Business and Financial Operations Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 13-2052

Personal Financial Advisors

The published band from $50,190 to $357,020 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Financial and Investment Analysts.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Personal Financial Advisors: Financial and Investment Analysts ($103K) , Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists ($79K) , Accountants and Auditors ($84K) , Project Management Specialists ($102K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Personal Financial Advisors publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 13-2052 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Interview clients to determine their current income, expenses, insurance coverage, tax status, financial objectives, risk tolerance, or o…
  2. 2. Analyze financial information obtained from clients to determine strategies for meeting clients' financial objectives
  3. 3. Answer clients' questions about the purposes and details of financial plans and strategies
  4. 4. Review clients' accounts and plans regularly to determine whether life changes, economic changes, environmental concerns, or financial pe…
  5. 5. Manage client portfolios, keeping client plans up-to-date
  6. 6. Recommend to clients strategies in cash management, insurance coverage, investment planning, or other areas to help them achieve their fi…
  7. 7. Recommend financial products, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or insurance
  8. 8. Implement financial planning recommendations, or refer clients to someone who can assist them with plan implementation
  9. 9. Contact clients periodically to determine any changes in their financial status
  10. 10. Prepare or interpret for clients information, such as investment performance reports, financial document summaries, or income projections
  11. 11. Explain to clients the personal financial advisor's responsibilities and the types of services to be provided
  12. 12. Investigate available investment opportunities to determine compatibility with client financial plans

Personal Financial Advisors: O*NET ranks Reading Comprehension first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 13-2052 - lead skill Reading Comprehension at 4.1 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Reading Comprehension 4.1
  2. 2. Active Listening 4.1
  3. 3. Speaking 4.0
  4. 4. Writing 3.9
  5. 5. Critical Thinking 3.8
  6. 6. Mathematics 3.6
  7. 7. Social Perceptiveness 3.6
  8. 8. Service Orientation 3.6

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.4
  2. 2. Economics and Accounting 4.1
  3. 3. English Language 3.9
  4. 4. Mathematics 3.7
  5. 5. Psychology 3.1
  6. 6. Administration and Management 2.9
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$50,190 to $357,020
median $105,070 · ~7.1× spread
$105K
National median
↑ +10%
Growth 2024-2034
24,100
Annual openings
266,800
Estimated US jobs
Financial and Investment Analysts
Highest-pay peer · $103K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Bachelor's degree

Top Paying States for Personal Financial Advisors

1. Wisconsin $119,430
2. Illinois $120,130
3. Massachusetts $125,670
4. South Dakota $128,720
5. New York $166,400
6. Oregon $122,830
7. New Jersey $158,570
8. Delaware $125,050
9. Connecticut $129,720
10. California $130,330

Other Business and Financial Operations Occupations titles

  1. 1. Accountants and Auditors $83,680
  2. 2. Project Management Specialists $102,320
  3. 3. Financial and Investment Analysts $102,740
  4. 4. Management Analysts $101,860
  5. 5. Budget Analysts $91,640
  6. 6. Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists $78,760

The OEWS band for Personal Financial Advisors runs from $50,190 (10th) to $357,020 (90th), about 7.1× wide, with median $105,070. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +10% change between 2024 and 2034 (much faster than average vs baseline 3.1%). About 24,100 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Wisconsin at $119,430. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Financial and Investment Analysts at $102,740. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Personal Financial Advisors pay-rank #2 in Business and Financial Operations Occupations

Among 32 detailed Business and Financial Operations Occupations with a published OEWS median, Personal Financial Advisors is pay-rank #2, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Personal Financial Advisors is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Personal Financial Advisors salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 13-2052

Wisconsin · top state for Personal Financial Advisors

$119K published median

Illinois · #2 state pay

$120K · behind Wisconsin

Financial and Investment Analysts

Highest-pay peer vs Personal Financial Advisors · $103K

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

Lower-pay peer beside Personal Financial Advisors · $79K

Compare Personal Financial Advisors

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Personal Financial Advisors with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Business and Financial Operations Occupations titles sit near Personal Financial Advisors at the top of the pay table? ▼
Personal Financial Advisors is pay-rank #2 of 32 detailed Business and Financial Operations Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Financial and Investment Analysts ($103K), Project Management Specialists ($102K), Management Analysts ($102K), Labor Relations Specialists ($95K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do personal financial advisors do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Personal Financial Advisors. Leading ones include: Interview clients to determine their current income, expenses, insurance coverage, tax status, financial objectives, risk tolerance, or o…; 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 pe…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for personal financial advisors? ▼
For SOC 13-2052, O*NET importance scores lead with Reading Comprehension (4.1), Active Listening (4.1), Speaking (4.0), Writing (3.9). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Economics and Accounting, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Personal Financial Advisors? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $50,190 and the 90th at $357,020 for Personal Financial Advisors (7.1× spread). The national median is $105,070. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Personal Financial Advisors? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Personal Financial Advisors is +10%. Projected annual openings: about 24,100. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: much faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Personal Financial Advisors? ▼
BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Personal Financial Advisors. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Personal Financial Advisors? ▼
Wisconsin ($119,430), Illinois ($120,130), Massachusetts ($125,670) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Personal Financial Advisors card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 13-2052. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Personal Financial Advisors. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics