Short answer: slightly fewer, in most of the states we can measure. Of six states whose public license files allow a fair year-on-year count, four issued fewer new entry-level licenses in the year to September 2026 than in the year before: Delaware (down 9.9%), Florida (down 3.2%), Texas (down 1.8%) and California (down 1.0%). Arizona (up 4.6%) and Colorado (up 5.8%) issued more. Inside each state the counties split, some by more than 20% either way.
State by state
New licenses of each state's entry-level type, the license a person gets first, counted by the date the state says it was first issued:
| State | Entry-level license | Earlier year | Latest year | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | Sales agent | 14,090 | 13,839 | -1.8% |
| California | Salesperson | 15,075 | 14,924 | -1.0% |
| Florida* | Sales associate | 10,973 | 10,619 | -3.2% |
| Arizona | Salesperson | 4,095 | 4,282 | +4.6% |
| Colorado | Associate broker | 2,230 | 2,360 | +5.8% |
| Delaware | Salesperson | 538 | 485 | -9.9% |
Earlier year: October 2024 to September 2025. Latest year: October 2025 to September 2026. *Florida compares April to September of each year only; the methods note below explains why.
Texas is covered county by county in a separate piece: Harris and Tarrant fell by 10% and 12%, while El Paso rose 22%.
Florida: fewer new sales associates in most big counties
New sales associate licenses, April to September, in Florida's ten counties with the most active licensees:
| County | Apr to Sep 2025 | Apr to Sep 2026 | Change | Active licensees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 1,657 | 1,596 | -3.7% | 49,086 |
| Broward | 956 | 864 | -9.6% | 34,604 |
| Palm Beach | 832 | 805 | -3.2% | 28,941 |
| Orange | 748 | 666 | -11.0% | 21,429 |
| Hillsborough | 714 | 640 | -10.4% | 16,098 |
| Lee | 457 | 416 | -9.0% | 12,816 |
| Pinellas | 322 | 289 | -10.2% | 11,599 |
| Collier | 252 | 246 | -2.4% | 8,682 |
| Duval | 323 | 309 | -4.3% | 8,542 |
| Sarasota | 210 | 226 | +7.6% | 8,055 |
| Florida | 10,973 | 10,619 | -3.2% | 300,662 |
Among Florida counties with at least 100 new sales associates in the earlier period, St. Lucie (up 15.0%), Manatee (up 10.2%) and Sarasota (up 7.6%) rose the most. Brevard (down 14.9%), Osceola (down 12.2%) and Orange (down 11.0%) fell the most.
California: down along the Central Coast, up in San Diego
| County | Oct 2024 to Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 to Sep 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 3,792 | 3,617 | -4.6% |
| Orange | 1,951 | 1,936 | -0.8% |
| San Diego | 1,466 | 1,611 | +9.9% |
| Riverside | 979 | 962 | -1.7% |
| Santa Clara | 804 | 748 | -7.0% |
| San Bernardino | 725 | 645 | -11.0% |
| Contra Costa | 439 | 387 | -11.8% |
| Sonoma | 144 | 166 | +15.3% |
| San Luis Obispo | 113 | 93 | -17.7% |
| Santa Barbara | 142 | 107 | -24.6% |
| California | 15,075 | 14,924 | -1.0% |
California also has the lowest share of newcomers of the six states: 3.7% of its active licensees were licensed in the last 12 months, against 6.3% in Texas and 6.0% in Arizona. In Santa Barbara and Ventura counties it was 2.8%.
Arizona, Colorado and Delaware
- Arizona issued 4,282 new salesperson licenses, up 4.6% from 4,095. We don't break Arizona down by county: the county is missing on too many of the older licenses to compare fairly.
- Colorado issued 2,360 new associate broker licenses, up 5.8% from 2,230. By the city on the license: Denver 342 to 353 (up 3.2%), Colorado Springs 227 to 221 (down 2.6%), Aurora 121 to 136 (up 12.4%).
- Delaware issued 485 new salesperson licenses, down 9.9% from 538: 53 fewer people.
