Florida is one of the most prosperous and economically active states in the United States, and the state’s prosperity and high per-capita income make it an excellent place for a financial advisor to work and live. It is also one of the cultural and sporting centers of the country and indeed, the world; all of this makes it a desirable place to live and work for the thousands of financial planners that call it home.
There are 6,023 CFPs in the state of Florida, according to the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board. They represent about 6.8 % of the total number of certified financial planners in the country, reflective of its population size and economic centrality. To be recognized by the CFP board and therefore become a certified professional, a financial advisor must first become a fiduciary. A fiduciary is legally bound to act based on their clients’ best interests, as opposed to working for commissions, or making a living by the sale of products and services.
Therefore, an aspiring financial planner has two career paths before them-fee-based advising or commission-based advising. Fee-based advisors make their living through a pre-stated fee for their services rendered to their clients. This fee usually consists of a flat retainer, and/or an hourly rate for investment advice and other services. Instead, a commission-based advisor makes a living by earning commission on the sales of financial products or services to clients.
If you are interested in how wages for financial advisors, stockbrokers and insurance agents vary across different regions of Florida, you have come to the right place. We have compiled data on the salaries of financial advisors, stockbrokers and insurance agents in Florida, across its various metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions. This data has been acquired from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and is visible below.
Financial Advisor Salary in Florida
Here, we have data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2019 on the financial advisors in all of Florida’s surveyed metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area is home to most of them, 6,150 financial advisors. The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area comes second and is home to 2,590.
Of the data available, North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton has the highest hourly mean wage of $81.14, followed by the Villages, where it is $71.02. Major cities Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville have hourly mean wages of about $55. The hourly median is also highest in the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton area, at $83.95, significantly higher than the Villages area, which is in second place with an hourly median wage of $50.79.
Stockbroker Salary in Florida
The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area contains 12,540 stockbrokers, the most of all the recorded areas in the state. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater is home to 5,110, while Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford and Jacksonville contain 3,310 and 2,700 professionals in the field, respectively. The hourly mean wage is highest in Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, at $45.76. The Villages follow close behind with an hourly mean wage of $45.69. Miami is in third place with $42.41 as its hourly mean wage.
The hourly median wage is highest in Tallahassee, at $31.98, and is almost the same at $31.61 in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area.
The 90th percentile wage is highest in the Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, out of the recorded data. The 75th percentile wage is also highest in the Naples-Immokalee-Marco, followed by Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach.
Life/Annuity Producer Salary in Florida
The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach contains 10,620 life/annuity producers, the most in the state. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater has 7,320 professionals, while the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area has 4,300.
The hourly mean wage is highest in the South Florida non-metropolitan area, home to only 70 professionals, where it is $35.70. The hourly median wage is also higher in the South Florida non-metropolitan area, at $36.46. The North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton area is home to 920 professionals and has an hourly median wage of $26.80.
(Salary and job growth data reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2019 for personal financial advisors; securities, commodities and financial services sales agents; and insurance sales agents. Figures represent national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Information accessed February 2021.)