New York Financial Planner Salary

New York is best known, of course, for New York City. The Big Apple. The financial center of the U.S. More than 60 million tourists visit New York City each year, but New York also offers upstate adventures in the Thousand Islands and Niagara Falls. It’s also home to the Finger Lakes AVA (American Viticultural Area), which produces amazing white wines.

If you’re lucky enough to be a New Yorker, the state has plenty to offer for those looking to start a career in finance and financial planning. The median household income in 2019 for New York state was $68,486 per year. This figure is more than $5K higher than the national median household income of $62,843, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. New Yorkers do pay higher rents than the national average, though, with median gross rent of $1,280 per month compared with $1,062.

Unfortunately, unemployment in New York is quite high post-pandemic at 8.2% unemployment, 1.5 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate of 6.7% and 4.3 percentage points higher than the December 2019 unemployment rate of 3.9%, according to the U.S. Department of Bureau & Labor Statistics (BLS).

New York ranks No. 4 in the U.S. for the number of Certified Financial Planners located in that state –4,892, which represents 5.5% of the total number of CFPs across the U.S., according to the CFP Board. CFPs are fiduciaries, which means they’re required to act in the best interest of their clients when it comes to financial products. If you plan to work in finance or financial planning in New York, you will need to decide whether to work as a fee-based advisor who earns fees from clients through asset management, or a commission-based advisor, earning fees on product/service sales and purchases.

The BLS provides data for financial advisors, stockbrokers and life insurance agent/annuity producers in the New York regions of Albany-Schenectady-Troy, Binghamton, Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, Central East New York nonmetropolitan area, Ithaca, Kingston, New York-Newark-Jersey City, Rochester, Southwest New York nonmetropolitan area, Syracuse and Utica-Rome.

Financial Advisor Salary in New York

There are a whopping 26,900 financial advisors in the New York City-Newark-Jersey City region, and these advisors earn the highest mean salary in the state of $165,830. The salaries are high across the board with the lowest, $70,930, earned by advisors in Ithaca.

Area Name
Employment
Annual mean wage
Albany-Schenectady-Troy
580
101690
Binghamton
40
77090
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls
600
118560
Central East New York nonmetropolitan area
40
89620
Ithaca
40
70930
Kingston
40
-
New York-Newark-Jersey City
26900
165830
Rochester
580
111910
Southwest New York nonmetropolitan area
70
117880
Syracuse
320
122580
Utica-Rome
100
146730

Stockbroker Salary in New York

Annual mean stockbroker salaries in the New York City-Newark-Jersey City region again top the list at $149,880, which is no surprise. The next highest-paying region is Utica-Rome at $132,710 per year, and then the salaries dip to the $80K range and lower to the lowest state salary of $65,960 in the Central East New York nonmetropolitan area. Salaries for experienced brokers in the 75th percentile don’t necessarily reflect much of a jump from the annual mean wages we see across the state.

Area Name
Employment
Annual mean wage
Albany-Schenectady-Troy
1170
78270
Binghamton
180
76380
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls
2590
80760
Central East New York nonmetropolitan area
190
65960
Ithaca
50
79440
Kingston
110
78050
New York-Newark-Jersey City
72850
149880
Rochester
1350
72960
Southwest New York nonmetropolitan area
130
78540
Syracuse
600
78220
Utica-Rome
240
132710

Life/Annuity Producer Salary in New York

The salaries for New York life insurance agents start at $49,580 in the Southwest New York nonmetropolitan area and go up to an annual mean salary of $91,540 in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy region. The salaries for experienced agents in the 90th percentile, however, go all the way up to $181,080 in Binghamton.

Area Name
Employment
Annual mean wage
Albany-Schenectady-Troy
1750
91540
Binghamton
180
68450
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls
1370
56530
Central East New York nonmetropolitan area
300
77100
Ithaca
50
62680
Kingston
150
79120
New York-Newark-Jersey City
22940
82910
Rochester
1140
59560
Southwest New York nonmetropolitan area
250
49580
Syracuse
800
69980
Utica-Rome
350
75350

 

(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.)