Local market data · Financial advisors · Los Angeles

AI for financial advisors in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles metro area had 1,296 financial advisors in 2022, the 2nd most of 353 US metros and 5% of all in the country. They employed 6,168 people at an average of $158,348 a year. 94% have fewer than 10 staff, so the same few people answer the phone, book, follow up and do the paperwork. Those are the jobs AI tools take on today.

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Financial advisors in Los Angeles vs the US

	Los Angeles metro	United States
Businesses	1,296	24,303
People employed	6,168	110,887
Average staff per business	4.8	4.6
Average yearly pay per employee	$158,348	$169,945
Share with fewer than 10 staff	94%	94%

Pay here is 7% lower than the national average for financial advisors, so every hour of staff time costs less to spend on admin. The average financial advisor here has 4.8 people on payroll, 4% higher than the US figure of 4.6.

How big financial advisors in Los Angeles are

Fewer than 5 staff1,122 (87%) US 84%

5 to 998 (8%) US 10%

10 to 1937 (3%) US 4%

20 to 4922 (2%) US 2%

50 or more16 (1%) US 1%

Businesses with paid employees, by number of employees, March 2022.

Financial advisors by county in the Los Angeles area

Los Angeles County has the most, with 797 of the metro's 1,296 (61%). Among the 10 big metros on this page, Los Angeles ranks 8th for average pay and 2nd for the share of small firms.

County	Businesses	Employees	Avg pay
Los Angeles County	797	3,713	$157,988
Orange County	499	2,455	$158,894

Census withholds pay where few firms would make it identifiable.

Where AI helps a financial advisor first

A financial advisor gets the most from AI by automating what surrounds the advice: preparing for meetings, turning notes into follow-up tasks, chasing onboarding paperwork and keeping in touch with clients between reviews. The advice itself stays with the advisor. Westward can build these pieces, and a person approves anything that goes out.

What your team's admin hours cost in Los Angeles

Change any number. The starting values are the Los Angeles averages above; the hours and the share are yours to set.

People on your teamStarts at the Los Angeles average for a financial advisorHours each spends a week on phones, booking, follow-up and paperwork8 is a starting guess. Put in your ownCost of one hour of their time ($)Starts at the Los Angeles average pay, from Census payrollShare of those hours you would hand to AI: 30%Your call. We tell you on the call what is realistic for your financial advisor

Those hours cost you$152,000 a year

The share you would hand off$45,600 a year

Hours your team gets back600 a year

See what we would build for this

Guides for financial advisors, one job each

Financial advisors in other big metros

Metro	Businesses	Avg pay	Rank of 387
New York	1,747	$317,013	1st
Chicago	813	$233,566	4th
Miami	850	$138,048	3rd
Dallas	703	$186,019	5th
Houston	462	$206,379	12th
Atlanta	483	$197,280	11th
Washington	422	$173,006	14th
Philadelphia	585	$148,292	7th
Boston	541	$181,582	8th

Where these numbers come from

From the U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (released 2024), industry code NAICS 523930 (Investment advice), for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area (2 counties). It counts businesses with paid employees in March 2022, so solo owners with no payroll are not in it. Average pay is total yearly payroll divided by employees. The calculator uses 50 working weeks and 2,080 hours a year. Page checked 2026-11-12.

Find the hours your practice can get back

A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your financial advisor to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.

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