Personal Financial Advisors
SOC 13-2052 · 2024-2034
Advise clients on financial plans using knowledge of tax and investment strategies, securities, insurance, pension plans, and real estate. Duties include assessing clients' assets, liabilities, cash flow, insurance coverage, tax status, and financial objectives. May also buy and sell financial assets for clients.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $132,516per year
- Projected openings
- 28,210
- Projected change
- +9.4%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Mathematics
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $162,063 | 5,880 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $139,482 | 450 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $135,608 | 1,410 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $130,781 | 2,830 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $130,750 | 210 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $129,039 | 990 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $128,876 | 110 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $128,825 | 1,980 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $125,617 | 320 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $125,044 | 3,700 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $122,101 | 6,900 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $120,636 | 90 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $118,996 | 30 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $118,996 | 120 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $111,469 | 70 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $107,965 | 190 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $107,538 | 140 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $107,242 | 110 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $104,390 | 90 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $101,956 | 70 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $99,389 | 90 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $98,636 | 960 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $97,698 | 270 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $96,751 | 70 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $95,183 | 70 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $93,797 | 20 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $92,952 | 160 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $68,826
- A quarter earn under
- $85,267
- Half earn under
- $132,516
- Three quarters earn under
- $198,698
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $400,468
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial and Investment Analysts | $110,940 | 34,410 | +7.4% |
| Credit Counselors | $68,246 | 1,690 | +4.2% |
| Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents | $80,456 | 41,030 | -1% |
| Financial Managers | $183,803 | 84,770 | +16.3% |
| Financial Risk Specialists | $131,276 | 4,780 | +6.7% |
| Loan Officers | $83,142 | 16,320 | -2.6% |
Programs that train for this job — 3
Personal Financial Planning Certificate (Hybrid)
UCLA Extension · Los Angeles · $9,240
Personal Financial Planning (Online)
UC Irvine Continuing Education · Irvine · $8,375
Personal Finance Certificate of Career Preparation
Palo Verde College · Blythe · $1,494