian payvs HickoryRent vs Hickory
New York, NY $103,960 +105% 2.3×
Buffalo, NY $83,670 +65%
Rochester, NY $83,200 +64% 1.1×
Seattle, WA $80,950 +59% 1.5×

Same job elsewhere in NC

MetroMedian payvs HickoryRent vs Hickory
Wilmington, NC $59,990 +18% 1.1×
Durham, NC $48,760 −4% 1.1×
Charlotte, NC $46,710 −8% 1.2×
Asheville, NC $46,020 −9% 1.1×

Staying in NC keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.

Other jobs in Hickory

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.