Personal Financial Advisors salary
SOC 13-2052 · BLS OEWS May 2025
What the range looks like
A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.
- 10th
- $50,190
- 25th
- $72,440
- Median
- $105,070
- 75th
- $176,790
- 90th
- $357,020
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- Bachelor's degree
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.
Where personal financial advisors earn the most
Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | State | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | $166,400 | 107.9 | 21,550 | 1.30× |
| 2 | New Jersey | $158,570 | 108.8 | 9,300 | 1.27× |
| 3 | California | $130,330 | 110.7 | 32,200 | 1.03× |
| 4 | Connecticut | $129,720 | 103.6 | — | — |
| 5 | South Dakota | $128,720 | 88.6 | 620 | 0.79× |
| 6 | Massachusetts | $125,670 | 105.8 | — | — |
| 7 | Delaware | $125,050 | 99.8 | — | — |
| 8 | Oregon | $122,830 | 103.4 | 3,070 | 0.91× |
| 9 | Illinois | $120,130 | 100.0 | 9,760 | 0.93× |
| 10 | Wisconsin | $119,430 | 94.1 | 5,200 | 1.03× |
| 11 | Washington | $114,050 | 107.0 | 5,790 | 0.95× |
| 12 | Vermont | $110,020 | 98.0 | 520 | 1.01× |
| 13 | Pennsylvania | $105,200 | 97.6 | 12,200 | 1.17× |
| 14 | District of Columbia | $104,990 | 109.9 | 480 | 0.40× |
| 15 | Minnesota | $102,660 | 98.6 | 5,280 | 1.04× |
| 16 | Virginia | $102,640 | 101.1 | 6,340 | 0.90× |
| 17 | Kansas | $102,530 | 90.1 | 4,150 | 1.68× |
| 18 | Georgia | $101,450 | 96.3 | 6,830 | 0.81× |
| 19 | Florida | $100,970 | 103.4 | 21,490 | 1.26× |
| 20 | Missouri | $99,930 | 90.8 | 4,480 | 0.89× |
| 21 | Maryland | $99,880 | 105.0 | 5,260 | 1.11× |
| 22 | Texas | $99,160 | 97.1 | 18,200 | 0.75× |
| 23 | Montana | $97,450 | 94.6 | — | — |
| 24 | Arizona | $96,950 | 100.7 | 6,430 | 1.16× |
| 25 | North Carolina | $96,880 | 94.3 | 12,340 | 1.46× |
| 26 | New Hampshire | $96,780 | 104.2 | 1,850 | 1.57× |
| 27 | South Carolina | $96,330 | 93.7 | 2,400 | 0.61× |
| 28 | Idaho | $94,370 | 95.5 | 760 | 0.51× |
| 29 | New Mexico | $94,270 | 92.2 | 610 | 0.41× |
| 30 | Nebraska | $93,280 | 90.1 | 2,210 | 1.26× |
| 31 | Nevada | $92,720 | 100.0 | 1,730 | 0.65× |
| 32 | Iowa | $92,310 | 87.8 | 1,920 | 0.72× |
| 33 | Ohio | $90,990 | 92.8 | 7,680 | 0.81× |
| 34 | Colorado | $89,280 | 103.1 | 6,730 | 1.36× |
| 35 | Indiana | $87,710 | 93.3 | 5,400 | 0.98× |
| 36 | Tennessee | $84,160 | 91.9 | 3,970 | 0.71× |
| 37 | Rhode Island | $80,200 | 102.3 | 1,130 | 1.31× |
| 38 | West Virginia | $80,010 | 89.5 | 670 | 0.56× |
| 39 | Arkansas | $79,420 | 86.9 | 1,320 | 0.59× |
| 40 | Alaska | $78,690 | 102.4 | — | — |
| 41 | Alabama | $77,990 | 88.8 | 2,540 | 0.70× |
| 42 | Michigan | $77,930 | 96.2 | 6,570 | 0.87× |
| 43 | Wyoming | $77,490 | 92.7 | 310 | 0.65× |
| 44 | Utah | $77,390 | 98.9 | 2,520 | 0.85× |
| 45 | North Dakota | $76,870 | 89.0 | 540 | 0.73× |
| 46 | Hawaii | $76,070 | 110.0 | 550 | 0.51× |
| 47 | Oklahoma | $68,670 | 87.8 | 1,140 | 0.39× |
| 48 | Kentucky | $67,150 | 90.2 | 2,040 | 0.60× |
| 49 | Mississippi | $63,300 | 87.0 | 790 | 0.40× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where personal financial advisors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
Best paying metro areas for personal financial advisors