Brokers and salespeople: the license mix in nine states
States don't license agents the same way, which matters when you compare them. Here is how each state's active individual licensees split by license type. Colorado and Illinois call every licensee a broker, so their "entry-level" brokers are the equivalent of other states' salespeople.
| State | Active individual licensees | Entry-level license | Share at entry level |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 290,202 | Salesperson | 70.2% |
| Florida | 300,662 | Sales associate | 78.8% |
| Texas | 171,938 | Sales agent | 80.9% |
| New York | 113,738 | Real estate salesperson | 64.7% |
| Illinois | 62,356 | Broker | 75.5% |
| Arizona | 57,279 | Salesperson | 81.7% |
| Colorado | 40,208 | Associate level broker | 66.3% |
| Connecticut | 20,958 | Real estate salesperson | 79.1% |
| Delaware | 4,851 | Salesperson | 83.7% |
Almost 3 in 10 of California's active licensees hold a broker license (29.8%), the highest share of the nine. In New York, 35.3% hold some kind of broker license, but that includes the brokers who represent a company, a partnership or a trade name. Illinois's figure includes 2,746 residential leasing agents and permit holders.
How we counted
- Sources. Each state's own license file, which Swift Agent Sites copies monthly for its agent directory: the Texas Real Estate Commission (Texas Open Data Portal); the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation's real estate licensee file; the California Department of Real Estate's current licensee list; the Arizona Department of Real Estate's public database; the Colorado Division of Real Estate (Colorado Information Marketplace); the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation (Delaware Open Data); the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (data.ct.gov); the New York Department of State (data.ny.gov); and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Copies were read between 29 October and 3 November 2026 (California's was read from 3 November).
- Illinois. Contains information from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's Professional Licensing dataset (data.illinois.gov), made available under the Open Database License. The license-type counts on this page, and the CSV they come from, are a derived database under the same license.
- What counts as new. A license of the state's entry-level type whose first-issue date falls in the window, whatever its status today. An agent who was licensed and has since gone inactive still counts.
- Why only six states compare. A file that removes lapsed licenses makes the earlier year look smaller than it was, because its licensees have had longer to lapse. We checked which statuses each file keeps. Texas and Delaware keep expired licenses and Arizona keeps cancelled ones; Colorado and California licenses run three and four years, so neither year has reached a renewal. Florida's file has no "null and void" licenses, which is what a new sales associate's license becomes if they skip the required post-licensing course before their first renewal, 18 to 24 months in; so for Florida we compare only April to September, licenses that haven't reached a first renewal in either year. Connecticut (yearly renewals) and Illinois (most lapsed licenses removed) are left out of the comparison, and New York's file has no issue date. All three are in the license-mix table.
- Area. The county the state's file gives for the license (Florida, California), or the city (Colorado, which publishes no county). Florida's file names Miami-Dade as "Dade". Licenses with an address out of state count in the state total but in no county.
- Active. Active individual licenses filed under an address in the state on the copy date. Companies and corporate officers are left out.
- Small numbers. County changes are ranked only where at least 100 licenses were issued in the earlier period. Below that, a swing of 20% can be a dozen people.
- What it can't tell you. A license is not a job. These files don't show who is selling homes or why the counts moved.
Download the counts (CSV, counts only, no names or license numbers): by state, by county or city, by month, license types by state. You may reuse them with a credit to the state agencies above (and, for Illinois, under the Open Database License) and a link to this page.
Questions people ask
Are fewer people getting real estate licenses in 2026?
In four of the six states we could measure, yes, by between 1% and 10%: Delaware, Florida, Texas and California. Arizona and Colorado issued 4.6% and 5.8% more.
Which state has the most real estate licensees?
Of the nine states here, Florida, with 300,662 active individual licensees on 29 October 2026, just ahead of California's 290,202.
How do I check whether an agent is licensed?
Search by name or license number on our free agent check, which reads the same state files for all nine states, or on the state's own license search.
Related:
- Where are new Texas real estate agents getting licensed? 2026 counts by county
- Check a real estate agent's license