Financial Advisors: Job, Salary, and School Information from The Riley Guide

Job Numbers and Growth

There are about 176,000 financial advisors in the United States. Unemployment for this occupation is very low when compared to other careers.

Part-Time Work and Self-Employment

8% of employees work on a part-time basis. 31% of the time, people working as financial advisors are their own boss.

Training and Education

If you want to pursue this career, you will benefit from having a bachelor's degree. The percentage of employees with a 4 year degree is 81%. According to 2008 data 15% of financial advisors have attended college, but do not have a degree. Among workers, 4% have a high-school diploma, but no college education. Recommended schools are shown in the column to the right; request information from them to help you decide which, if any, could help you with this career.

Area Job Conditions

Jobs for this occupation are most common in Bridgeport (Connecticut), West Palm Beach (Florida), and New York (New York), but are rarer in Stockton (California), El Paso (Texas), and Baton Rouge (Louisiana).

Financial advisors are paid comparatively more in Worcester (Massachusetts), San Francisco (California), and New York (New York) and comparatively less in Tallahassee (Florida), Gulfport (Mississippi), and Pascagoula (Mississippi).

Career Overview Video About Financial Advisors

Financial Advisors: Job and Salary Data by Metropolitan Area

The table below shows data for Financial Advisors, as of 2008. The Popularity in Area number tells you how common jobs for Financial Advisors are in the area, compared to other US metro areas. A value of 1.0 means an average number of people in the position for area population. Lower numbers mean fewer of these positions in the metro area. The most popular areas for Financial Advisors are starred .