The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | Metro area | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $170,050 | 112.6 | 23,980 | 1.47× |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $160,610 | 115.6 | 7,130 | 1.75× |
| 3 | Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI | $159,990 | 92.5 | 100 | 0.90× |
| 4 | Springfield, IL | $154,370 | 92.7 | 100 | 0.59× |
| 5 | Amherst Town-Northampton, MA | $145,190 | 100.2 | 40 | 0.39× |
| 6 | Bloomington, IL | $141,070 | 93.5 | 60 | 0.41× |
| 7 | Santa Fe, NM | $138,790 | 98.8 | 110 | 1.03× |
| 8 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $136,820 | 110.4 | 1,530 | 0.78× |
| 9 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $135,770 | 106.9 | 2,500 | 3.60× |
| 10 | Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA | $133,900 | 91.1 | 40 | 0.43× |
| 11 | Sheboygan, WI | $133,200 | 94.0 | 50 | 0.44× |
| 12 | Bend, OR | $133,080 | 103.6 | 150 | 0.82× |
| 13 | Great Falls, MT | $131,270 | 96.8 | 60 | 0.92× |
| 14 | Ithaca, NY | $130,940 | 103.3 | 40 | 0.53× |
| 15 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $130,330 | 111.9 | 3,010 | 1.14× |
| 16 | Burlington-South Burlington, VT | $129,940 | 100.9 | 280 | 1.38× |
| 17 | Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ | $129,560 | 98.9 | 140 | 0.48× |
| 18 | Trenton-Princeton, NJ | $129,130 | 103.2 | 1,070 | 2.59× |
| 19 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $127,950 | 106.7 | 1,260 | 0.68× |
| 20 | Springfield, MA | $127,870 | 96.1 | 200 | 0.58× |
| 21 | Fond du Lac, WI | $127,360 | 91.6 | 50 | 0.69× |
| 22 | Napa, CA | $127,240 | 112.6 | 100 | 0.75× |
| 23 | Charlottesville, VA | $126,940 | 99.1 | 200 | 1.04× |
| 24 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $126,530 | 108.3 | — | — |
| 25 | Syracuse, NY | $126,430 | 95.7 | 240 | 0.47× |
| 26 | Macon-Bibb County, GA | $126,390 | 88.5 | 100 | 0.63× |
| 27 | Greensboro-High Point, NC | $126,310 | 92.9 | 580 | 0.93× |
| 28 | Savannah, GA | $126,200 | 95.2 | 210 | 0.61× |
| 29 | Madison, WI | $126,000 | 97.3 | 590 | 0.85× |
| 30 | Pittsfield, MA | $125,900 | 95.1 | 70 | 0.67× |
| 31 | Altoona, PA | $125,820 | 89.5 | 40 | 0.36× |
| 32 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | $125,810 | 96.9 | 2,150 | 1.52× |
| 33 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | $125,700 | 101.0 | — | — |
| 34 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $125,670 | 114.2 | 8,390 | 1.73× |
| 35 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | $124,610 | 99.6 | 680 | 0.88× |
| 36 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | $124,540 | 89.1 | 180 | 0.58× |
| 37 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $124,490 | 113.6 | 13,980 | 1.30× |
| 38 | Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT | $124,490 | 100.4 | 90 | 0.41× |
| 39 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $124,380 | 108.8 | 210 | 0.62× |
| 40 | Visalia, CA | $123,920 | 99.8 | 80 | 0.26× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where personal financial advisors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
Similar occupations
Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.
- Accountants and Auditors$83,680
- Financial and Investment Analysts$102,740
- Loan Officers$76,690
- Financial Specialists, All Other$81,100
- Insurance Underwriters$81,370
- Tax Preparers$54,920
- Financial Examiners$94,160
- Credit Analysts$83,510