Financial Services · Lending
A mortgage loan officer at a bank registers with NMLS, while the same person at an independent mortgage company needs a state license in every state where they originate, so a move between the two changes your start date. Careerscape runs lending searches across the country with remote recruiters who specialize in financial services, and they check licensing status before you plan a start date.
Licensing map
The SAFE Act treats mortgage loan originators differently depending on the employer. Commercial and consumer lenders who do not originate residential mortgages fall outside it. Not legal advice; confirm with your compliance team and state regulator.
| Employer and loan type | Requirement | What it involves | What to check when hiring |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank, savings association or federally insured credit union; residential mortgages | Federal registration in NMLS | Employees acting as mortgage loan originators register through the NMLS registry. A de minimis exception covers people who originated 5 or fewer residential mortgages in the past 12 months and were never registered or licensed. | Their NMLS ID and registration history; your own character, background and training review under Regulation Z |
| Independent mortgage company or broker; residential mortgages | State MLO license in each state of origination | 20 hours of NMLS-approved pre-licensing education (including federal law, ethics and nontraditional lending), the SAFE MLO Test with a score of 75% or better, background and credit checks, plus any state-specific education | Licensed states, any state-specific gaps, and whether temporary authority applies |
| Any licensed MLO, every year | Annual renewal | 8 hours of NMLS-approved continuing education (federal law, ethics, nontraditional lending and an elective) and renewal before December 31 | That CE is complete and the license is active for the coming year |
| Commercial, SBA, auto or other consumer lending | No NMLS license for the lending itself | Bank policy, credit training and, for SBA loans, the SBA's lending rules | Credit training, loan types closed and familiarity with the current SBA SOP |
State rules vary. Some states add hours of state-specific education, and renewal fees and late penalties differ. BLS notes that mortgage loan officers must renew their licenses annually. Source: Montana Division of Banking: MLO licensing requirements.
Changing employers
Federal law lets qualified originators keep working while a new state license application is pending. Here is the sequence NMLS describes.
The hire must join a state-licensed mortgage company and must have been registered in NMLS continuously for the prior year, or licensed in another state for the 30 days before applying. A break of up to 14 days is allowed.
Temporary authority is not available to anyone who has had an MLO license denied, revoked or suspended, has been subject to a cease-and-desist order, or has a conviction that would bar licensure in that state.
Authority begins when the candidate submits the state license application in NMLS with the required background check information: fingerprints, personal history and credit authorization.
A bank-registered originator may never have taken the SAFE MLO Test or pre-licensing education. If the application is still incomplete 120 days after submission, temporary authority ends.
Temporary authority also ends when the state grants or denies the license, or the candidate withdraws. If the file is complete and the state has not acted by day 120, authority continues until it does.
Specialties
BLS separates commercial, consumer and mortgage loan officers. Within each, employers usually hire for a specific channel or product.
BLS, May 2025
BLS wage figures include commissions, which make up much of a producing loan officer's income. The spread between the 10th percentile ($39,430) and the 90th ($153,180) mostly reflects production, not title.
Middle half of all workers (25th to 75th percentile)
For mortgage originators, Regulation Z bars compensation based on a loan's terms, such as paying more for a higher rate or a prepayment penalty, or on a proxy for those terms. Paying a fixed percentage of the loan amount, or based on overall dollar volume, is allowed, and an originator cannot be paid by both the borrower and another party on the same loan. Commercial and SBA lenders are outside this rule and are often paid salary plus a production bonus. Build the comp plan with compliance before you make offers. Annual pay, all U.S. employers, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), occupation: Loan Officers. Pay by level and city: Loan Officer salary guide.
29 metros
Local figures, covering mortgage, consumer and commercial loan officers. The concentration column is a location quotient: 2.0 means loan officers are twice as common in that metro's workforce as in the country's.