State	Area	Positions	Typical Pay	Popularity in Area
Alabama	Birmingham	720	$95,450	1.1
Alabama	Decatur	60	$104,850	1
Alabama	Dothan	30	$76,350	0.5
Alabama	Huntsville	160	$122,180	0.7
Alabama	Mobile	140	$120,950	0.7
Alabama	Montgomery	150	$122,540	0.8
Alabama	Tuscaloosa	50		0.5
Alaska	Anchorage	50		0.3
Arizona	Phoenix	1,680	$67,790	0.7
Arizona	Tucson	240	$63,170	0.5
Arkansas	Fayetteville	80	$84,130	0.3
Arkansas	Fort Smith	90	$69,460	0.7
Arkansas	Little Rock	340	$70,760	0.8
California	Bakersfield	70	$79,440	0.2
California	Chico	40	$69,990	0.5
California	Fresno	170	$68,710	0.4
California	Modesto	120		0.6
California	Napa	70	$96,080	1
California	Oakland	1,430	$74,520	1.1
California	Oxnard	410	$124,080	1.2
California	Riverside	700	$74,840	0.5
California	Sacramento	1,380	$65,460	1.3
California	Salinas	160	$79,750	0.9
California	San Diego	1,540	$73,130	0.9
California	San Francisco	3,900	$139,300	3.2
California	San Jose	1,120	$104,960	1
California	Santa Ana	1,930	$105,540	1
California	Santa Barbara	320	$73,320	1.6
California	Santa Cruz	90	$83,550	0.9
California	Santa Rosa	110	$97,810	0.5
California	Stockton	50	$69,490	0.2
California	Vallejo	30	$72,170	0.2
California	Visalia	50		0.3
Colorado	Boulder	170	$70,670	0.9
Colorado	Colorado Springs	130		0.4
Colorado	Denver	1,390	$111,060	0.9
Colorado	Fort Collins	100	$76,140	0.7
Colorado	Grand Junction	50	$103,430	0.8
Connecticut	Bridgeport	1,730	$122,690	3.3
Connecticut	Danbury	40	$106,060	0.5
Connecticut	Hartford	1,210	$102,720	1.7
Connecticut	New Haven	200	$100,880	0.6
Delaware	Dover	80	$69,680	1.4
Delaware	Wilmington	890	$88,510	2.3
District of Columbia	Washington	2,180	$86,630	0.8
Florida	Cape Coral	280	$61,670	1.1
Florida	Fort Lauderdale	1,500	$93,770	1.7
Florida	Fort Walton Beach	50	$87,470	0.6
Florida	Jacksonville	1,240	$68,660	1.7
Florida	Lakeland	80	$53,950	0.4
Florida	Miami	2,690	$57,940	2.2
Florida	Naples	320	$78,760	2.3
Florida	Ocala	80	$62,180	0.8
Florida	Orlando	1,720	$61,650	1.4
Florida	Palm Bay	280	$50,210	1.2
Florida	Panama City	40		0.5
Florida	Pensacola	160	$49,940	0.9
Florida	Port St Lucie	190	$63,940	1.3
Florida	Punta Gorda	60	$72,740	1.5
Florida	Sarasota	560	$71,480	1.8
Florida	Sebastian	150	$97,730	3
Florida	Tallahassee	530	$40,260	2.8
Florida	Tampa	2,510	$60,520	1.7
Florida	West Palm Beach	2,120	$69,880	3.3
Georgia	Atlanta	3,700	$92,450	1.3
Georgia	Macon	100	$103,460	0.9
Hawaii	Honolulu	280	$62,750	0.5
Idaho	Boise	300	$58,170	0.9
Illinois	Champaign	60	$103,070	0.6
Illinois	Chicago	3,690	$95,690	0.8
Illinois	Peoria	120		0.6
Illinois	Rockford	80	$89,150	0.5
Illinois	Springfield	100	$91,210	0.9
Indiana	Bloomington	70	$90,750	0.9
Indiana	Columbus	30		0.7
Indiana	Evansville	120	$81,520	0.6
Indiana	Fort Wayne	210	$71,160	0.8
Indiana	Gary	160	$87,920	0.5
Indiana	Indianapolis	700	$111,600	0.6
Indiana	South Bend	90	$99,870	0.6
Indiana	Terre Haute	40		0.5
Iowa	Cedar Rapids	50	$92,410	0.3
Iowa	Davenport	100	$62,860	0.5
Iowa	Des Moines	450	$72,750	1.2
Iowa	Sioux City	50	$73,880	0.6
Iowa	Waterloo	70	$56,170	0.7
Kansas	Topeka	90	$79,730	0.7
Kansas	Wichita	170	$65,260	0.5
Kentucky	Lexington	120	$49,640	0.4
Kentucky	Louisville	420	$53,280	0.6
Kentucky	Owensboro	30	$44,460	0.6
Louisiana	Baton Rouge	60	$71,970	0.1
Louisiana	Monroe	40		0.5
Louisiana	New Orleans	300	$70,120	0.5
Maine	Portland	110	$85,810	0.5
Maryland	Baltimore	1,700	$89,210	1.1
Maryland	Bethesda	610	$80,110	0.9
Massachusetts	Barnstable Town	190	$63,440	1.7
Massachusetts	Boston	3,890	$127,910	1.9
Massachusetts	Brockton	50	$50,600	0.5
Massachusetts	Framingham	70	$90,740	0.4
Massachusetts	Lowell	40	$65,620	0.3
Massachusetts	Springfield	210	$94,480	0.6
Massachusetts	Worcester	170	$135,280	0.6
Michigan	Ann Arbor	80	$78,250	0.4
Michigan	Detroit	590	$81,530	0.7
Michigan	Flint	90	$102,720	0.6
Michigan	Grand Rapids	200	$70,800	0.4
Michigan	Kalamazoo	260	$70,260	1.7
Michigan	Lansing	190	$105,260	0.8
Michigan	Monroe	30	$62,740	0.7
Michigan	Niles	30	$105,470	0.4
Michigan	Saginaw	110	$60,880	1.3
Michigan	Warren	1,880	$95,950	1.3
Minnesota	Duluth	60	$46,790	0.4
Minnesota	Minneapolis	1,490	$65,050	0.7
