Almost every article about the real estate exam describes “the” exam: two portions, a national half and a state half, pass at 70%. That description is wrong in most of the states we serve. We pulled the published structure for all 7 and put them in one table — something you otherwise only get by reading 7 separate candidate handbooks.
7
States compared
70% / 72% / 73% / 75%
Distinct pass marks in use
3
Testing vendors
2
States with no national/state split
Key findings
- There is no single pass mark. The states here use 70%, 72%, 73%, 75% — and because the portions are scored independently, a 75% state is materially harder than a 70% one at the same level of knowledge.
- California and Florida do not split national from state law at all.One combined exam, one score, one pass mark. Advice built around “retake just the portion you failed” simply doesn't apply there — fail, and you retake everything.
- Time per question varies by 75%. Florida gives you about 126 seconds per scored item; California gives 72. If you practise untimed, you are training for the wrong exam.
- The vendor changes the outline, not just the booking screen.Pearson VUE's national portion is 8 content areas over 80 scored items; PSI's is 11 areas over 100. Same body of law, cut into different buckets — so a study plan organised by Pearson's areas leaves gaps in a PSI state.
The exams, side by side
| State | Vendor | Scored items | Pass mark | Minutes | Sec/item |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | California DRE | 150 | 105/150 (70%) | 180 | 72s |
| North Carolina | Pearson VUE | 80 + 60 | 58/80 (73%) · 43/60 (72%) | 210 | 90s |
| Washington | PSI | 100 + 30 | 70/100 (70%) · 21/30 (70%) | 210 | 97s |
| Texas | Pearson VUE | 80 + 40 | 56/80 (70%) · 28/40 (70%) | 240 | 120s |
| Pennsylvania | Pearson VUE | 80 + 40 | 60/80 (75%) · 30/40 (75%) | 210 | 105s |
| Nevada | Pearson VUE | 80 + 40 | 60/80 (75%) · 30/40 (75%) | 240 | 120s |
| Florida | Pearson VUE | 100 | 75/100 (75%) | 210 | 126s |
Scored items exclude unscored pretest questions, which most states add on top. Washington is the one state here where the per-portion timing is our allocation rather than the vendor's: PSI publishes a single limit for the whole exam.
Why the split matters more than the total
Two independently scored portions is not the same as one exam of the same length. You have to clear the bar twice, and a strong national score cannot rescue a weak state-law score. That's the arithmetic behind the pattern we see in score reports: candidates who fail usually failed one portion, usually the state one, often while comfortably passing the other.
It cuts the other way on a retake. In every two-portion state here, a passed portion stands — you rebook only the half you lost. In California and Florida, there is no such credit.