Direct employment at U.S. real estate investment trusts (REITs) is estimated at 312,000 full-time-equivalent jobs for 2024. When supplier, construction, and related economic activity are included, REITs supported about 3.6 million full-time-equivalent jobs.
Those figures describe employment and wider economic activity, not the number of vacancies available today. No official national database tracks every open REIT position. Listings change daily, employers use different hiring channels, and many roles appear under broader commercial real estate categories.
REIT Jobs at a Glance
| Measure | Estimated number | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Direct REIT employment | 312,000 FTE jobs | People employed by REITs and related REIT operations |
| REIT operations impact | 1.2 million FTE jobs | Direct jobs plus supplier and employee-spending effects |
| Total REIT economic contribution | 3.6 million FTE jobs | Includes operations, construction, maintenance, dividends, and interest-related activity |
| Current advertised vacancies | No authoritative nationwide total | Openings vary by day and depend on the job boards and search terms used |
EY prepared the estimate for Nareit. The report covers public listed, public non-listed, and private REITs in the United States.
What Types of Jobs Are Available in REITs?
REITs hire across investment, finance, property operations, construction, and corporate departments. Common roles include:
- Property manager
- Assistant property manager
- Asset manager
- Acquisitions analyst
- Real estate financial analyst
- Investment analyst
- Portfolio manager
- Leasing manager
- Development manager
- Construction manager
- Facilities manager
- Property accountant
- Financial reporting accountant
- Investor relations associate
- Legal and compliance professional
- Human resources specialist
- Marketing and communications manager
- Information technology and data analyst
- Maintenance and building operations worker
Nareit lists career opportunities in brokerage, investor relations, accounting, architecture, financial analysis, property management, marketing, development, and human resources.
Which Property Sectors Hire REIT Employees?
Job availability depends partly on the type of property a REIT owns or manages. Major sectors include:
- Apartment and multifamily housing
- Industrial and logistics facilities
- Retail centers
- Office buildings
- Healthcare properties
- Hotels
- Self-storage facilities
- Data centers
- Cell towers
- Infrastructure
- Timberland
- Mortgage and commercial finance
A data center REIT may hire infrastructure engineers and energy specialists. An apartment REIT is more likely to hire leasing professionals, property managers, and maintenance teams.
Are the 3.6 Million REIT Jobs Direct Jobs?
No. The 3.6 million figure measures jobs supported by economic activity connected to REITs. It does not mean REIT corporations employed 3.6 million people.
EY's 2024 estimate includes:
- 312,000 direct FTE jobs at REITs and related operations
- 936,000 additional jobs supported by REIT suppliers and employee spending
- 421,000 jobs supported by REIT dividend and interest payments
- 1.9 million jobs supported by construction, renovation, and maintenance activity
Together, these categories total approximately 3.6 million full-time-equivalent jobs.
How Many REIT Vacancies Are Open Right Now?
There is no reliable single national count of current REIT vacancies. Job boards also return different results because a search for "REIT jobs" may include:
- Jobs at REITs
- Jobs at property management companies
- Commercial real estate roles
- Real estate brokerage positions
- Duplicate listings
- Jobs involving real estate investment but not REITs
For current openings, check individual REIT career pages and commercial real estate job networks. Nareit directs job seekers to LinkedIn listings using #reitjobs and to SelectLeaders' commercial real estate job network.
What Does the Broader Real Estate Job Market Show?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate vacancy count for every REIT role. Instead, it reports employment across the wider real estate subsector, which includes some equity REITs as well as real estate managers, brokers, agents, and related businesses.
For 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported employment in the real estate subsector for occupations including:
- 252,840 property, real estate, and community association managers
- 157,630 real estate sales agents
- 86,200 office clerks
- 72,330 general and operations managers
- 50,020 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks
These figures describe the broader real estate subsector. They are not REIT-only employment figures or a count of current vacancies.
Bottom Line
The best available figures are:
- 312,000 direct FTE jobs in U.S. REIT operations in 2024
- About 3.6 million jobs supported by REIT-related economic activity
- No authoritative nationwide count of current REIT vacancies
REIT career opportunities span finance, accounting, acquisitions, asset management, property operations, construction, technology, and corporate administration.