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Financial Analysts vs Personal Financial Advisors

Median pay is about $2k higher for Personal Financial Advisors. Both usually start with the same education: bachelor's.

marks the higher pay or growth. Education, difficulty and the AI rows depend on what you want, so they are not marked.

Financial Analysts compared with Personal Financial Advisors: pay, outlook, entry and AI exposure
MeasureFinancial AnalystsPersonal Financial Advisors
Pay
Median pay$102,740$105,070, higher
Entry pay 25th percentile$79,290, higher$72,440
Experienced pay 75th percentile$133,340$176,790, higher
Outlook, 2025 to 2035
Projected growth+7.2% Growing fast, higher+1.4% Growing
Openings a year24,70017,100
Getting in
Typical educationBachelor'sBachelor's
Difficulty modeled3 / 53 / 5
AI
Displacement risk modeledHighVery high
AI exposure modeled, percentile67th pct93rd pct

Where the skills differ

Only Financial Analysts

  • Valuation
  • Modeling
  • Excel
  • Research
  • Communication

Only Personal Financial Advisors

  • Reading Comprehension
  • Active Listening
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Critical Thinking
  • Mathematics

More comparisons

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Pay and outlook: BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2025-2035). Skills: O*NET 30.3. Difficulty, displacement risk and AI exposure are modeled estimates. How these numbers are made.