How much do loan officers make in 2026?
Loan officers earn a national median of $76,690 a year, or $36.87 an hour, according to BLS OEWS May 2025 for SOC 13-2072, with the bottom 10% near $39,430 and the top 10% at $153,180 across 274,330 loan officers. The code is an exact match, but the number needs a structural caveat that matters more here than in most occupations. A large share of loan officer compensation is commission paid on loans that actually fund, which means annual earnings depend on origination volume, and origination volume depends heavily on interest rates and housing activity rather than on individual effort. The same officer can sit near the 25th percentile in a high-rate year and near the 75th in a refinance wave. OEWS reports wages as employers submit them, so commission is included where it is paid through payroll, but a single-year median cannot express that cyclicality. Within the occupation, the durable differentiators are channel and referral network: commercial and business lending officers are typically more salary-weighted and steadier, consumer mortgage origination is the most commission-dependent, and officers with established realtor, builder or business banking relationships earn well above those working assigned leads. BLS projects 1.7% growth through 2034 with roughly 20,300 openings a year. → Full loan officer career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $76,690 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Loan Officers earn a national median $76,690/yr ($36.87/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-2072); the P10 to P90 range is $39,430 to $153,180.
- Most loan officer compensation is commission on funded volume, so earnings track the interest rate and housing cycle at least as much as they track individual performance.
- Channel sets the risk profile: commercial and business lending is more salary-weighted and steadier, while consumer mortgage origination is the most cyclical part of this band.
- Mortgage loan originators must be licensed or registered through the NMLS, with SAFE Act testing, background and credit checks and annual continuing education.
US Loan Officer Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do loan officers earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 13-2072; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-2072, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a loan officer earn at each career stage?
Loan officer pay follows funded volume and the quality of the referral network behind it. Each median below is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 13-2072.
By State
Which states pay loan officers the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates, not BLS state observations: the national median for SOC 13-2072 scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index. Loan officer earnings depend on local property values and transaction volume, because commission is a percentage of loan amount, so a high-priced housing market lifts income for reasons this general wage index does not capture. Licensing is also state by state through the NMLS.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($88,190), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
loan officer pay by state — all 3 state guides
By Metro
Which cities pay loan officers the most?
Metro figures are modeled, national median times state wage index times published metro index, not BLS metropolitan observations. In mortgage lending specifically, the loan size in a metro drives commission income directly, which is a stronger effect than the general cost adjustment shown here.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a loan officer’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does loan officer pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Loan Officers sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify loan officer wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a loan officer actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Loan Officer Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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