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Personal Financial Advisors salary in California

SOC 13-2052 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median
$130,330
per year in California
Middle half
$83,860–$195,420
25th to 75th percentile
Employed
32,200
in California
Concentration
1.03×
share of workforce vs. U.S.

How local pay compares

California
$130,330
published median
United States
$105,070
24.0% above the national median
Rank among states and DC
3rd
49 with a published estimate

After local prices: the $130,330 median has purchasing power comparable to about $117,711 nationally. California's BEA regional price parity is 110.7 (2024).

What the local range looks like

The wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the darker section is the middle half, and the tick is the median for California.

$67,690$393,860

Getting in

Typical education to enter
Bachelor's degree
Related work experience
None
On-the-job training
Long-term on-the-job training

Narrow to a metro in California

Every linked area below has a published estimate for personal financial advisors. Missing areas were withheld by BLS rather than measured at zero.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#Metro areaMedianCost of livingEmployedConcentrationvs. national
1San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$160,610115.67,1301.75×
2San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$136,820110.41,5300.78×
3San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$130,330111.93,0101.14×
4Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA$127,950106.71,2600.68×
5Napa, CA$127,240112.61000.75×
6Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA$124,490113.613,9801.30×
7Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA$124,380108.82100.62×
8Visalia, CA$123,92099.8800.26×
9Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA$122,170109.9800.46×
10Vallejo, CA$120,470108.5700.30×
11Bakersfield-Delano, CA$111,580100.9800.14×
12Modesto, CA$105,080104.11100.34×
13Salinas, CA$104,430109.01100.33×
14Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA$103,680107.81900.53×
15Fresno, CA$100,240102.22000.25×
16Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA$98,260110.53900.70×
17Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA$96,100106.48300.28×
18Stockton-Lodi, CA$95,840105.11100.21×
19Redding, CA$93,680100.7500.38×
20San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA$91,340108.61200.56×
21Chico, CA$88,600101.2600.41×

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.

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