---
title: "Appraiser and Assessor of Real Estate"
description: "Appraise real estate, exclusively, and estimate its fair value. May assess taxes in accordance with prescribed schedules."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/appraiser-and-assessor-of-real-estate"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Appraiser and Assessor of Real Estate

**Category:** Business and Financial Operations · **SOC code:** 13-2023 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 13-2023.00

Appraise real estate, exclusively, and estimate its fair value. May assess taxes in accordance with prescribed schedules.

Also advertised as: Appraiser; Assessor; Certified Real Estate Appraiser; Certified Residential Appraiser; Commercial Appraiser; County Assessor; Field Appraiser; Real Estate Appraiser.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $67,960 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $32.67/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $40,030 to $122,660, with the middle half between $50,970 and $92,760
- **Total US employment:** 57,070
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +3.5% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 5,200 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 19/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 57,070 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $40,030 |
| 25th | $50,970 |
| 50th (median) | $67,960 |
| 75th | $92,760 |
| 90th | $122,660 |
| Mean (average) | $75,770 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $107,980 | $98,252 | 110 |
| NJ | $92,390 | $84,913 | 1,190 |
| MA | $91,750 | $86,755 | 1,100 |
| CA | $88,900 | $80,293 | 6,380 |
| CT | $86,050 | $83,052 | 630 |
| WA | $83,710 | $78,224 | 1,150 |
| MN | $83,400 | $84,566 | 1,380 |
| ME | $80,930 | $83,390 | 230 |
| AK | $80,330 | $78,479 | 200 |
| IA | $80,160 | $91,338 | 630 |
| HI | $79,860 | $72,632 | 130 |
| NY | $78,060 | $72,331 | 2,860 |
| MD | $77,610 | $73,943 | 660 |
| VA | $76,080 | $75,249 | 1,540 |
| RI | $75,900 | $74,208 | 280 |

36 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 51 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/appraiser-and-assessor-of-real-estate/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/appraiser-and-assessor-of-real-estate.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 68,400 in the 2025–2035 base year to 70,700 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 2,400 jobs, or +3.5%. About as fast as average: 3.5% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 5,200 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Long-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 54.6% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 27.3% |
| Some College Courses | 9.1% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 4.6% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 4.6% |

## What the work involves

- Compute final estimation of property values, taking into account such factors as depreciation, replacement costs, value comparisons of similar properties, and income potential.
- Prepare written reports that estimate property values, outline methods by which the estimations were made, and meet appraisal standards.
- Photograph interiors and exteriors of properties to assist in estimating property value, substantiate findings, and complete appraisal reports.
- Search public records for transactions such as sales, leases, and assessments.
- Maintain familiarity with aspects of local real estate markets.
- Inspect properties, considering factors such as market value, location, and building or replacement costs to determine appraisal value.
- Collect and analyze relevant data to identify real estate market trends.
- Inspect new construction and major improvements to existing structures to determine values.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- English Language — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Building and Construction — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Economics and Accounting — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Near Vision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Recognition — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Clarity — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Conventional (C), Enterprising (E).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 5.81 |
| E — Enterprising | 4.87 |
| I — Investigative | 2.85 |
| R — Realistic | 2.70 |
| S — Social | 2.63 |
| A — Artistic | 1.61 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ESTJ | 86.8 |
| ISTJ | 76.6 |
| ESFJ | 76.5 |
| ISFJ | 71.6 |
| ENTJ | 65.5 |

Best-fitting types: ESTJ. The bank also flags this occupation as introvert-friendly, meaning O\*NET work-context ratings put it low on public contact and performing for the public.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Appraiser of Personal and Business Property](https://nuecareer.com/careers/appraiser-of-personal-and-business-property) — median $67,960
- [Real Estate Broker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/real-estate-broker) — median $73,220
- [Real Estate Agent](https://nuecareer.com/careers/real-estate-agent) — median $52,830
- [Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/property-real-estate-and-community-association-manager) — median $69,990
- [Government Property Inspector and Investigator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/government-property-inspector-and-investigator) — median $80,730
- [Surveyor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/surveyor) — median $75,440
- [Cost Estimator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cost-estimator) — median $78,740
- [Accountant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/accountant) — median $83,680
- [Loan Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/loan-officer) — median $76,690
- [Insurance Appraiser, Auto Damage](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insurance-appraiser-auto-damage) — median $78,240

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/appraiser-and-assessor-of-real-estate