How much do real Estate Photographers make in 2021?
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How Much Do Real Estate Photographers Make? Roughly $50,000/Year.
Good news everyone! Professional Real Estate Photography is a very lucrative market and, if you play your cards right, you can carve out a piece of the market for yourself.
Depending on where you live and work, $50,000 might be a lot of money or very little. The best Real Estate Photographers in the U.S. can pull in six-figures pretty easily and almost all of them live and work in the largest cities. It’s up to you how far you want to expand and how much time you want to dedicate to your business.
How Much Do Real Estate Photographers Make In Your City?
Check out ZipRecruiter, GlassDoor, and Salary.com to potentially find out about incomes for your specific market. You might have to do some digging, but if you live in a relatively large city, you might be able to see the average yearly income.
If you don’t live in an especially large city and you are looking for a more definite number, you can also try to find Real Estate Photographer incomes from other cities that are a similar size and demographic to your own. A neighboring city is a good place to start looking, but generally speaking, salary and population size should go hand-in-hand.
The final variable to consider is the state of the real estate market. If homes aren’t selling, then there won’t be a lot of new real estate photography jobs. Likewise, if homes are flying off the market, you’ll probably be making a bit more money than normal.
Also, you can use out Real Estate Photography Pricing Calculator to get a good idea of what you can charge based on your market and skill level.
Your Market Determines the Price
I personally enjoy my downtime, so I don’t work more than 40 hours any week. I also don’t want the headache of having an employee, so besides sometimes using a professional photo editor or an assistant on really large jobs, I’m the only member of my real estate photography business.
I live and work in a mid-sized U.S. city and I personally make just over $45k per year. I absolutely could increase my income if I were to work 50 hours a week or hire another photographer, but like I said before, I enjoy my downtime and choose that over a higher income.
You’ll figure out how much you can make pretty quickly. If you want to hustle your ass off and use a photo editor, you could easily photograph 1000 homes in a year. Obviously this can only happen when your business is up and running and you’re generating new clients.
1000 jobs in a year sounds crazy to me, but it’s not all that uncommon. I personally choose less shoots that are of a higher quality, which allows me to charge a bit more than is normal in my market.
Additional Resources
Now that we’ve answered “How much do real estate photographers make?” and you’ve gotten a good sense, head over to our Beginners Guide and get started! You will see tons of tips and tricks that is sure to help all beginner real estate photographers.
Also, check out our Business Resources to make sure your real estate photography business starts out on the right foot. You will find free templates to help you with contacting, landing, and getting paid by future clients and marketing advice that will help get your business name in front of professionals in the real estate industry.
Finally, check out our Gear page for reviews and recommendations of all the latest real estate photography gear on the market.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is real estate photography proftiable?
Yes, absolutely. With the growing need for professional looking, quality digital content in the real estate industry, the demand for professional real estate photography is only continuing to grow.
How much do real estate photographers make per shoot?
The answer depends on where you work and what services you offer, but generally speaking a real estate photographer can make anywhere between $100 – $500 per shoot.