Associations

The Associations subsection of the Real Estate Almanac breaks down member-owned, nonprofit Realtor associations at the local, state and national levels by membership size, headquarters and region. 

Association membership is interconnected through a three-way agreement: When agents join a local association — often to access a multiple listing service — they are automatically enrolled at the state and national levels. Due to rising compliance, governance and liability risks, the number of local associations in the US fell from 1,014 in 2024 to 991 as of Dec. 31, 2025; State-level associations held steady at 51. 

In addition to the decline in local associations, and a modest fluctuation in membership at the national level, the Realtor landscape weathered continued fragmentation in 2025 driven by legal, regulatory and policy moves. This has loosened the relationship between the National Association of Realtors and MLSs nationwide.

Federal antitrust investigations and a series of US Justice Department inquiries have shifted legal scrutiny onto NAR’s federated association structure, while amendments to its Clear Cooperation Policy in March have allowed MLSs more flexibility around delayed-marketing options. These changes follow the repeal of cooperative-compensation rules in 2024, further eroding the framework that had tethered state, local and national Realtor associations to a unified MLS model.

T3 Sixty measures associations based on 2025 year-end data and, in 2026, is withholding membership totals for individual organizations due to public-reporting barriers. In place of precise figures, local and state associations are categorized into six membership tiers ranging from Micro to Mega+.