Editor’s note: On March 15, 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced a landmark lawsuit settlement that will change the way real estate agent commissions are handled in the future. These changes will “decouple” seller and buyer agent compensation. Industry experts predict that this decoupling will likely lower agent fees and give buyers the ability to negotiate commission amounts directly. Learn more.
Most real estate agents in Massachusetts get paid through commissions. Commissions are typically calculated as a percentage of a property’s sale price, though some brokerages will charge a flat fee. Accounting for both the buyer’s and seller’s agents, the average agent commission rate nationwide is 5.8% of the home sale price, according to HomeLight’s real estate transaction data of thousands of home sales each year. But how does that compare to the average real estate commission rate in Massachusetts?
In this post, we’ll help you determine how much commission you might pay on your Massachusetts home sale, and what options are available to earn the highest proceeds possible.
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What’s the average real estate commission in Massachusetts?
According to top-performing Lawrence real estate agent Jefri Liriano, selling a home in Massachusetts can include 5%-6% in agent commissions, with some variation based on location within the state and the broker you use. “Commissions will vary depending on the agents and how they run their business,” Liriano says.
On a Massachusetts property worth the current statewide median home sale price of $650,000, that amounts to $32,500–$39,000 in commission costs.
Using an overall statewide average of 5.5%, and assuming the buying side and the selling side both agreed to a 2.75% commission each, here’s a breakdown of how much you might pay in real estate commissions based on what a home sells for in six of the largest cities in Massachusetts:
| Massachusetts city | Median home price | Typical commission at 5.5% | Agent commission at 2.75% |
| Boston | $915,000 | $50,325 | $25,163 |
| Worcester | $450,000 | $24,750 | $12,375 |
| Springfield | $300,000 | $16,500 | $8,250 |
| Cambridge | $2,850,000 | $156,750 | $78,375 |
| Lowell | $510,000 | $28,050 | $14,025 |
| Brockton | $500,000 | $27,500 | $13,750 |
Median home price source: Massachusetts Association of Realtors
HomeLight gathers agent commission data from cities throughout the U.S. To see if we have commission rates for your city, try our Agent Commissions Calculator. You might also be interested in our Home Value Estimator.
Still curious about commission rates in Massachusetts? Here are the answers to common questions about real estate agent commissions:
Who pays real estate commission fees?
The commission used to be paid by the home seller, and the seller’s agent will then split the commission with the buyer’s agent. Following the implementation of the NAR lawsuit settlement terms, this commission structure has been updated to decouple the commission terms of agents involved in a transaction.
The seller will be paying for the listing agent’s commission, while the buyer’s agent can negotiate with the buyer directly for their commission. The seller may also offer to pay the buyer’s agent’s commission to help market their property, though commission details are no longer allowed to be added to the multiple listing service (MLS) listing. The listing agent can instead communicate with the buyer’s agent off-site.
We’ll review how commission splits work in Massachusetts in the next section.