Texas Real Estate Licensing, by the Numbers
Updated October 16, 2026 from Texas Real Estate Commission records.
Course providers tell you it "typically takes 4–6 months" to become a Texas real estate agent. Nobody shows their data. We compute the real numbers from the state's own records — 140,207 active sales agents, 3,087 pending applications, updated daily.
Applications waiting in TREC's queue
Show the numbers as a table
| Date | Applications waiting |
|---|---|
| Aug 30 | 3,973 applications waiting |
| Aug 31 | 4,011 applications waiting |
| Sep 1 | 4,053 applications waiting |
| Sep 2 | 3,988 applications waiting |
| Sep 3 | 3,876 applications waiting |
| Sep 4 | 3,823 applications waiting |
| Sep 5 | 3,731 applications waiting |
| Sep 6 | 3,720 applications waiting |
| Sep 7 | 3,749 applications waiting |
| Sep 8 | 3,767 applications waiting |
| Sep 9 | 3,782 applications waiting |
| Sep 10 | 3,781 applications waiting |
| Sep 11 | 3,706 applications waiting |
| Sep 12 | 3,675 applications waiting |
| Sep 13 | 3,645 applications waiting |
| Sep 14 | 3,688 applications waiting |
| Sep 15 | 3,716 applications waiting |
| Sep 16 | 3,660 applications waiting |
| Sep 17 | 3,631 applications waiting |
| Sep 18 | 3,612 applications waiting |
| Sep 19 | 3,587 applications waiting |
| Sep 20 | 3,586 applications waiting |
| Sep 21 | 3,629 applications waiting |
| Sep 22 | 3,673 applications waiting |
| Sep 23 | 3,598 applications waiting |
| Sep 24 | 3,539 applications waiting |
| Sep 25 | 3,515 applications waiting |
| Sep 26 | 3,427 applications waiting |
| Sep 27 | 3,409 applications waiting |
| Sep 28 | 3,435 applications waiting |
| Sep 29 | 3,487 applications waiting |
| Sep 30 | 3,427 applications waiting |
| Oct 1 | 3,409 applications waiting |
| Oct 2 | 3,363 applications waiting |
| Oct 3 | 3,343 applications waiting |
| Oct 4 | 3,301 applications waiting |
| Oct 5 | 3,339 applications waiting |
| Oct 6 | 3,361 applications waiting |
| Oct 7 | 3,304 applications waiting |
| Oct 8 | 3,269 applications waiting |
| Oct 9 | 3,231 applications waiting |
| Oct 10 | 3,207 applications waiting |
| Oct 11 | 3,171 applications waiting |
| Oct 12 | 3,201 applications waiting |
| Oct 13 | 3,233 applications waiting |
| Oct 14 | 3,157 applications waiting |
| Oct 15 | 3,157 applications waiting |
| Oct 16 | 3,087 applications waiting |
115
days, median
application received to license issued
15,864
new licenses
issued in the last 12 months
140,207
active sales agents
holding a Texas license today
3,087
applications pending
in TREC's queue right now
Becoming a Texas real estate agent? Start here
Seven short reads, in the order you will need them. Each one pairs TREC's rule with the number that goes with it.
- The requirementsThree qualifications and five steps, in TREC's own order
- Choose a schoolEvery approved provider's exam pass rate, with sample sizes
- What it costsEvery state fee to the dollar, and what comes due later
- The examHow you get a seat, the odds, and what three failures cost you
- How long it takesThe measured wait from application to license, and whether TREC is behind right now
- Find a sponsoring brokerWho actually sponsors new agents, from TREC's records
- After your licenseThe 98 hours and the renewal most people don't budget for
New Texas real estate licenses by month
Show the numbers as a table
| Month | New licenses |
|---|---|
| October 2024 | 674 new licenses |
| November 2024 | 1,073 new licenses |
| December 2024 | 1,051 new licenses |
| January 2025 | 963 new licenses |
| February 2025 | 1,353 new licenses |
| March 2025 | 1,195 new licenses |
| April 2025 | 1,451 new licenses |
| May 2025 | 1,404 new licenses |
| June 2025 | 1,346 new licenses |
| July 2025 | 1,411 new licenses |
| August 2025 | 1,210 new licenses |
| September 2025 | 1,282 new licenses |
| October 2025 | 1,227 new licenses |
| November 2025 | 1,177 new licenses |
| December 2025 | 217 new licenses |
| January 2026 | 100 new licenses |
| February 2026 | 1,581 new licenses |
| March 2026 | 1,348 new licenses |
| April 2026 | 2,080 new licenses |
| May 2026 | 1,750 new licenses |
| June 2026 | 1,644 new licenses |
| July 2026 | 1,555 new licenses |
| August 2026 | 1,668 new licenses |
| September 2026 | 1,496 new licenses |
| October 2026 | 638 new licenses |
Licensing volume runs 100–2,080 per month over the last year. Seasonal swings are real — see the processing-time page for what that means for your application.
The number nobody else publishes
Matching individual applications to the licenses later issued to the same person, the middle half of successful applicants took 67 to 152 days from TREC receiving their application to holding a license. The fastest tenth made it in under 21 days; the slowest tenth waited more than 202. Full distribution and estimator
Renewal is a real cost, and a lot of licenses are late
89,325 Texas real estate licenses currently sit in TREC's "expired less than six months" status. Read that carefully, because it is easy to over-read: this is TREC's late-renewal grace category, not a count of people quitting. Many of these license holders simply renewed late and are still working — TREC charges a late fee and lets them back in. What it does show is that renewal deadlines are missed at scale, and renewal carries its own fees and continuing-education hours that no school's marketing page leads with.