Real estate license in Illinois: cost, hours and steps

Illinois licenses new agents as brokers, not salespeople, for $208 in fees and 75 hours of pre-license courses.

Each retake is paid again

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Real estate license fees in Illinois

$208

paid to the state and its exam and fingerprint vendors

Application and license$150
Exams$58
Training: 75 pre-licensing course hoursabout 5 weeks
Renewal feenot on the pages read

Real estate broker license (entry-level license; Illinois has no salesperson license). Fees read on official pages, October 20, 2026.

How this is computed
Each fee in Illinois, as the board or its vendor lists it
FeeAmount
Broker license application (IDFPR)$150
Broker examination (PSI)$58

Compiled by Radif Partners · How the totals are built · Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Real Estate · read October 20, 2026

The entry-level real estate license in Illinois is a broker license; the state does not issue a salesperson license. Its fees total $208: $150 for the broker license application to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) and $58 for the PSI broker examination. That ties Illinois with Minnesota close to the median of $203 for the 20 states priced here, with 10 states cheaper. Education comes in two courses before the exam, 75 hours in all: Broker Pre-License Topics and the shorter Applied Real Estate Principles course, which is interactive. A post-license program of forty-five hours follows before the first renewal. Applicants must be at least 18. Licenses renew every 2 years with 12 hours of continuing education; the renewal fee itself was not on the official pages read, so it is not shown here.

Broker is the starting title

Illinois has no salesperson license. Its single entry-level credential is the broker license, so a newcomer applies as a broker from the start. Searches for an Illinois salesperson license lead to the same credential described here, issued by the IDFPR Division of Real Estate, and the fees and hours below are those of that broker license.

Education first, and it expires

The pre-license requirement is split in two: Broker Pre-License Topics, sixty hours, and Broker Pre-License Applied Real Estate Principles, fifteen hours taken in an interactive format. Completed education is valid for two years, so the exam and the application have to happen within that time. At 15 hours a week the 75 hours take about 5 weeks.

Illinois pre-license hours at your pace

Real estate training in Illinois

5 weeks

Required hours75
Months at that pace1.2
First-license fees$208
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The two fees

PSI administers the broker examination for $58 per attempt. Its bulletin adds a condition worth knowing: an exam fee paid but not used within one year is forfeited, so book only when you are ready to sit. After passing, the broker license application costs $150, per the IDFPR Division of Real Estate brochure. No fingerprint requirement appeared in the IDFPR and PSI documents read, so no fingerprint fee is counted, unlike neighboring Indiana, whose total is also built from two fees.

After the license

The first renewal comes with a heavier education load than later ones: a forty-five-hour post-license program must be completed before it. After that, the IDFPR's 2026 continuing education fact sheet sets 12 hours per renewal, made of a six-hour core course and six hours of electives. Renewals fall due every 2 years, with the deadline in April of even-numbered years. The fee for renewing a broker license is set in the Illinois Administrative Code, which could not be read, so this page does not state it and the calculator counts no renewal cost for Illinois. The renewal comparison shows the states where that fee is known.

Every real estate fee in Illinois, with its source

Real estate broker license (entry-level license; Illinois has no salesperson license). Pages read on October 20, 2026.
FeeAmountIn the totalRead on
Broker license application (IDFPR)$150countedsource
Broker examination (PSI)$58 per attemptcountedsource
RenewalValue
Cycleevery 2 years
Feenot read on an official page
Continuing education12 hours per cycle
Required training75 pre-licensing course hours. Broker Pre-License Topics (60 hours) + Broker Pre-License Applied Real Estate Principles-Interactive (15 hours); 45 hours post-license before first renewal.

Questions applicants ask

Is there a real estate salesperson license in Illinois?

No. Illinois issues an entry-level broker license instead, and every new agent applies for it. The fees are $150 for the IDFPR application and $58 for the PSI broker exam, after 75 hours of pre-license courses. The license is issued by the IDFPR Division of Real Estate.

How long is Illinois real estate pre-license education valid?

Two years after completion. Within that time you need to pass the PSI broker exam and file the $150 license application with the IDFPR. PSI also forfeits an exam fee that is not used to test within one year of payment, so the $58 is lost if you wait too long to sit.

What continuing education does an Illinois real estate broker need?

Before the first renewal, a forty-five-hour post-license program. For later renewals, every 2 years, the IDFPR 2026 fact sheet lists 12 hours: a six-hour core course and six hours of electives. The renewal fee was not on the official pages that could be read for this site.

Next steps

Real estate license

Course hours, exam, application and fingerprints for a sales license, state by state.

Time to get licensed

Required training hours for ten licenses in every state priced, turned into weeks at the pace you choose.

Real estate license in Indiana

Indiana is one of the cheapest states to enter real estate: $115 in fees for an entry-level broker license.

Real estate license in Minnesota

Minnesota builds its $208 entry cost from four separate charges, two of them set by statute outside the license fee.

Board pages and handbooks behind this page

Compiled by

Independent publisher of occupational license fee tables compiled from state licensing boards and their official exam vendors

Fees checked on · Editorial policy · Contact

Totals add the fees that each state board and its official exam and fingerprint vendors publish. School tuition is yours to enter, since no board sets it. A board can change a fee at any time; the amount on its own page wins over ours.

Fee schedules of 2026, board pages last read on