The 5 Top-Earning Real Estate Agents in the USA

Who are the top-earning real estate agents in the US? How did they manage to become so successful in their careers? The real estate world is an incredibly competitive one, and not everyone is suited for it. Becoming the best of the best is not an easy task. Each agent has their own strategy, and there are plenty of factors that influence their success. 

In this article, we’ll be discussing how the top-earners’ strategies and decisions have helped them dominate their markets and how they combine smart market selection, niche specialization, and strong personal branding with the ability to build trust and deliver results to become the most requested agents. 

Measuring Success: What Makes an Agent “Top-Earning”?

For many people, when they think of success, they imagine themselves having incredible wealth. And the real estate market does follow this trend, often ranking the top-earning real estate agents in the U.S. by their total sales volume, that is, the combined value of every property they sold in a year. 

But you can make 50 million in total sales in a year, selling 50 one-million properties, or selling just one 50-million property. That’s why transaction sides, or the number of deals closed, offer more insight into the quality of the agent. 

How Much Money do Top-Earning Agents Make? 

If an agent has annual sales of one million dollars, this doesn’t mean that they go home at the end of the year with that amount. Agents are paid a percentage of the sale price, usually around 5-7%, although it depends on the commission structure, brokerage split, and operational costs. 

So, for an annual sale of one million dollars, that agent will be taking home between $50,000 and $70,000.  

5 Top-Earning Real Estate Agents in the USA

Now that we have established how to measure success in the real estate world, let’s see what it looks like in real life. Who are those agents who are doing billionaire sales? And we’ve only selected solo agents from the most recent rankings in Real Trends, so you have a better idea of how much a single person can make. 

1- Ben Caballero — HomesUSA.com, Inc

You probably have already heard of Ben Caballero from Dallas, Texas, founder and CEO of HomesUSA.com. After all, not every real estate agent manages to make annual sales of over 1 billion dollars and get multiple Guinness World Records. In 2024 alone, he made $3.92 billion in sales, with 7,722 transactions in total.  

2- Deborah Kern — Corcoran

In the ultra-luxury market of Manhattan, we will find our second most successful real estate agent. Deborah Kern represents an elite clientele and identifies more as a personal agent than a real estate agent. She’s been performing top high-value property transactions since 2006, and in 2024, her sales volume was $1.12 billion for only 122 transactions. 

3- Christian Angle — Christian Angle Real Estate

In third place, we have another agent who specializes in some of the most prestigious properties in Florida. Christian Angle has a boutique firm in Palm Beach, and while he makes fewer deals each year, each one is well into the multimillion-dollar range, and his clients adore him for his reputation of discretion, exclusivity, and high-end dealmaking. In 2024, in only 35 transactions, he sold $792.35 million worth of incredible properties. 

4- Jonathan Minerick — Homecoin

From San Diego, California, comes the fourth place in our list. Jonathan Minerick is a licensed broker in over 20 states and is also the founder of homecoin.com, a real estate platform that offers a range of services to help clients sell their homes without a traditional agent. In 2024 alone, he sold $764.81 million in 1,556 transactions. 

5- Drew Fenton — Carolwood Estates

In fifth place, we have another incredible real estate agent who works in an elite area. Drew Fenton represents the most significant estates in Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, and Bel Air. In his long career, he has listed and sold the Playboy Mansion, Frances Brody Estate, Owlwood, Doheny Estate, and Rosewood in Bel Air, amongst other legacy properties. In 2024, with only 31 deals, he sold $750.00 million worth of incredible properties. 

How to Become a Top-Earning Real Estate Agent 

Now that you know what a single person can achieve in the real estate world, let’s see how they got where they are now, what strategies they used, and what influenced their success. 

The Role of Team Structure

If there’s an important choice you need to make in your career, it’s deciding whether to work as a solo agent or lead a team. Both options can lead you to incredible success, but the path and abilities needed are not the same. 

•  Running a team: This can significantly multiply earnings by taking in more work and expanding into multiple markets simultaneously without stretching one person too thin. 

• Being a solo agent: The secret of these professionals to produce consistently high results is to focus on efficiency, a tight niche, and deep client relationships.
  

The Impact of Market and Niches

As you can imagine, where you live and practice plays a huge role in how much you can earn, and this factor is called the Geographic market. 

• Areas with luxury-heavy inventory, high transaction activity, or rapid growth offer greater earning potential. Like Manhattan, Beverly Hills, or Miami, where agents can close fewer deals and still achieve massive annual sales.
  
• Specializing in high-end properties brings significant income potential due to larger commissions, and clients pay more for premium marketing, staging, and concierge-level service.

• Fast-growing metro areas with booming job markets bring consistent buyer demand and price appreciation. So properties sell for less, but there are plenty more deals each year.
  
• Beyond luxury, agents can niche down into unique segments like waterfront homes, equestrian estates, or historic properties. 

Strategies That Set Top-Earners Apart

To become a top-earning agent, you can’t rely on a single approach to grow your business; you will need to innovate constantly to stay on top of the game.

• Top-earning agents use multiple strategies, not just one, and constantly innovate.
  
• Many succeed by adopting unique business models or hyper-targeted marketing in specific neighborhoods or property types. 

As a newer real estate agent, brokerage affiliation also plays a role in success.

• Joining a well-known or luxury brokerage gives brand recognition, networks, and quality leads.
  
• Working with a boutique firm allows more personal branding and less internal competition.

Public Profile and Brand Building

If you already know some of the nation’s top agents, think for a moment. Where did you see them the very first time? There’s a chance that they appeared on television shows or were featured in a major publication. Visibility is a strong tool to build trust and attract high-value clients. Plus, a well-crafted public image can also open doors to new opportunities. 

Record-breaking achievements also significantly enhance an agent’s brand. Whether it’s holding a Guinness World Record for most homes sold in a year or setting a local sales record, these milestones create a marketing advantage that’s hard to ignore. 

Achieving all this can seem out of reach just now. But don’t worry, even the most successful agents started with only a solid education and zero experience.  

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Final Takeaway

The path to becoming one of the top-earning real estate agents in the U.S. is as much about strategic thinking as it is about hard work. Those at the top combine market knowledge, client trust, branding, and adaptability to create a consistent stream of high-value transactions.

Success doesn’t happen overnight, but by learning from these industry leaders, any agent can begin building the foundation for long-term, high-level earnings. And hey, even if you don’t earn millions each year, you can still make decent money and ditch the tedious 9-to-5. 

What are you waiting for? You can start your career today!