Pay and rates

What financial advisors earn, and what to charge

National and state pay for financial advisors from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025), plus a calculator to turn a wage into an hourly rate for your own business.

Quick answer

Financial advisors in the US earn a median of $50.51 an hour ($105,070 a year), according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data for May 2025. The middle half earn $34.83 to $84.99. Self-employed financial advisors usually bill more, about $116 an hour at the median wage, to cover taxes, overhead, unbilled time, and profit.

Financial advisors pay in the US

Hourly wages for 266,800 employed financial advisors, May 2025.

Hourly pay percentiles for financial advisors in the United States
Lowest 10%25th percentileMedian75th percentileTop 10%
$24.13 $34.83 $50.51 $84.99 $171.65

Turn a wage into a billing rate

Wages above are what employers pay financial advisors. If you work for yourself, your rate also has to cover what an employer would pay for. Change any number to match your business.

Starts at the national median for financial advisors

Self-employment tax, liability insurance, benefits

Hours you can charge for after quotes, travel, and admin

Tools, vehicle, software, marketing

What the business keeps after paying you

Suggested billing rate

$116 per hour

Pay x (1 + taxes) x (1 + overhead) x (1 + profit), divided by billable time. This is an estimate to start from, not a market price.

Use this rate in an estimate

Pay by state

Median hourly pay in the 49 states with published data, highest first.

Hourly pay for financial advisors by state
State Median Middle half Employed
New York $80.00 $49.08 to $135.60 21,550
New Jersey $76.24 $49.48 to $129.48 9,300
California $62.66 $40.32 to $93.95 32,200
Connecticut $62.36 $39.42 to $79.73 N/A
South Dakota $61.89 $48.65 to $98.23 620
Massachusetts $60.42 $40.29 to $84.00 N/A
Delaware $60.12 $35.63 to $77.73 N/A
Oregon $59.05 $36.21 to $77.79 3,070
Illinois $57.75 $35.10 to $84.46 9,760
Wisconsin $57.42 $37.37 to $98.85 5,200
Washington $54.83 $37.36 to $84.12 5,790
Vermont $52.89 $38.25 to $85.49 520
Pennsylvania $50.58 $36.51 to $83.46 12,200
District of Columbia $50.48 $28.27 to $91.34 480
Minnesota $49.36 $32.92 to $80.14 5,280
Virginia $49.35 $35.33 to $96.15 6,340
Kansas $49.29 $36.82 to $84.66 4,150
Georgia $48.78 $31.38 to $93.75 6,830
Florida $48.54 $31.31 to $99.18 21,490
Missouri $48.04 $31.13 to $80.53 4,480
Maryland $48.02 $30.33 to $84.10 5,260
Texas $47.67 $31.11 to $78.53 18,200
Montana $46.85 $36.65 to $63.11 N/A
Arizona $46.61 $28.66 to $71.20 6,430
North Carolina $46.58 $30.38 to $74.02 12,340
New Hampshire $46.53 $31.05 to $64.19 1,850
South Carolina $46.31 $29.22 to $84.71 2,400
Idaho $45.37 $30.33 to $92.70 760
New Mexico $45.32 $35.25 to $88.16 610
Nebraska $44.85 $29.42 to $66.41 2,210
Nevada $44.58 $35.09 to $86.12 1,730
Iowa $44.38 $33.74 to $71.29 1,920
Ohio $43.75 $30.61 to $76.00 7,680
Colorado $42.92 $30.71 to $63.68 6,730
Indiana $42.17 $24.14 to $78.85 5,400
Tennessee $40.46 $28.31 to $80.49 3,970
Rhode Island $38.56 $30.14 to $64.15 1,130
West Virginia $38.47 $25.72 to $63.42 670
Arkansas $38.18 $23.92 to $74.87 1,320
Alaska $37.83 $29.95 to $73.29 N/A
Alabama $37.50 $22.72 to $65.41 2,540
Michigan $37.47 $23.83 to $66.65 6,570
Wyoming $37.26 $27.93 to $66.40 310
Utah $37.21 $29.35 to $56.42 2,520
North Dakota $36.96 $30.61 to $49.46 540
Hawaii $36.57 $25.19 to $60.34 550
Oklahoma $33.02 $26.49 to $49.09 1,140
Kentucky $32.29 $21.74 to $54.98 2,040
Mississippi $30.43 $25.51 to $64.39 790

States are left out when BLS does not publish an estimate for them.

Financial advisors pay FAQ

How much do financial advisors make an hour?

The national median is $50.51 an hour. The lowest-paid 10% earn under $24.13 and the top 10% earn over $171.65. Pay depends on location, experience, and specialty.

Which state pays financial advisors the most?

New York has the highest median at $80.00 an hour, and Mississippi the lowest at $30.43, among the 49 states with published data. Higher-paying states usually have higher living costs too.

How much should a self-employed financial advisor charge per hour?

Start from the pay you want, then add taxes and insurance, overhead, and profit, and divide by the share of hours you can bill. At the median wage and our default assumptions, that comes to about $116 an hour. Use the calculator on this page to plug in your own numbers.

Where does this pay data come from?

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), occupation "Personal Financial Advisors". It covers employees on payrolls, not self-employed workers or business owners.

Source

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 13-2052 "Personal Financial Advisors". Figures are wages for employees and do not include self-employed workers. The billing rate is our estimate using the assumptions in the calculator.

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