How to become a real estate agent in North Dakota

This page is independent of any school or brokerage. Requirements change (the Commission's pages are the versions read on the date shown and PSI's bulletin is its October 1, 2025 update; the Commission's fee for annual renewal is set under the statute's $200 cap but was not printed on the pages read, so it is stated as not published, and the statute is quoted from the Commission's September 2022 law book), so each section names the official page it was read from and the date. If a figure below disagrees with the Commission's page today, the board is right and this page is stale: the date tells you how stale.

1North Dakota real estate licence requirements

• Age: at least 18 years of age at the time of application.
• Course: for residents, a 90-hour NDREC-certified salesperson pre-licensure course, with the licence application filed within two years of completing it.
• Exam: for residents, a pass on both the North Dakota and national portions of the PSI exam; a non-resident who is not reciprocal passes the North Dakota portion only.
• Background: a credit history run by the Commission for $13, and a statewide and national criminal history check by the Office of Attorney General on fingerprint cards for a $40 analysis fee, both found acceptable by the Commission.
• History: no real estate licence revoked in any state within the two years before the application, and a certificate of licensure from every state where you hold or have held a licence.
• Issue: a one-time $20 payment to the Real Estate Education, Research and Recovery Fund, and for an active licence errors and omissions insurance and a broker's approval.

Source: North Dakota Real Estate Commission, How To Apply for a North Dakota Real Estate License (salesperson costs, steps and licensing standards), read September 9, 2026.

2Steps to get your North Dakota real estate licence, in order

1. Complete the 90-hour course

   With a school whose course is certified by the Commission; the application must follow within two years.

2. Apply online with $150 plus $13

   Applications are online only; the $150 application fee and $13 credit history fee are non-refundable, and the application takes your course certificate, employment history and any certificates of licensure.

3. Pass both PSI portions for $134

   Salesperson candidates can test at any time without a code from the Commission; the national portion is 100 questions in 150 minutes with 70 to pass and the state portion 40 questions in 90 minutes with 30 to pass, and only a failed portion is retaken.

4. Get fingerprinted and pay $40 for the analysis

   Print the fingerprint verification form, get fingerprinted at a listed location and mail the cards to the Commission; the Attorney General's report usually comes back within one to two weeks.

5. Pay $20 into the recovery fund and have the licence issued

   The request to issue carries the one-time $20 fund payment, proof of errors and omissions insurance for an active licence and the broker's approval; the Commission emails the licence and copies the broker.

Source: North Dakota Real Estate Commission, How To Apply for a North Dakota Real Estate License (salesperson costs, steps and licensing standards), read September 9, 2026; PSI, North Dakota Real Estate Salesperson and Broker Examination Candidate Information Bulletin (updated October 1, 2025), published by the Commission, read September 9, 2026.

3How much a North Dakota real estate licence costs

The Commission itemizes every fee on its how-to-apply page and publishes PSI's bulletin with the exam fee; fingerprinting, insurance and tuition are paid to those providers.

Source: North Dakota Real Estate Commission, How To Apply for a North Dakota Real Estate License (salesperson costs, steps and licensing standards), read September 9, 2026; PSI, North Dakota Real Estate Salesperson and Broker Examination Candidate Information Bulletin (updated October 1, 2025), published by the Commission, read September 9, 2026.

4How long it takes to become a real estate agent in North Dakota

The fixed parts are 90 course hours, an online application within two years of the course, one PSI sitting of four hours, and a fingerprint report that usually takes one to two weeks; the Commission reviews the application and background reports before the licence is requested and issued, and lets you check the status online at any time. Those parts come from the Commission's own page and the exam vendor's bulletin, not a school's marketing:

• Course: 90 hours at a certified school, at its pace; apply within two years.
• Exam: 150 minutes national and 90 minutes state at a PSI centre, any time.
• Background: credit report by the Commission; criminal history usually within one to two weeks of fingerprinting.
• Issue: after the Commission's review, the $20 fund payment, insurance and broker approval; emailed to you.

Source: North Dakota Real Estate Commission, How To Apply for a North Dakota Real Estate License (salesperson costs, steps and licensing standards), read September 9, 2026; PSI, North Dakota Real Estate Salesperson and Broker Examination Candidate Information Bulletin (updated October 1, 2025), published by the Commission, read September 9, 2026.

5The North Dakota real estate exam

The salesperson exam is 140 questions in 4 hours, two portions, national (150 minutes) and North Dakota state (90 minutes), by computer at PSI centres in North Dakota; salesperson candidates schedule directly with PSI. You need 70 of 100 points on the national portion and 30 of 40 on the state portion to pass. Passing score reports are uploaded to the Commission's online services once both portions are passed. Retakes: a candidate who passes one portion and fails the other retakes only the failed portion, paying the exam fee again; the bulletin read for this guide sets no waiting period or attempt limit.

