Short answer
The Atlanta metro area has 9,401 real estate establishments with paid employees, employing 44,424 people (Census, 2023): 4,483 brokerage offices, 2,545 lessors, 1,548 property managers and smaller numbers of appraisers and other services. Georgia had 118,387 real estate licensees at the end of fiscal 2025. The largest public real estate companies headquartered here are Americold Realty Trust, Cousins Properties and Piedmont Realty Trust.
- Brokerage offices are 47.7% of Atlanta's real estate establishments, but 94% of them have fewer than five employees.
- Residential property managers average 11.7 employees per office, the most of any real estate type in the metro.
- Fulton County has 2,946 establishments and 22,888 jobs, more than half the metro's real estate employment.
- Georgia's real estate licensee population reached 118,387 in fiscal 2025, up 1,270 in a year.
- Georgia's transfer tax is $1 per $1,000 of price, and the seller is liable unless the contract shifts it.
On this page
The results for "real estate companies in Atlanta" mix residential brokerages and agent directories with commercial firms leasing office and retail space, so searchers are a blend of home buyers and sellers, tenants and investors, and people looking for an employer. This page sorts the market into those parts with Census and state data, names the public companies headquartered here from their filings, and gives each reader the checks to run before signing with a firm.
Atlanta real estate by the numbers
County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, real estate (NAICS 531), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area (CBSA 12060):
| Measure (2023) | Atlanta metro |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 9,401 |
| Employees | 44,424 |
| Annual payroll | $3,619,644,000 |
| Employees per establishment | 4.7 |
| Average annual pay | $81,479 |
| Share of US real estate establishments | 2.27% of 414,824 |
| Employees | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 7,836 |
| 5 to 9 | 974 |
| 10 to 19 | 339 |
| 20 to 49 | 132 |
| 50 to 99 | 64 |
| 100 to 249 | 39 |
| 250 to 499 | 7 |
| 500 to 999 | 9 |
| 1,000 or more | 1 |
| County | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Fulton | 2,946 | 22,888 |
| Gwinnett | 1,339 | 3,793 |
| Cobb | 1,310 | 6,818 |
| DeKalb | 1,207 | 4,707 |
| Forsyth | 435 | 1,005 |
| Cherokee | 389 | 751 |
Gwinnett has more establishments than Cobb but just over half the jobs (3,793 against 6,818), while Fulton's average is 7.8 employees per establishment.
CBP counts establishments with paid employees, not companies; a brokerage with branches counts once per office, and agents working alone aren't counted.
Types of real estate company in Atlanta
| Type (NAICS 2017 code) | Establishments | Employees | Employees per office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agents and brokers (531210) | 4,483 | 10,234 | 2.3 |
| Lessors: landlords, equity REITs, self-storage (5311) | 2,545 | 15,120 | 5.9 |
| Residential property managers (531311) | 1,144 | 13,382 | 11.7 |
| Other services: escrow, listing services (531390) | 550 | 1,351 | 2.5 |
| Nonresidential property managers (531312) | 404 | 3,541 | 8.8 |
| Appraisers (531320) | 275 | 796 | 2.9 |
The residential managers stand out: 5 of them have 500 to 999 employees and 4 more have 250 to 499. Builders and developers aren't in this table (the Census Bureau classifies them in construction), and nor are mortgage REITs (finance). For the right code for a firm, see the NAICS code for property management.
Public real estate companies headquartered in Atlanta
SEC-registered listed companies with real estate codes and an Atlanta-area business address, checked against each latest Form 10-K:
| Company | What it does | Headquarters | 2025 revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Americold Realty Trust | Temperature-controlled warehouse REIT | 10 Glenlake Parkway | $2,601.8 million |
| Cousins Properties | Sun Belt office REIT | 3344 Peachtree Road NE | $993.8 million |
| Piedmont Realty Trust | Office REIT | 5565 Glenridge Connector | $565.0 million |
| Invesco Mortgage Capital | Mortgage REIT | 1331 Spring Street NW | $295.3 million (interest income) |
| Angel Oak Mortgage REIT | Mortgage REIT | 980 Hammond Drive | $143.7 million (interest income) |
| Regional Health Properties | Healthcare facility owner and operator | 1050 Crown Pointe Parkway | $53.2 million |
Americold is also a major employer, with about 12,690 people worldwide at the end of 2025; Piedmont reported 140, about a third of them at its Atlanta office. The mortgage REITs report interest income instead of rent. For the national list, see the biggest real estate companies in the US.
Georgia licensing and how to check a firm
The Georgia Real Estate Commission (GREC) licenses salespersons, brokers and community association managers. Its fiscal 2025 annual report counts a real estate licensee population of 118,387, up 1,270 from fiscal 2024, and 4,099 appraisers under the separate appraisers board.
Before you sign with an Atlanta firm:
- Search GREC's licence database. It has separate searches for a real estate agent and for a company, by name, licence number, city or firm name.
- Match the agent to the firm. The agent's licence should be held under the brokerage you're signing with.
