Top Metros for Personal Financial Advisors: New York Leads High-Pay Markets Nationwide

Across the top 10 metro areas, LaborCove’s data shows large differences in both pay and scale for personal financial advisors, even among markets that rank close together. New York-Newark-Jersey City leads LaborCove’s metro list with both the highest Geography Score and the largest reported employment count, and its median salary sits well above the national median. Several other metros, including San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, also offer median salaries far above the national figure but differ notably in employment size and Geography Scores. Other metros in the top 10, such as Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, pair mid-to-upper-$100,000-range salaries with mid-sized reported employment counts relative to New York. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Charleston-North Charleston, Worcester, and Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro complete the top 10 on the strength of their Geography Scores and median salaries, although their employment counts are not supplied in this dataset. The result is a set of metro markets that combine national-level context—$105,070 median pay, 266,800 employed nationally, and 9.6% projected national growth—with very different local pay levels, LaborCove rankings, and, where available, employment scale.

LaborCove’s national benchmark for personal financial advisors shows a median annual salary of $105,070 and employment of 266,800. Every metro in the top 10 list has a supplied median salary that is higher than the national median. New York-Newark-Jersey City, ranked #1, reports a median salary of $170,050, which is higher than the national median of $105,070. With 23,980 employed, it also has a larger reported employment count than any other metro in the top 10 list and is identified as the largest employment market in the available geographic data. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, ranked #2, has a median salary of $160,610, which is above the national median and below New York’s median. Its employment count of 7,130 is smaller than New York’s 23,980. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, ranked #3, has a median salary of $124,490, also above the national figure and lower than New York’s and San Francisco’s medians, with a reported employment count of 13,980 that is smaller than New York’s and larger than San Francisco’s. Among the other metros with supplied employment counts, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara reports 1,530 employed, while Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach reports 8,390 and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington reports 7,390. Each of these counts is smaller than New York’s 23,980, and Miami’s employment count is larger than San Jose’s reported figure.

New York-Newark-Jersey City sits at the top of LaborCove’s metro rankings with a Geography Score of 88.19, the highest among the top 10. Its median salary of $170,050 is higher than the national median of $105,070 and higher than the median salary reported for any other metro in this top 10 list. New York’s employment count of 23,980 is larger than the reported employment counts for the other metros in the top 10, including Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim at 13,980, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach at 8,390, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont at 7,130, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington at 7,390, and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara at 1,530. New York is also identified as the largest employment market in the geographic dataset used for this article. Taken together, New York’s position in the ranking, its Geography Score of 88.19, its median salary level, and its reported employment size distinguish it from the other top metros in this analysis.

Several West Coast metros appear near the top of LaborCove’s rankings for personal financial advisors. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont holds the #2 ranking with a Geography Score of 62.90 and a median salary of $160,610. This median salary is higher than the national median of $105,070 but lower than New York’s $170,050. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, at #3 with a Geography Score of 59.79, reports a median salary of $124,490. This is above the national median and below both New York’s and San Francisco’s median salaries. Los Angeles also has a reported employment count of 13,980, which is smaller than New York’s 23,980 and larger than San Francisco’s 7,130. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara ranks #8 with a Geography Score of 51.41 and a median salary of $136,820. This salary is higher than the national median and higher than Los Angeles’s $124,490, while remaining lower than New York’s $170,050 and San Francisco’s $160,610. San Jose’s reported employment count of 1,530 is smaller than the employment counts reported for New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Philadelphia.

Beyond New York, several East Coast metros appear in LaborCove’s top 10. Boston-Cambridge-Newton ranks #4 with a Geography Score of 57.62 and a median salary of $126,530, which is higher than the national median of $105,070. The employment count for Boston is not supplied in this dataset, so only its ranking, Geography Score, and salary can be compared here. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, ranked #9 with a Geography Score of 49.60, reports a median salary of $125,670, also above the national median and lower than New York’s $170,050. Miami’s reported employment count is 8,390, which is smaller than New York’s 23,980 and larger than San Jose’s 1,530. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington completes the East Coast representation in the top 10 at rank #10, with a Geography Score of 48.37 and a median salary of $116,560. This median salary exceeds the national median of $105,070 and is lower than Miami’s $125,670. Philadelphia’s employment count of 7,390 is smaller than New York’s 23,980 and larger than San Jose’s 1,530.

Three metros in LaborCove’s top 10—Charleston-North Charleston, Worcester, and Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro—have strong Geography Scores but do not report employment counts in the supplied data. Charleston-North Charleston ranks #5 with a Geography Score of 54.26 and a median salary of $125,700, which is higher than the national median of $105,070. Worcester ranks #6 with a Geography Score of 54.09 and a median salary of $120,400, also above the national median. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro ranks #7 with a Geography Score of 52.90 and a median salary of $122,830, again above the national benchmark. Because employment counts are not supplied for these three metros, they can be compared directly with other metros only on ranking, Geography Score, and median salary. All three have Geography Scores between 52.90 and 54.26, and all three report median salaries above the national level, placing them among the higher-ranked options in this dataset despite the missing employment information.

LaborCove’s metro rankings for personal financial advisors are built from structured labor-market data and the LaborCove Geography Score. The underlying occupational pay and employment figures for metros and for the nation are drawn from authoritative labor-market sources reflecting Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) observations for May 2025. The ReportYear 2026 identifies the product and reporting cycle, not the month or year of the underlying OEWS observations. For this article, we use three main quantitative elements where they are available: median annual salary, employment counts, and LaborCove Geography Scores. The national projected employment growth rate of 9.6% applies to personal financial advisors across the entire United States and is not a state or metro forecast. LaborCove’s Geography Score is a composite ranking measure that allows metros to be placed in order, but the specific weight of each underlying component is not disclosed in this evidence. Readers should treat the rankings and scores as structured signals about how metros compare on measured factors and then weigh those signals against their own career priorities, preferences, and additional research.