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Where Demand for Financial Advisors Is Strongest – 2024 Study

Updated on
Written by Jaclyn DeJohn, CFP®
Edited by Arturo Conde, CEPF®
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Each person’s financial circumstances and goals are unique, just like the advisors who may be able to help them make and execute plans. Naturally, clients and advisors alike may seek specific characteristics, specialties and needs in each other to reach their goals or objectives. Location may be one key preference, with some clients favoring remote relationships with their advisors while others choose to meet in person.

With this in mind, SmartAsset examined data from its Advisor Marketing Platform, AMP, to determine where the most people seeking financial advisors live, as well as finding the places where the rate of demand is highest relative to the local population.

Are you a financial advisor looking to grow your AUM? Check out what SmartAsset AMP has to offer.

Key Findings

  • Dayton, Ohio had the highest rate of demand for financial advisors. The number of people seeking advisors in Dayton was highest relative to the city’s population. For the raw number of leads, the city still punched above its weight, ranking 47th out of 339 cities.
  • The highest number of leads came from Houston, Texas. Houston took the lead for raw demand. When normalized for population size, Houston demand for advisors ranks roughly in the middle (183rd).
  • Demand from Brooklyn and The Bronx outshines that from Manhattan. Despite the second highest number of leads coming from Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx had slightly higher rates of demand when normalized for population size.
  • More leads came from SoCal cities than the Bay Area. Despite having some of the highest median incomes in the country, San Jose and San Francisco yielded fewer leads than San Diego and Los Angeles. The rate of demand relative to population was nearly identical in San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco, but was considerably lower in Los Angeles.
  • Minneapolis is the only city that ranks in the top 10 of both demand metrics. Minneapolis had the ninth-highest raw number of leads, and also ranked third-best for rate of demand. St. Paul also made the top 10 for one of these metrics with the ninth-highest rate of demand.

Top 10 Cities With the Highest Number of Leads Seeking Financial Advisors

  1. Houston, TX
    Lead index: 100.00
    Normalized demand (leads per capita), Ranking: 183
  2. New York, NY
    Lead index: 99.71
    Normalized demand (leads per capita), Ranking: 328
  3. Chicago, IL
    Lead index: 88.90
    Normalized demand (leads per capita), Ranking: 248
  4. San Diego, CA
    Lead index: 76.41
    Normalized demand (leads per capita), Ranking: 110
  5. San Antonio, TX
    Lead index: 63.30
    Normalized demand (leads per capita), Ranking: 185
  6. Los Angeles, CA
    Lead index: 62.41
    Normalized demand (leads per capita), Ranking: 317
  7. Phoenix, AZ
    Lead index: 62.15
    Normalized demand (leads per capita), Ranking: 217
  8. Las Vegas, NV
    Lead index: 60.68
    Normalized demand (leads per capita), Ranking: 24
  9. Minneapolis, MN
    Lead index: 58.17
    Normalized demand (leads per capita), Ranking: 3
  10. Atlanta, GA
    Lead index: 56.84
    Normalized demand (leads per capita), Ranking: 12

Top 10 Cities With the Highest Rate of Demand for Financial Advisors

  1. Dayton, OH
    Lead index: 20.93
    Raw Number of Leads, Ranking: 47
  2. Pompano Beach, FL
    Lead index: 16.23
    Raw Number of Leads, Ranking: 70
  3. Minneapolis, MN
    Lead index: 58.17
    Raw Number of Leads, Ranking: 9
  4. Wilmington, NC
    Lead index: 15.80
    Raw Number of Leads, Ranking: 77
  5. Saint Louis, MO
    Lead index: 35.83
    Raw Number of Leads, Ranking: 24
  6. Sugar Land, TX
    Lead index: 12.89
    Raw Number of Leads, Ranking: 96
  7. Alexandria, VA
    Lead index: 18.38
    Raw Number of Leads, Ranking: 57
  8. Columbia, SC
    Lead index: 16.23
    Raw Number of Leads, Ranking: 70
  9. Saint Paul, MN
    Lead index: 35.04
    Raw Number of Leads, Ranking: 25
  10. Salt Lake City, UT
    Lead index: 23.23
    Raw Number of Leads, Ranking: 44

Data and Methodology

Cities were ranked by the raw number of individuals who requested to be matched with a financial advisor between 7/11/2023 and 7/10/2024. The rate of demand was also considered, represented by the number of leads coming in from each location relative to the local population size. 339 cities with populations of 100,000 or more for which data was available. Data comes from SmartAsset Advisor Marketing Platform for 7/11/2023 to 7/10/2024.

Questions about our study? Contact us at press@smartasset.com

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/Art Wager