Occupation salary profile

Personal Financial Advisors

SOC 13-2052 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

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. Excludes “Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents” (41-3031).

National median · BLS
$105,070
▲ +2.87% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$84,000
▲ +3% YoY · 84 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$156,670
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
266,800
Jobs (BLS)
Highest-paying state (cost-adjusted) Loading…
Most jobs Loading…
Highest-paying metro (cost-adjusted) Loading…

Check your salary

Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Personal Financial Advisors

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 84 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$50,190$57,200
25th$72,440$65,796
Median (50th)$105,070$84,000
75th$176,790$144,000
90th — top pay$357,020$224,500
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $84,000 for Personal Financial Advisors — 20.1% below the BLS national median of $105,070.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

Type in either box; the other updates instantly.

Monthly—
Every 2 weeks—
Weekly—
Daily—
Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Personal Financial Advisors

BLS projects employment of personal financial advisors to grow 1.4% from 2025 to 2035, slower than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 17,100 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
299,400 → 303,500
+4,100 jobs
Projected change
+1.4%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
17,100
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
No related experience required
On-the-job training
Long-term on-the-job training
Self-employed
9.7% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 4)
Considerable Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $84,000
Change vs prior year +3%
After inflation (CPI-U) -0.13%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 46 54.8% $62,109 $66,630 $76,969
Level II 16 19% $101,500 $112,750 $141,000
Level IV 10 11.9% $238,750 $285,000 $300,000
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Personal Financial Advisors

The 1 most-filed job titles inside SOC 13-2052, from 84 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Financial Advisor 15 17.86% $58,948 $65,000 $83,310 -4.41%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Personal Financial Advisors

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Active Listening4.1
  • Reading Comprehension4.1
  • Speaking4.0
  • Writing3.9
  • Critical Thinking3.8
  • Complex Problem Solving3.6
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.6
  • Mathematics3.6
  • Service Orientation3.6
  • Social Perceptiveness3.6
Top knowledge areas
  • Customer and Personal Service4.4
  • Economics and Accounting4.1
  • English Language3.9
  • Mathematics3.7
  • Psychology3.1
  • Administration and Management2.9
  • Sales and Marketing2.9
  • Computers and Electronics2.9
Software and technology used
Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft ProjectMicrosoft SQL ServerMicrosoft Visual BasicMicrosoft WordSalesforce softwareStructured query language SQLSwiftACT! ACT4AdvisorsAdvent AxysAdviceAmerica AdvisorVisionAdvisory World ICEASI Client Acquisition SolutionAsset allocation software

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What personal financial advisors do

  • Interview clients to determine their current income, expenses, insurance coverage, tax status, financial objectives, risk tolerance, or other information needed to develop a financial plan.
  • Analyze financial information obtained from clients to determine strategies for meeting clients' financial objectives.
  • Answer clients' questions about the purposes and details of financial plans and strategies.
  • Review clients' accounts and plans regularly to determine whether life changes, economic changes, environmental concerns, or financial performance indicate a need for plan reassessment.
  • Manage client portfolios, keeping client plans up-to-date.
  • Recommend to clients strategies in cash management, insurance coverage, investment planning, or other areas to help them achieve their financial goals.
  • Recommend financial products, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or insurance.
  • Implement financial planning recommendations, or refer clients to someone who can assist them with plan implementation.
Also called
Certified Financial Planner (CFP)Financial AdvisorFinancial PlannerPortfolio ManagerFinancial ConsultantFinancial CounselorFinancial Life PlannerInvestment AdvisorWealth AdvisorWealth Manager
More job titles for this occupation (45)
Account ManagerAsset AnalystAsset ManagerBudget CounselorChartered Financial Analyst (CFA)Client AdvisorCredit CounselorDebt CounselorEstate PlannerEstate Planning CounselorEstate TrusteeFinance ConsultantFinancial Advisor AssociateFinancial AgentFinancial CoordinatorFinancial Investment AdviserFinancial Investment AdvisorFinancial Relationship ConsultantFinancial Retirement Plan SpecialistFinancial Solutions AdvisorFiscal SpecialistIndividual Pension AdviserIndividual Pension ConsultantInsurance AdvisorInsurance ConsultantInvestment ConsultantInvestment CounselorInvestment Representative (Investment Rep)Money ManagerPatient Financial CounselorPension AdvisorPension ConsultantPersonal BankerPersonal Financial AdvisorPersonal Financial CounselorPersonal Financial PlannerPersonal Investment AdvisorPrivate Client AdvisorPrivate Wealth Management Associate (PWM Associate)Securities ConsultantSecurities CounselorSocially Responsible Investment Advisor (SRI Advisor)StrategistWealth Management AdvisorWealth Management Associate

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.