Loan Officer Salaries

For many consumers, a loan is so much more than a business arrangement. It can mean the achievement of lifelong dreams such as owning a house, starting a business or getting an advanced education. A loan officer carries a lot of the responsibility for keeping our lending system running smoothly. He or she has a responsibility to consumers - finding the loans that will be the best fit for them - and also to lending institutions, ensuring that those who receive loans are qualified and capable of paying them back. Getting a loan can be a confusing and stressful time for consumers, but a skillful and confident loan officer can alleviate much of the stress involved. Many of the factors that affect loans, such as location and industry, also affect loan officer salaries, so it stands to reason that regular loan officer salary research should be an important part of any loan officer's career.

Loan Officer Salary Data

If you're a loan officer and thinking about relocating, you may be interested in the Loan Officer Salary by City chart. It shows a big difference in median loan officer salaries between cities such as Los Angeles and Dallas. Of course, cost of living can be wildly different from city to city. Check out PayScale's Cost of Living calculator to compare Cost of Living and Loan Officer Salary Data in Los Angeles, Dallas and other cities. Between Los Angeles and Dallas, you'll find a whopping 72 percent difference in the cost of housing.

Measuring Loan Officer Salary by Industry, we can see that mortgage brokers currently offer the highest loan officer average salary. In some states, loan officers need special certification to work for mortgage brokers, which could contribute to high loan officer salaries in that industry. As with most careers, a loan officer salary tends to be higher for those with a graduate degree. See the Loan Officer Salary by Degree report to see how an advanced degree could affect your salary. No specific degree is required to become a loan officer, although many institutions will be on the lookout for degrees in finance or economics. There are certainly more than a few successful loan officers who have started from the bottom and worked their way up, learning as they go. The more experience a loan officer has, the higher the loan officer's salary; the Loan Officer Salary by Years of Experience chart shows a direct relationship between experience and salary.

Loan Officer Average Salary

If you've got a loan officer's keen attention to detail, chances are you've noticed that PayScale measures median loan officer salaries rather than a loan officer average salary. To find out why, "what is the median loan officer salary" is a better question than, "what is a loan officer's average salary," read "Why is Median Better than Mean for a Typical Salary?" by PayScale's own Dr. Salary.