How much do real estate agents make in Charlottesville, VA?

It depends almost entirely on how many deals you close. Salary sites put the average Charlottesville agent somewhere between $85,000 and $103,000 a year, but federal wage data doesn’t publish a number for local agents at all, and most agents aren’t salaried anyway. What you actually take home is your gross commission income (GCI) minus your brokerage split, cap and fees, minus your own business costs. With a Charlottesville-area median sale price of $550,000, each closing is worth more here than in much of Virginia.

Brave Search’s AI answer, captured Nov. 4, 2026 (Google’s AI Overview blocked our automated capture today), says: “The average salary for a Real Estate Agent in Charlottesville, VA varies by data source, with Indeed reporting an average of $102,842 per year and ZipRecruiter citing an average of $85,112 per year.” It adds that “salaries typically range from a low of $60,191 to a high of $175,715 annually, depending on experience and employer.”

Treat those figures carefully. I’m Daniel Keeton, Broker and Founder of Keeton & Co, and I recruit and coach agents at our Charlottesville office at 969 2nd St SE. Here’s how agent income really works in this market.

What does the federal data say about Charlottesville agent pay?

Area (May 2025)	Real estate sales agents employed	Median annual wage
Charlottesville metro	180	Not published
Lynchburg metro	90	$59,880
Richmond metro	Not published	$64,850

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, accessed Nov. 3-4, 2026.

BLS counts only 180 agents in the Charlottesville metro and doesn’t release a wage for them. Part of the reason: its survey leaves out the self-employed (OEWS FAQ), and most agents are independent contractors. The salary-site averages in the AI answer have their own problems: they’re often built from job ads and self-reported pay. Neither tells you what a full-time producing agent earns. (For Richmond, see how much agents make in Richmond.)

How much is one Charlottesville closing worth?

Agents are paid per closing. Commissions are negotiable and vary by deal, so here’s a range at the local median price:

Home price	Commission on one side at 2%	At 2.5%	At 3%
$550,000 (Charlottesville-area median)	$11,000	$13,750	$16,500

Median sale price: $550,000 across 2,027 closed sales in the Charlottesville area, Nov. 1, 2025 to Oct. 31, 2026 (Keeton & Co analysis of CAAR MLS data). Commission percentages are illustrations, not typical or recommended rates.

Homes in the area went under contract in a median 12 days over that period, and prices were roughly 1% above calendar 2025’s $545,000 median. Higher price points mean fewer deals get you to a real income, but every deal still takes the same work.

How do Charlottesville agents actually get paid?

Step	What happens
1. Commission	The fee negotiated with your buyer or seller
2. Brokerage split	Your brokerage keeps a share until you reach a cap, if there is one
3. Fees	Per-deal fees, transaction coordination, E&O, desk or tech fees
4. Business costs	MLS, association dues, lockbox, licensing, marketing, car
5. Taxes	Self-employment tax and quarterly estimates as a 1099 contractor

What does it cost to work as an agent in Charlottesville?

Cost	Amount	Source
CAAR residential MLS (Paragon)	$138 per quarter ($552 a year)	CAAR 2026 rate sheet
SentriKey lockbox service	$111 per quarter ($444 a year), plus $65 one-time activation	CAAR 2026 rate sheet
NAR dues	$201 a year ($156 + $45 assessment)	NAR, 2026
Virginia license renewal	$100 every two years, plus a $7.25-a-year DPOR technology fee	DPOR

On top of that come CAAR and Virginia REALTORS® dues, marketing, your car and your phone. Our guide on the cost of being an agent in Virginia breaks down the whole budget.

What would a 20-deal agent take home at Keeton & Co?

Here’s our published Individual plan for an agent closing 20 deals with $200,000 GCI. In this market, that’s only about $10,000 per deal, which is conservative at Charlottesville prices.

Line	Amount
Gross commission income	$200,000
Annual cap (split stops here)	−$20,000
Post-cap transaction fees (6 × $200)	−$1,200
Transaction coordination (20 × $387)	−$7,740
E&O and office fees	$0
Agent nets from the brokerage	$171,060, plus a $3,000 President’s Club trip

That’s before your own costs and taxes. I’ll be straight with you: some national cloud brokerages have lower caps and can cost about the same or a little less on paper for this example. What you get here for the money is in-house transaction and listing coordination on every file, a local office and staff (about one staff member for every 4.5 agents), appointment setting through our leads plan, and a brand with over 1,600 five-star Google reviews. Run your own last 12 months through every plan you’re considering. Our guide on how to compare brokerage plans with your last 12 months shows you how.

What separates a high-earning Charlottesville agent?

Factor	Lower earners	Higher earners
Lead flow	Waits for referrals	Has a system: sphere, open houses, past clients, brokerage leads
Niche	Takes anything	Knows a segment: UVA relocation, Crozet new construction, land
Listings	Mostly buyers	A healthy share of listings
Support	Does every task alone	Uses a TC and listing coordination
Follow-up	Calls once	Follows up for months, on a schedule

Pros and trade-offs of joining Keeton & Co in Charlottesville

Pros	Trade-offs
$20,000 annual cap at every level, then 100% with a $200 fee	Some cloud models have lower caps
No E&O fee, no office fee	TC is $387 per deal, built into every file
In-house transaction and listing coordination	We’re a regional firm, not a national brand
Company appointments available on the leads plan	Leads plan is a separate upgrade
President’s Club trip and an annual awards night

Keeton & Co closed 706 homes in the 12 months ending October 2026 and more than 4,200 all-time. RealTrends ranked us for 2025 with 718 sides and $295.32 million in volume.

Want to see the full plan? Visit Join Keeton & Co, compare options in which brokerage a Charlottesville agent should join, or contact us for a confidential conversation. Call 804-373-2223.

BLS wage data: May 2025 OEWS, accessed Nov. 4, 2026. Salary-site figures as quoted in Brave Search’s AI answer, captured Nov. 4, 2026; we didn’t independently verify them. Market data: Keeton & Co analysis of CAAR MLS data, Nov. 1, 2025 to Oct. 31, 2026. CAAR fees from its 2026 membership and MLS packets; NAR dues from NAR. Keeton & Co plan figures from keetonco.com/join as of Nov. 4, 2026. Individual results vary. Written by Daniel Keeton, Broker & Founder. Updated Nov. 4, 2026.