Real Estate Appraiser Salary: Your 2024 Guide

As a real estate appraiser, you can work in either the residential or commercial fields, reviewing properties to come up with an estimated value based on various factors critical to the final price. Real estate appraiser positions are projected to grow steadily as the demand for property expands for homes, offices, and other real estate spaces.

Let’s see what factors can contribute to your real estate appraiser's salary in this career field.

What is a real estate appraiser?

A real estate appraiser assesses a property based on different factors to come up with its estimated value for the purposes of selling the property, assessing taxes or insurance, or developing it.

Real estate appraisers can inspect a property, take pictures, and compare it to the final sales costs of other properties to determine a final estimate. As an appraiser, you must also create a report of your findings to explain your final estimated cost to clients.

You can work independently as an appraiser for various clients or produce work for an employer as a staff member. You may also specialize in a specific property type as part of your work as an appraiser.

Read more: How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser: Your 2024 Career Guide

How much does a real estate appraiser make?

Various job listing sites show the average annual pay for real estate appraisers ranges from $54,616 to $82,871 as of December 2023. Here are the salary ranges given by five different organizations that track real estate appraiser salaries:

Factors such as your education level, experience in the field, and certification status can boost your potential earnings as a real estate appraiser. Where you live can also impact your salary, including the demand for real estate appraisers or the cost of living in a particular area. In some industry sectors, you can earn more than others depending on your specific interests or specialties.

Education

Real estate appraisers usually need a bachelor’s degree, but it isn’t always necessary to work in the field. Most states set specific education requirements for appraisers, but others have none. It’s important to check your particular state’s regulations regarding education, experience, and other factors required to be an appraiser.

Here are the average salaries for real estate appraisers based on education level, according to Zippia [5]:

• High school diploma or less: $51,076

• Associate degree: $59,158

• Bachelor's degree: $57,419

Read more: What Is an Undergraduate Degree? Requirements, Costs, and More

Certification

The federal government does not require certification for real estate appraisers who want to work with personal and business property. Still, you will need a state license or certification to work with federal government-related transactions. It’s also important to find out if you must get a license or certification in the state you work in to be a real estate appraiser, as most states require these credentials.

Certified real estate appraisers tend to earn more than those who are not certified, as they are typically able to charge more for their services. Glassdoor reports $85,094 as the annual base salary for certified residential appraisers, with $92,228 total pay, including benefits such as commissions [6].

Experience

Your experience as a real estate appraiser can boost your salary as more experience typically leads to a higher annual income. Here are the estimated average base salaries you can expect based on your years of experience, according to Glassdoor [4]:

• 0–1 year: $57,220

• 1–3 years: $62,864

• 4–6 years: $74,504

• 7–9 years: $79,772

• 10–14 years: $85,826

• 15+ years: $90,334

Location

The area you work in can affect how much you can make as a real estate appraiser due to the cost of living, the area’s demand for work, and other regional factors.

Here are the five top-paying states for real estate appraisers, based on data collected by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) [7]:

• District of Columbia: $107,960

• California: $87,880

• Massachusetts: $86,590

• New York: $86,320

• Connecticut: $85,710

Some cities may have higher earnings than others based on the cost of living or the number of real estate appraiser positions. You can earn more if you live in these areas or are willing to relocate.

The top three metropolitan areas for real estate appraisers are all in the state of California, while other top-paying areas are spread throughout the country, according to the BLS [7]:

• San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara: $103,490

• San Francisco/Oakland/Hayward: $102,970

• Santa Rosa: $99,940

• Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL: $99,770

• Danbury, CT: $97,710

• Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL: $ 96,150

• Columbus, OH: $ 94,570

• Appleton, WI: $ 94,240

• Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT: $ 92,810

• Barnstable, MA: $ 91,590

Industry

Certain industries provide more pay for real estate appraisers than others. Working in finance or insurance can earn you a median annual income of $77,850, while appraisers in the real estate market can earn $57,870 in median annual income, according to the BLS [8].

Glassdoor lists the following five industries as the highest-paying for real estate appraisers. Note that Glassdoor includes additional compensation in its figures, such as stocks, cash, bonuses, and other benefits along with base pay, while BLS, for example, only includes base pay [3]:

• Real estate: $90,600

• Information technology: $89,533

• Financial services: $90,587

• Education: $90,970

• Manufacturing: $90,295

Job outlook

The BLS expects real estate appraiser positions to grow 5 percent from 2022 to 2032, slightly faster than the national average of 3 percent for all occupations. Expect 3,600 positions to be added to the field from 2021 to 2031 [1].

Positions for real estate appraisers will continue to grow as the demand for properties increases and real estate is bought, rented, or sold.

Read more: Starting a New Job: 18 Tips for Early and Ongoing Success

Getting started with Coursera

Take advantage of educational opportunities that can help you start a career as a real estate appraiser or continue your training in the field. For example, Application of AI, InsurTech, and Real Estate Technology with Wharton Online on Coursera can help you learn about the latest emerging technology for the insurance and real estate industry.