How many questions are on the California real estate salesperson exam?

150 multiple choice questions with four answer choices, in three hours. The broker exam is 200 questions in four hours.

What score do you need to pass the California real estate exam?

70 percent of the questions for the salesperson exam and 75 percent for the broker exam, per the DRE.

Does California have a separate national and state exam?

No. California gives one combined exam built to a single DRE content outline, so there is no national portion to sit separately or carry in from another state.

How much does the California salesperson exam cost?

The examination fee is $100, and a re-examination is also $100. The original salesperson license fee is a separate $350.

Is this the official California exam?

No. These are original practice questions written for study, and this site is not a state-approved pre-licensing course. The exam is administered by the California Department of Real Estate.

California real estate exam

California is one of the states that does not split its exam into a national portion and a state portion. There is one exam, the DRE writes and delivers it, and its content outline mixes general real estate practice with California law throughout.

The exam

One combined exam rather than a national portion plus a state portion. That is worth knowing before you buy study material: a national-only question bank covers most of the ground but none of the California-specific weighting, and the largest content area on the DRE outline — practice and disclosures at roughly a quarter of the exam — is the one most stuffed with California-specific rules.

Exam	Items	Time	To pass
Salesperson	150	180 min	70% correct
Broker	200	240 min	75% correct

Delivered by the DRE itself. Every figure here comes from the documents listed at the foot of this page, with the date each was read.

Requirements and fees

Minimum age: 18 to be issued a license
Qualifying education: Three college-level courses, each at least 45 hours; Real Estate Principles and Real Estate Practice are both required; the third is an elective from a published list that includes Real Estate Appraisal, Property Management and Real Estate Finance.
Question format: Multiple choice, four answer choices
Salesperson exam fee: $100 (same for a re-examination)
Salesperson original license fee: $350
Broker exam fee: $150
Broker original license fee: $450
Rescheduling fee: $40 salesperson, $45 broker; Charged for a first rescheduled exam and for each one after it.
Calculator: Allowed, with conditions; Silent, battery-operated, pocket-sized, non-programmable, no print-out and no alphabetic keyboard. Written work goes on paper the Department supplies.

Practice the material this exam is built on

These questions cover the general real estate principles every state tests — the eight content areas of the national outline. They do not cover California statute and commission rule, which no national bank does; for that, the state’s own published material is the source.

California — general practice Question 1 of 10

Land is deeded "to the city so long as it is used as a public park." If the city builds offices on it, title:

What the California exam is weighted toward

The DRE publishes the salesperson exam as seven content areas with an approximate percentage each. The two largest are worth reading twice, because they are not the ones most candidates over-study: practice of real estate and disclosures is roughly a quarter of the exam on its own, and agency and fiduciary duties is another seventeen percent. Together that is more than four items in ten.

Financing is nine percent and transfer of property is eight. Those are the areas where a week of extra study buys the least, which is a useful thing to know in the last week.

How the DRE reports a result

California reports a percentage and sets the line at 70 percent for the salesperson exam and 75 percent for the broker exam. Both figures are the DRE’s own and they are fixed — unlike the score conversions in states that publish a raw number of correct answers, there is nothing to convert here.

Frequently asked

How many questions are on the California real estate salesperson exam?: 150 multiple choice questions with four answer choices, in three hours. The broker exam is 200 questions in four hours.
What score do you need to pass the California real estate exam?: 70 percent of the questions for the salesperson exam and 75 percent for the broker exam, per the DRE.
Does California have a separate national and state exam?: No. California gives one combined exam built to a single DRE content outline, so there is no national portion to sit separately or carry in from another state.
How much does the California salesperson exam cost?: The examination fee is $100, and a re-examination is also $100. The original salesperson license fee is a separate $350.
Is this the official California exam?: No. These are original practice questions written for study, and this site is not a state-approved pre-licensing course. The exam is administered by the California Department of Real Estate.

Other states

Texas National practice test

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, with the date it was read. Requirements change; if a source has moved on since that date, the source is right and this page is out of date.

California DRE — Taking the Exam Read August 22, 2026
California DRE — Salesperson Examination Content Read August 22, 2026
California DRE — Requirements to Apply for the Salesperson Exam Read August 22, 2026
California DRE — Fees Read August 22, 2026

Page facts last verified August 22, 2026.

Independent exam preparation. Real Estate Exam Bank is not a state-approved pre-licensing course and completing anything here does not satisfy any state education requirement. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by any state real estate commission, Pearson VUE, or PSI. Practice questions here are original study material, not the official exam.