Here's Where Advisors' Income Is Growing Fastest

Financial advisors' income largely depends on the number of clients they serve and their net worth. Several factors that draw both clients and advisors from one locale to another influence how much an advisor makes in a local area, and this differs considerably across the country, according to a new study from SmartAsset. SmartAsset studied 295 metro areas that had data available. Researchers used wage and occupation data for personal financial advisors from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2023 and 2022. The study found that the Northeast holds the top five spots for the highest median advisor income in 2023, with the New York City metro area topping the list at $167,600. Meanwhile, mean advisor incomes are roughly double median incomes in five other metros, that is, a portion of advisors in those places make outsize incomes compared with their peers. On this list, New York City (mean advisor income: $213,810) takes a backseat to Anchorage, Alaska, whose mean advisor income is $284,020. The study also found that the Durham–Chapel Hill, North Carolina metro has the highest concentration of financial advisors, 5.5 for every 1,000 workers. However, of the nine other metros with a concentration above 3, Durham–Chapel Hill is the only one with median income below $100,000: $74,500 for its 1,860 advisors. Winchester, Virginia–West Virginia saw a the number of advisors double from 60 to 120 between 2022 and 2023, while the number working in Portland, Maine, shot up by 80% from 300 to 540 advisors. See the gallery for the 15 metro areas where financial advisors' income increased the most from 2022 to 2023, according to SmartAsset.