Pass rate

Neither the Commission nor PSI publishes a pass rate for the North Dakota salesperson exam on the pages or bulletin read for this guide, so none is shown here.

Source: PSI, North Dakota Real Estate Salesperson and Broker Examination Candidate Information Bulletin (updated October 1, 2025), published by the Commission, read September 9, 2026.

6Reciprocity: already licensed in another state?

By reciprocity with Minnesota, Iowa and Georgia. A reciprocal applicant licensed and in good standing at salesperson level in one of those states of primary residence meets the education and exam requirements there and files the same application, background checks and certificates of licensure; any other non-resident licensee skips the 90-hour course but passes the North Dakota portion of the exam.

Source: North Dakota Real Estate Commission, How To Apply for a North Dakota Real Estate License (salesperson costs, steps and licensing standards), read September 9, 2026.

7Renewal and continuing education

The licence runs one year, registered annually with the Commission by its application deadline. To renew you complete 12 clock hours of approved continuing education within the licence period.

First renewal: no continuing education for the first renewal of a salesperson first licensed in 2026.

Later renewals: 12 hours of elective continuing education in each cycle from November 16 to November 15 for resident licensees, with no mandatory topics in the 2025 to 2026 cycle and no grace period; non-resident and reciprocal licensees meet their home state's CE instead.

Source: North Dakota Real Estate Commission, Education (2025-2026 continuing education requirements), read September 9, 2026; North Dakota Real Estate Commission, North Dakota Real Estate License Law and Rules, September 2022 (NDCC 43-23-13 and 43-23-13.1), read September 9, 2026.

8How much real estate agents make in North Dakota

The only independent, dated wage figure for agents is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' occupational survey. For North Dakota, release May 2025:

BLS counts agents paid as employees and reports wages, not the commissions of self-employed agents, so these are a floor for the occupation rather than what a typical commissioned agent takes home. BLS did not publish an employment count for North Dakota in this release.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025, Real Estate Sales Agents (41-9022), North Dakota, read September 8, 2026.

9After the licence: choosing a brokerage in North Dakota

A new salesperson licence is only usable under a broker, so the next decision is which brokerage. On September 5, 2026, 556 North Dakota agents had a published brokerage profile; the largest single company was CENTURY 21 Morrison Realty with 126 of them, and the largest brand was Century 21 with 140. Realty Census, which counts those profiles, also compares the brokerages a new North Dakota agent can join, including which ones publish their commission split: see which North Dakota brokerages publish their pay plan.

Source: Realty Census, North Dakota count and brokerage ranking, September 5, 2026 (realtycensus.com/north-dakota/), read September 9, 2026.

10Pre-licence schools in North Dakota

The Commission certifies the schools and their pre-licensure courses, which otherwise operate independently and set their own fees, and lists them on its education providers page; only a certified 90-hour course qualifies. The list is at the Commission's education providers page.

This page carries no affiliate links. If a schools page for North Dakota is added with affiliate links, it will say so at the top, and schools will be ordered by what the state publishes or alphabetically, never by commission.

Source: North Dakota Real Estate Commission, How To Apply for a North Dakota Real Estate License (salesperson costs, steps and licensing standards), read September 9, 2026.

Questions people ask about becoming an agent in North Dakota

How long does it take to become a real estate agent in North Dakota?

The fixed parts are 90 course hours, an online application within two years of the course, one PSI sitting of four hours, and a fingerprint report that usually takes one to two weeks; the Commission reviews the application and background reports before the licence is requested and issued, and lets you check the status online at any time. The course is 90 hours at the school's pace; the application goes in online within two years of it; the exam is 150 plus 90 minutes at a PSI centre; the fingerprint report usually takes one to two weeks; and the licence is issued once the Commission approves the application and the recovery fund payment, insurance and broker approval are in.

How much does it cost to get a real estate licence in North Dakota?

$357 to the state and its vendors ($150 application, $13 credit check, $134 exam, $40 fingerprints, $20 recovery fund), plus tuition for the pre-licence course, the fingerprinting agency's charge, errors and omissions insurance, which costs $187 a year through the Commission's negotiated provider, and tuition for the 90 hours, which the schools set.

What is the pass rate for the North Dakota real estate exam?

Neither the Commission nor PSI publishes a pass rate for the North Dakota salesperson exam on the pages or bulletin read for this guide, so none is shown here.

How much do real estate agents make in North Dakota?

The BLS May 2025 median for real estate sales agents in North Dakota is $73,920 a year, with the middle half earning between $38,200 and $91,120. BLS counts agents paid as employees and reports wages, not the commissions of self-employed agents, so these are a floor for the occupation rather than what a typical commissioned agent takes home. BLS did not publish an employment count for North Dakota in this release.

Does North Dakota have real estate licence reciprocity?

Partly. Residents of Minnesota, Iowa or Georgia licensed there qualify by reciprocity; other out-of-state licensees skip the course but sit the North Dakota portion of the exam.

Sources and dates