Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2025
Personal Financial Advisor Salary in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA
Finance · SOC 13-2052 · COL Index 122.4
Personal Financial Advisors in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA earn a median salary of $96,100 as of 2025, with a 10th-to-90th percentile range of $65,490 to $296,400. The mean is $144,660 across approximately 830 workers. Adjusted for Riverside-San Bernardino, CA's cost-of-living index of 122.4, the median equates to $78,513 of purchasing power in an average-cost U.S. metro.
Personal Financial Advisor in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA pays below the national median: $96,100 locally versus $102,203. The discount usually reflects either lower cost-of-living, smaller local industry concentration, or weaker labor demand.
Cost-of-living in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA runs at index 122.4, above the national baseline. The cost-adjusted median works out to about $78,513 in national-baseline dollars. Wage distribution at the 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles: $77,734, $96,100, $196,250, $296,400. 830 Personal Financial Advisor workers are documented in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA per the BLS OEWS survey. The percentile spread is the most useful framing — entry-level pay clusters near p25, mid-career near p50, senior-level near p75-p90.
Salary Distribution
Percentile Breakdown
| Percentile | Salary | COL-Adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| 10th Percentile (Entry Level) | $65,490 | $53,505 |
| 25th Percentile | $77,734 | $63,508 |
| 50th Percentile (Median) | $96,100 | $78,513 |
| 75th Percentile | $196,250 | $160,335 |
| 90th Percentile (Top Earners) | $296,400 | $242,157 |
What These Numbers Tell You
The spread between the 10th and 90th percentile for Personal Financial Advisors in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA is unusually wide — top earners take home roughly 4.5× what the bottom decile earns. That signals a long career ladder: substantial pay gains accrue with seniority, specialization, and movement to larger employers. Workers entering this role should expect to start near the 25th percentile and target the median by year three to five.
Riverside-San Bernardino, CA's cost-of-living index of 122.4 (about 22% above the U.S. average) means a $96,100 median translates to roughly $78,513 in an average-cost market. Most of that gap is housing and transportation; the salary premium most professional roles earn here only partially offsets it.
Riverside-San Bernardino, CA ranks #44 of 68 BLS-tracked metros for Personal Financial Advisor pay — in the lower half nationally (65th percentile). Lower nominal pay here is often offset by a lower cost of living; check the COL-adjusted figure on this page for an apples-to-apples comparison.
How to Use This in Negotiation
The classic negotiation move is to anchor your ask on the 75th percentile of the BLS band — $196,250 for Personal Financial Advisors in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA — when you have meaningful experience, then bring evidence (years on the job, scope of past work, relevant certifications, comparable offers) to justify why you sit at that point in the distribution. Anchoring on the median when you have 5+ years of experience leaves money on the table; anchoring on the 90th percentile ($296,400) without strong evidence undercuts credibility.
For new entrants, the 25th-to-50th percentile band ($77,734–$96,100) is the realistic target. For mid-career workers, the median-to-75th band ($96,100–$196,250) is the right anchor. Senior specialists and managers should be benchmarking against the 75th-to-90th band ($196,250–$296,400).
For specific scripts and a full negotiation framework, see the data-driven salary negotiation guide. To benchmark your current pay, the salary percentile calculator places any number into the BLS distribution for this role and metro.
How This Salary Is Calculated
Wage figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program — a federal survey of about 1.2 million U.S. establishments, published once per year by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code. The Riverside-San Bernardino, CA percentile bands above (10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th) and the mean are pulled directly from the BLS data file for SOC code 13-2052 in this MSA. The COL-adjusted figure rebases salary to a U.S. national average COL of 100, using a composite index derived from public housing, food, and transportation data. Read the full methodology for details.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average Personal Financial Advisor salary in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA?
Personal Financial Advisors in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA earn a median salary of $96,100 as of 2025, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS data. The mean (employment-weighted average) is $144,660 across roughly 830 workers in this metro.
What is the salary range for Personal Financial Advisors in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA?
Pay ranges from $65,490 at the 10th percentile to $296,400 at the 90th percentile — a $230,910 spread. The 25th-to-75th percentile band ($77,734 to $196,250) is the typical anchor for salary negotiation.
Is $96,100 a good Personal Financial Advisor salary in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA?
$96,100 is the BLS median — half of Personal Financial Advisors in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA earn more, half earn less. Whether it is "good" depends on your experience: new entrants typically land near the 25th percentile ($77,734), mid-career workers near the median, and senior specialists near or above the 75th percentile ($196,250). Cost-of-living-adjusted to a national average baseline, the median equates to $78,513.
How does Personal Financial Advisor pay in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA compare to other metros?
Riverside-San Bernardino, CA ranks #44 of 68 BLS-tracked metros for Personal Financial Advisor median pay. Nominal pay is in the lower half of U.S. metros, though the cost of living usually offsets at least part of that gap.
Where does this Personal Financial Advisor salary data come from?
Every wage figure comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program at bls.gov/oes — public domain federal data covering 1.2 million U.S. employers. The same data feeds the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wage system used for H-1B and federal contracting wage determinations.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Riverside-San Bernardino, CA MSA, SOC 13-2052, 2025 release. Public domain. See bls.gov/oes. Cite as: "SalaryTruth, BLS OEWS 2025."
Last refreshed 2026-05-21 · 830 Personal Financial Advisors tracked in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA.