How much commission does a realtor make in NJ? There’s no rate set by law. Most South Jersey listings are quoted somewhere between 2% and 3% per side, so 4% to 6% total, and the agent only keeps a slice of that after the brokerage split. On Camden County’s $392,500 June median, 5% is $19,625.
That number lands differently once you see it written down. I’ve spent a decade looking at seller net sheets across the Philadelphia metro, and the Camden County ones are the ones people argue about most, because $19,625 is roughly what a Cherry Hill seller has been quietly setting aside for a kitchen refresh in the next house.
So let’s take the question apart properly. Not “what’s the average,” which nobody can source honestly anymore, but where each dollar goes and which parts of it you can actually move.
How much commission does a realtor make in NJ on a typical sale
Start with the thing most articles bury: nobody sets this rate. The New Jersey Real Estate Commission, established in 1921 as a division of the Department of Banking and Insurance, was created “to administer and enforce New Jersey’s real estate licensing law.” It issues licenses and sets standards of practice. It does not publish a commission rate, and it never has.
The National Association of REALTORS® says the same thing more bluntly in its settlement FAQs: compensation “is not set by law and is fully negotiable.” That language now appears in required disclosures on both sides of a deal.
Which means every percentage you’ve been quoted in Haddonfield or Mount Laurel is a number someone chose. Here’s what those choices cost at real June 2026 South Jersey prices, using the New Jersey REALTORS® Local Market Update single-family medians for each county.
| County (June 2026 SF median) | Total at 5% | Listing side at 2.5% | Houwzer 1% listing fee | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camden, $392,500 | $19,625 | $9,812.50 | $3,925 | $5,887.50 |
| Gloucester, $400,000 | $20,000 | $10,000 | $4,000 | $6,000 |
| Burlington, $495,000 | $24,750 | $12,375 | $4,950 | $7,425 |
Camden’s median actually slipped 1.1% year over year in June, from $396,950 to $392,500, while Burlington’s jumped 8.2% to $495,000 and Gloucester’s rose 3.9% to $400,000. Same region, three different stories. The commission bill tracks the price, which is why a Moorestown seller and a Blackwood seller can be paying wildly different amounts for identical work.
Where the money goes after closing
Here’s the part sellers almost never see. That $9,812.50 listing side does not go to your agent. It goes to the brokerage, which then pays the agent under whatever split they signed.
| Common split structure | Brokerage keeps | Agent’s gross on Camden’s median |
|---|---|---|
| 50/50 (new or low-volume agent) | $4,906.25 | $4,906.25 |
| 70/30 | $2,943.75 | $6,868.75 |
| 80/20 (high producer) | $1,962.50 | $7,850 |
Those are the structures I see most often, not a published schedule, so treat them as the shape of the thing rather than gospel. Out of that gross the agent still pays self-employment tax, MLS and association dues, signage, photography, and often a transaction-coordinator fee. An agent netting half of what the seller paid is normal. So when someone asks how much commission does a realtor make in NJ, the honest answer is: far less than the seller wrote the check for.
I bring this up because it reframes the negotiation. When a seller asks me to cut a point off a traditional 2.5% listing fee, they’re asking an individual to absorb it out of a number that’s already been halved. That’s a hard conversation. It’s also why the discount usually comes back as reduced service. The better question is whether the brokerage’s cost structure justifies the gross in the first place, which is exactly what a 1% commission model rethinks from the ground up.
What the 2024 rule change did to the buyer’s side
Until August 17, 2024, the buyer’s agent share was advertised inside the MLS and most South Jersey sellers treated it as fixed. The NAR practice changes ended that. Offers of compensation can no longer be communicated on an MLS, and buyers now sign written agreements with their agent before touring homes.
Two years in, the practical effect in Camden and Burlington counties is that the buyer-side number moved from a listing input to a negotiated term in the contract. I still see 2% to 2.5% agreed most of the time, because buyers here are stretched and ask for it as a concession. But I’ve also watched sellers hold at 2% and lose nothing, and I’ve watched one Cinnaminson seller pay zero because the buyer came unrepresented.
The upshot: when you ask how much commission does a realtor make in NJ today, you’re really asking two separate questions now. What am I paying my own agent, and what am I agreeing to contribute to the other side? Those are no longer one number, and treating them as one is how sellers overpay.
How much commission does a realtor make in NJ under a 1% listing fee
How much commission does a realtor make in NJ under this structure is simple arithmetic. On the Camden County median of $392,500, our listing fee is $3,925 instead of $9,812.50. The seller keeps $5,887.50. That’s not a stripped-down service in exchange for the difference. It’s a salaried-agent structure, so the person walking your Collingswood twin isn’t paid per closing and has no financial reason to push you toward the fast offer over the right one.
Run your own numbers before you take my word for it. The realtor commission calculator will do the arithmetic at your price point in about ten seconds, including the buyer-side contribution.
Where the savings get genuinely large is the top of the South Jersey market. Burlington County’s 8.2% June jump means a Moorestown or Medford seller at $750,000 is looking at $18,750 on a 2.5% listing side versus $7,500 at 1%. Keeping $11,250 changes what you can offer on the next house, and in a market moving at 26 to 29 days on market, offer strength is the whole ballgame.
The other South Jersey line items that share the same dollar
Commission is the biggest number on the settlement sheet but it isn’t alone, and I’d rather you see the full picture than get surprised at the table.
New Jersey’s Realty Transfer Fee is calculated on a bracketed schedule tied to the sale price. Rather than paraphrase it, here’s the Division of Taxation’s own worked example from its Realty Transfer Fee FAQ: on a $325,000 deed with no total or partial exemptions, the correct fee is $1,910.00. Camden’s median sits above that price and lands in a higher bracket, so ask your settlement agent for the exact figure rather than scaling it in your head. Sellers 62 and older may qualify for a partial exemption using Form RTF-1.
Then there’s the attorney review window, which is the piece out-of-state sellers always trip over. Per New Jersey REALTORS®, once a contract of sale is drawn up, “the attorney must complete his or her review within a three-day period. The contract will then be legally binding at the end of the three-day period unless the attorney disapproves of it.” Buyer and seller can agree in writing to extend it. Nothing in South Jersey is truly under contract until that clock runs out, which is why your agent’s negotiating discipline during those three days matters more than any marketing line in the listing presentation.
Title and settlement is the third line. We handle it in-house through Newfound Title, which mostly means the commission conversation and the title conversation stop being two companies pointing at each other. For the rest of the breakdown, our guide to closing costs in NJ goes line by line.
How to negotiate this without losing the agent you want
Three things actually work in this market, and one thing everybody tries that doesn’t.
- Separate the two numbers. Ask for the listing-side fee in writing, alone, before anyone mentions the buyer side. Agents who quote 5% as a single blob are counting on you not to split it.
- Ask what happens at the 30-day mark. Camden County ran 26 days on market in June and Burlington 29. If a listing agreement runs six months, ask what specifically changes in week five.
- Compare net sheets, not percentages. Two agents at the same rate can be $3,000 apart after concessions and repair credits.
What doesn’t work: asking a traditional agent to shave their rate on the spot. You’ll usually get the cut and quietly lose the professional photography or the open-house schedule along with it. Structural savings have to come from a brokerage built for it, which is the difference between a discount and a different cost model. We walk through that distinction in what a fair fee actually looks like, and if you’re still shortlisting, how to choose a real estate agent covers the questions worth asking.
South Jersey listings run through Bright MLS, so exposure is identical whether you pay 2.5% or 1%. Nobody’s buyer agent filters by what you’re paying. That’s worth sitting with for a second, because it’s the entire argument.
If you want the local version of all this, our page on low-commission realtors in South Jersey has the market-by-market detail, and the 1% listing fee across New Jersey page covers the North Jersey and Shore markets too.
Frequently asked questions
How much commission does a realtor make in NJ on a $400,000 house?
At a 5% total rate, $20,000, split roughly evenly between the two sides. The listing agent’s brokerage collects about $10,000 and the agent personally sees $5,000 to $8,000 of that depending on their split. At Houwzer’s 1% listing fee the listing side is $4,000 instead, so the seller keeps $6,000.
Is there a standard commission rate in Camden County?
No. The New Jersey Real Estate Commission licenses and regulates agents but sets no rate, and NAR’s own guidance says compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable. Anyone in Cherry Hill or Voorhees who tells you 6% is “standard” is quoting a habit, not a rule. How much commission does a realtor make in NJ is always a negotiated answer, never a published one.
Do I still have to pay the buyer’s agent in South Jersey?
Not automatically. Since August 2024 offers of compensation can’t be communicated on the MLS, so any buyer-side contribution is negotiated in the contract itself. Most Camden and Burlington county deals still land at 2% to 2.5%, but I’ve closed South Jersey sales at less and at zero.
What is the realty transfer fee on a South Jersey home sale?
It follows a bracketed schedule based on price. The Division of Taxation’s published example is $1,910.00 on a $325,000 deed with no exemptions. Camden’s $392,500 median falls into a higher bracket, so get the exact number from your settlement agent. Sellers 62 and older can claim a partial exemption on Form RTF-1.
How long does attorney review take in New Jersey?
New Jersey REALTORS® describes it as a three-day period, after which the contract becomes legally binding unless an attorney disapproves it. Both sides can agree in writing to extend. Plan on your Burlington or Gloucester county deal being genuinely fragile until that window closes.
Does a lower listing fee mean less marketing on my house?
It shouldn’t, and you should check. Every South Jersey listing goes into Bright MLS and syndicates to the same portals regardless of fee. Ask any brokerage quoting you a reduced rate what specifically comes out of the package, then compare that answer to what a 1% model includes as standard. How much commission does a realtor make in NJ should never be the same conversation as how much marketing your house gets.
The bottom line
Nobody is entitled to 5% of your Camden County sale. That number survived because it was printed in the MLS for decades and sellers never got to see the split behind it. The MLS field is gone, the disclosure now says negotiable in plain English, and the math on a $392,500 house is sitting right there in the table above. How much commission does a realtor make in NJ is now a question you get to answer on your own net sheet.
If you want the arithmetic run on your actual address before you sign anything, we’ll do it, and we’ll show you the net sheet either way. Understanding how realtors actually get paid is the whole advantage here.