| Market | Jobs | Median pay · vs. U.S. | Concentration |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York City | 10,350 | $101,570+32% | 0.62 |
| Los Angeles | 9,690 | $80,360+5% | 0.88 |
| Dallas | 8,370 | $73,930−4% | 1.17 |
| Phoenix | 8,350 | $61,850−19% | 1.99 |
| Chicago | 7,380 | $80,040+4% | 0.93 |
| Detroit | 7,200 | $76,260−1% | 2.14 |
| Atlanta | 5,550 | $76,340±0% | 1.09 |
| Washington, DC | 5,000 | $97,800+28% | 0.90 |
| Philadelphia | 4,660 | $77,590+1% | 0.91 |
| Miami | 4,190 | $71,510−7% | 0.84 |
| Charlotte | 4,080 | $78,200+2% | 1.70 |
| Minneapolis | 3,910 | $102,200+33% | 1.14 |
| Tampa | 3,850 | $72,220−6% | 1.51 |
| Boston | 3,420 | $103,400+35% | 0.72 |
| Houston | 3,410 | $67,560−12% | 0.59 |
| San Francisco | 3,330 | $103,000+34% | 0.80 |
| Seattle | 3,110 | $83,720+9% | 0.84 |
| Portland | 2,840 | $96,100+25% | 1.33 |
| San Diego | 2,360 | $81,770+7% | 0.87 |
| Denver | 1,970 | $100,130+31% | 0.69 |
| Austin | 1,890 | $59,210−23% | 0.83 |
| Baltimore | 1,810 | $68,470−11% | 0.76 |
| Nashville | 1,770 | $62,800−18% | 0.91 |
| Raleigh-Durham | 1,560 | $77,330+1% | 1.19 |
| Providence | 1,460 | $78,500+2% | 1.16 |
| Pittsburgh | 1,440 | $73,360−4% | 0.73 |
| Hartford | 920 | $83,160+8% | 0.87 |
| Buffalo | 900 | $76,170−1% | 0.96 |
| Albany | 560 | $79,710+4% | 0.71 |
Detroit (2.14) and Phoenix (1.99) have the densest loan officer workforces in our set, with 7,200 and 8,350 jobs. Phoenix also has one of the lowest medians, $61,850. Charlotte (1.7) and Tampa (1.51) are also dense. New York City has the most jobs (10,350) but a low concentration (0.62). Medians top $100,000 in Boston, San Francisco, Minneapolis, New York City and Denver, against $76,690 nationally. Austin has the lowest median, $59,210. If your company is licensed in the states where the role originates and allows remote work, a search can reach across several of these pools. More context is on our financial services industry page. Loan Officers, by metro area, sorted by jobs. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; U.S. median $76,690. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: above 1.0 means the job is a bigger share of local employment than nationally.
Interviews
A loan officer's resume rarely shows how their business was built. These questions do.
Listen for: Named referral sources such as agents, builders, CPAs or past clients, with a rough split. Heavy dependence on company-supplied leads means production may not follow them.
Listen for: Awareness that the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act took effect March 5, 2026, and a plan built on existing relationships, consent-based marketing and referral partners.
Listen for: Specifics on income documentation, appraisal or condition issues, and how they worked with processing and underwriting instead of around them.
Listen for: Familiarity with the SBA's credit elsewhere test, equity injection rules and the credit memo under SOP 50 10 8.1, which took effect October 1, 2026.
Listen for: Honesty about applications in process, non-solicitation terms in their current agreement and how referral partners would react. Treat any estimate of portable volume as a range, not a promise.
Outlook
BLS projects loan officer employment to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, slower than average, as branch closures and automated loan processing hold growth down. About 17,100 openings a year nationally will come mostly from people leaving the occupation, so most hiring means recruiting experienced loan officers away from competitors.
National figures for Loan Officers, as published on O*NET OnLine.
Request talent
Share the loan types, states and licensing you need, and a recruiter who works on lending roles will follow up to scope it.
Looking for a job instead? Submit your resume or browse open jobs.
FAQ
Start with the referral network, not the title. Ask where recent closed loans came from, whether referral partners would follow, and what their current agreement says about soliciting clients. Then check NMLS status and licensed states. A recruiter who specializes in lending can approach producers confidentially, which matters because producers who are not actively looking will not see your posting.
The SAFE Act licensing and registration rules apply to residential mortgage loan originators. A commercial, SBA or consumer lender who does not originate residential mortgages does not need an NMLS license for that work. A bank employee who originates more than five residential mortgages in 12 months must register in NMLS.
If they qualify for temporary authority, yes. The new employer must be a state-licensed mortgage company, and the originator must have been registered for the prior year or licensed in another state for the prior 30 days, with no disqualifying history. Authority starts once the application is filed with the required background information and ends if the application is still incomplete after 120 days.
Name the loan types and channel (retail, consumer direct, builder, commercial or SBA), the licensing requirement and states, the lead sources you provide, and how pay works. For mortgage roles, describe compensation in terms Regulation Z allows. Vague postings attract candidates who expect leads you do not have.
Yes. Search current openings or submit your resume through the job seekers page. Your search stays confidential if you are employed. Have your NMLS ID ready, since employers will ask for it first, and tell your recruiter which states you are licensed in and which loan types you close most often, so roles can be matched to your licensing.
Careerscape runs direct hire and contract lending searches nationally and shares screened candidates through a private Employer Portal. See our loan officer salary guide before you set pay.
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