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Real Estate: NAICS 531

About the Real Estate subsector

The real estate subsector is part of the real estate and rental and leasing sector.

Industries in the Real Estate subsector group establishments that are primarily engaged in renting or leasing real estate to others; managing real estate for others; selling, buying, or renting real estate for others; and providing other real estate related services, such as appraisal services.

This subsector includes equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) that are primarily engaged in leasing buildings, dwellings, or other real estate property to others.

North American Industry Classification System

The real estate subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Lessors of Real Estate: NAICS 5311
  • Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers: NAICS 5312
  • Activities Related to Real Estate: NAICS 5313

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in real estate. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Unemployment

Data series Back
data
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Sep.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

1,885.0 1,889.0 (p)1,891.6 (p)1,893.7

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees

1,371.0 1,387.5 (p)1,387.1  

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

2.1% 0.4% 2.1% 0.9%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2023

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

52,730

General and operations managers

69,230

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers

27,740

Office clerks, general

94,240

Property, real estate, and community association managers

229,840

Real estate brokers

46,320

Real estate sales agents

162,020

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for real estate.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in real estate.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series Back
data
May
2024
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$34.79 $34.87 $34.30 (p)$34.43

Average weekly hours

35.9 36.2 35.7 (p)35.9

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
May
2024
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$28.68 $28.73 $28.39 (p)$28.45

Average weekly hours

35.5 35.5 35.0 (p)35.2

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2023
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

$23.59 $24.70 $49,060 $51,380

General and operations managers

$49.27 $63.20 $102,490 $131,460

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers

$17.60 $18.55 $36,610 $38,590

Office clerks, general

$19.27 $20.72 $40,080 $43,100

Property, real estate, and community association managers

$29.56 $35.28 $61,480 $73,380

Real estate brokers

$30.32 $41.68 $63,060 $86,700

Real estate sales agents

$24.36 $31.08 $50,670 $64,640

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in real estate. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Data series 2019 2020 2021 2022

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

64 57 58 61

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Data series 2022

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

Total recordable cases

1.8

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

1.2

Cases involving days away from work

0.9

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.3

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in real estate.

Establishments

Data series Back
data
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023
4th quarter
2023
1st quarter
2024

Number of establishments

Private industry

423,132 427,952 431,967 (p)435,113

Local government

1,700 1,703 1,711 (p)1,704

State government

38 33 34 (p)36

Federal government

1 1 1 (p)1

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of total factor productivity (TFP) compare growth in output to the growth in a combination of inputs that include labor, capital, energy, materials, and services. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked.

Data series Back
data
2019 2020 2021 2022

Total factor productivity (TFP)

-0.6 -1.0 3.2 0.5

Output

6.0 -2.3 6.4 -0.7

Combined inputs

6.6 -1.2 3.0 -1.2

Capital input

0.8 1.1 1.2 1.7

Labor input

0.8 -1.3 6.5 4.8

Labor productivity, output per hour

5.4 0.3 -0.5 -5.7

(Source: Productivity)

 

Data extracted on: October 11, 2024