- For an HOA or condo manager, confirm the community association manager licence. GREC says a CAM licence is activated with a sponsoring broker, so ask which broker.
- For a rental manager, ask how rents and deposits are held, how often owners are paid, and how maintenance is approved and billed.
- For commercial space, ask the broker whether they represent tenants only or also landlords in the buildings they'll show you.
Selling a home in metro Atlanta
- Budget the transfer tax. Georgia's tax is $1 for the first $1,000 of price and 10 cents for each additional $100. On a $400,000 sale that's $1 + $399 = $400. The Department of Revenue says the seller is liable, though contracts often shift it to the buyer.
- Negotiate the listing. Since 17 August 2024, sellers' agents can't advertise buyer-agent compensation on a Realtor MLS, and buyers sign their own agreements before touring. The National Association of Realtors' settlement notes say compensation is "not set by law and is fully negotiable."
- Compare two or three agents on recent sales in your subdivision and how they'll market the home; check each on GREC first.
Prospecting Atlanta real estate companies
The large residential managers are the concentrated opportunity: a few hundred accounts employ most of the industry's field staff.
| Segment | Accounts | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| Residential managers with 10 or more employees | 163 | Operations and maintenance directors, procurement at the largest |
| Nonresidential managers with 10 or more employees | 64 | Property and regional managers |
| Brokerage offices with 10 or more employees | 121 | Broker-owners; see selling to real estate agents |
Counts add the published size classes only; the Census Bureau withholds some of the largest classes for each type.
Illustrative example. The company, rates and results are invented.
Peachline Turns (peachline.example) paints and refloors homes between tenants. It targets the 163 residential managers with 10 or more employees and reaches two people at each, the maintenance director and a regional manager: 326 contacts. A 4% reply rate gives about 13 conversations; if one in four tries a pilot batch of homes, that's 3 accounts, each worth dozens of turns a year. Bebop finds managers like these and writes a playbook for each.
Hi [first name], I saw [company] manages homes across [county] and [county]. We handle paint and flooring on tenant turns in five days, with photos before and after. If turn times are on your list this quarter, I'd be glad to share what we did for a manager your size.
Sources
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| GREC licence search | Agents, companies and instructors by name, number or city |
| GREC annual reports | Licensee population and complaint counts by year |
| Georgia REALTORS | The state Realtor association |
| FMLS | A Georgia MLS with public home search |
| Metro Atlanta Chamber | Regional business and economic development |
For every industry in the metro, see companies in Atlanta.
Next step: turn the accounts you want into a named list with how to build a prospect list.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Annual Report FY25, Georgia Real Estate Commission, accessed 30 October 2026
- Obtaining a license: real estate, Georgia Real Estate Commission, accessed 31 October 2026
- Licence search, Georgia Real Estate Commission, accessed 31 October 2026
- Real Estate Transfer Tax, Georgia Department of Revenue, accessed 31 October 2026
- NAR Settlement FAQs, National Association of Realtors, accessed 30 October 2026
- Americold Realty Trust, Form 10-K for 2025, SEC EDGAR, 26 February 2026
- Cousins Properties, Form 10-K for 2025, SEC EDGAR, 5 February 2026
- Piedmont Realty Trust, Form 10-K for 2025, SEC EDGAR, 17 February 2026
- Invesco Mortgage Capital, Form 10-K for 2025, SEC EDGAR, 23 February 2026
- Angel Oak Mortgage REIT, Form 10-K for 2025, SEC EDGAR, 3 March 2026
- Regional Health Properties, Form 10-K for 2025, SEC EDGAR, 2 April 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
What are the biggest real estate companies in Atlanta?
By 2025 revenue in their 10-K filings, the largest public real estate companies headquartered in metro Atlanta are Americold Realty Trust ($2.60 billion), Cousins Properties ($993.8 million) and Piedmont Realty Trust ($565.0 million). Large private brokerages and rental managers don't publish comparable figures, so they can't be ranked the same way.
How many real estate companies are in Atlanta?
Census County Business Patterns counted 9,401 real estate establishments with paid employees in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro area in 2023, employing 44,424 people. That includes 4,483 brokerage offices and 1,548 property managers. It counts offices, not companies, and leaves out agents and landlords with no employees.
How many real estate agents are in Georgia?
The Georgia Real Estate Commission's fiscal 2025 annual report puts the real estate licensee population at 118,387, an increase of 1,270 from fiscal 2024. Appraisers are counted separately, at 4,099. For a local count, GREC's licence search can filter agents by city.
How do I check a real estate license in Georgia?
Use the Georgia Real Estate Commission's online search. It has separate searches for a real estate agent and for a company, by last name, licence number, city or firm name. Check that the agent's licence is held under the brokerage you're signing with, and for an HOA manager, check the community association manager licence.
Who pays the transfer tax in Georgia?
The Georgia Department of Revenue says the seller is liable for the real estate transfer tax, though buyers and sellers often agree in the contract that the buyer will pay. The rate is $1 for the first $1,000 of the price and 10 cents for each additional $100, which works out to $400 on a $400,000 sale.