Minnesota	St Cloud	50	$57,860	0.4
Mississippi	Gulfport	40	$39,890	0.3
Mississippi	Jackson	340	$59,130	1.1
Mississippi	Pascagoula	70	$34,940	1.4
Missouri	Columbia	40	$102,890	0.4
Missouri	Jefferson City	40	$98,830	0.5
Missouri	Kansas City	1,010	$81,960	0.8
Missouri	Springfield	270	$81,150	1.2
Missouri	St Louis	1,170	$93,730	0.7
Montana	Billings	120	$57,330	1.3
Nebraska	Lincoln	160	$73,640	0.8
Nebraska	Omaha	370	$55,260	0.7
Nevada	Las Vegas	460	$73,260	0.4
Nevada	Reno	400	$90,740	1.6
New Hampshire	Manchester	120	$94,270	1
New Jersey	Camden	470	$72,970	0.7
New Jersey	Edison	990	$79,740	0.8
New Jersey	Newark	950	$85,760	0.8
New Jersey	Trenton	350	$129,280	1.4
New Mexico	Albuquerque	280	$53,510	0.6
New Mexico	Santa Fe	170	$102,800	2.5
New York	Albany	650	$117,090	1.2
New York	Binghamton	70	$53,200	0.6
New York	Buffalo	640	$77,790	1
New York	Elmira	30	$71,160	0.8
New York	Kingston	40	$58,190	0.6
New York	Nassau	2,110	$112,590	1.4
New York	New York	20,270	$138,680	3.2
New York	Poughkeepsie	140	$126,920	0.5
New York	Rochester	480	$97,410	0.8
New York	Syracuse	280	$85,770	0.8
New York	Utica	80	$117,150	0.5
North Carolina	Asheville	110	$75,760	0.5
North Carolina	Charlotte	2,200	$69,600	2
North Carolina	Durham	560	$68,970	1.7
North Carolina	Fayetteville	30	$70,210	0.2
North Carolina	Greensboro	440	$69,050	1
North Carolina	Greenville	50	$63,130	0.6
North Carolina	Hickory	90	$70,450	0.5
North Carolina	Raleigh	470	$52,840	0.8
North Carolina	Wilmington	40	$56,860	0.2
North Carolina	Winston Salem	270	$67,730	1.1
North Dakota	Fargo	90	$83,160	0.7
Ohio	Akron	280	$86,310	0.7
Ohio	Cincinnati	1,410	$74,510	1.1
Ohio	Cleveland	800	$95,010	0.6
Ohio	Columbus	810	$84,810	0.7
Ohio	Dayton	160	$54,470	0.3
Ohio	Toledo	180	$106,960	0.5
Ohio	Youngstown	100	$75,520	0.4
Oklahoma	Oklahoma City	540	$53,320	0.8
Oklahoma	Tulsa	300	$80,040	0.6
Oregon	Eugene	70	$80,870	0.4
Oregon	Portland	670	$75,690	0.5
Pennsylvania	Allentown	290	$62,150	0.7
Pennsylvania	Altoona	30		0.5
Pennsylvania	Erie	70	$95,790	0.5
Pennsylvania	Harrisburg	80	$53,840	0.2
Pennsylvania	Johnstown	50		0.8
Pennsylvania	Lancaster	230		0.8
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	3,440	$88,460	1.5
Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh	1,700	$80,360	1.2
Pennsylvania	Reading	190	$61,030	1
Pennsylvania	Scranton	270	$76,960	0.9
Pennsylvania	State College	70	$60,700	1.2
Pennsylvania	York	160	$67,020	0.8
Rhode Island	Providence	570	$87,850	0.8
South Carolina	Anderson	40	$57,110	0.6
South Carolina	Charleston	230	$69,170	0.7
South Carolina	Columbia	410	$75,560	1
South Carolina	Florence	60	$53,690	0.6
South Carolina	Greenville	370	$63,510	1
South Carolina	Spartanburg	60	$68,720	0.4
South Dakota	Sioux Falls	80	$74,340	0.5
Tennessee	Chattanooga	120	$102,490	0.4
Tennessee	Knoxville	150	$74,020	0.4
Tennessee	Memphis	290	$102,250	0.4
Tennessee	Nashville	550	$67,050	0.6
Texas	Abilene	50	$67,840	0.7
Texas	Amarillo	80		0.7
Texas	Austin	960	$92,620	1
Texas	Beaumont	40	$59,470	0.2
Texas	Corpus Christi	120	$87,240	0.6
Texas	Dallas	3,000	$109,690	1.2
Texas	El Paso	60	$101,980	0.2
Texas	Fort Worth	960	$92,260	0.9
Texas	Houston	2,430	$92,200	0.8
Texas	Laredo	40	$77,920	0.4
Texas	Mcallen	90	$53,590	0.3
Texas	San Antonio	1,270	$66,190	1.2
Texas	Waco	60	$62,470	0.6
Utah	Provo	110	$80,420	0.6
Utah	Salt Lake City	1,120	$67,340	1.5
Vermont	Burlington	120	$56,250	1
Virginia	Charlottesville	80	$90,800	0.8
Virginia	Lynchburg	110	$90,230	1
Virginia	Richmond	670	$90,080	0.9
Virginia	Roanoke	150	$89,130	0.8
Virginia	Virginia Beach	370	$69,560	0.4
Washington	Kennewick	50	$115,460	0.5
Washington	Olympia	50	$68,920	0.5
Washington	Seattle	970	$92,570	0.6
Wisconsin	Appleton	90	$77,700	0.7
Wisconsin	Green Bay	160	$61,500	0.8
Wisconsin	Janesville	40	$56,580	0.6
Wisconsin	La Crosse	50	$71,020	0.7
Wisconsin	Madison	640	$70,360	1.6
Wisconsin	Milwaukee	1,250	$60,410	1.2
Wisconsin	Oshkosh	90	$99,200	1
Wisconsin	Racine	40		0.5
Wisconsin	Wausau	60	$68,410	0.8
Wyoming	Casper	50		1.3

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Financial Advisors