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States Adding the Most Financial Experts – 2025 Study

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States Adding the Most Financial Experts – 2025 Study

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Over 6,500 Certified Financial Planners

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(CFPs®) were added nationwide in 2024, bringing the current total up to 103,093. Meanwhile, the number of CFPs® in some states can also shift when certificants move from one state to another.

The number of financial advisors in an area can affect the quality and availability of service that clients may receive due to competition. Similarly, this competition can influence how long advisors stay in a local industry and how much income they could earn. While working with clients remotely has become more popular since the pandemic, engaging them directly and keeping up with local financial trends and attitudes is still an important component of building long-lasting relationships.

To provide both advisors and clients information about market competition and trends, SmartAsset examined changes in active CFP® certifications from 2024 to 2025 to determine advisor presence and how the industry has shifted in different parts of the U.S.

  • West Virginia had the highest rate of CFP® growth. Relative to its 2024 CFP population, West Virginia added the most CFPs® in the past year with a 12.5% increase – jumping from 136 to 153. Despite this growth, West Virginia still maintains the highest number of available consumers per CFP® in the state at 11,569. West Virginia also has the lowest rate of high-income households with only 5.1% earning $200,000 or more annually. The median household income is similarly low at $55,948.

  • California is home to over 10% of all CFPs®. There are 10,511 people with an active certification here, making the ratio of consumers to CFPs® at about 3,707 to 1. In the past year, 299 CFPs® were newly certified, keeping California as the largest base of CFPs® nationwide. Meanwhile, 19.1% of California households earn at least $200,000 annually, making it one of the states with the most high earners.

  • Texas added the most CFPs® this past year. There are 374 more CFPs® in Texas this year than there were the previous year, bringing the current total to 7,394. This puts Texas at 5.33% annual growth in CFPs®, ranking 21st for growth nationwide. Texas households have a $75,780 median income, but 11.6% of households earn $200,000 or more annually. There are approximately 4,125 consumers for each CFP® in the Lone Star State.

  • Colorado has the fewest consumers per CFP®. The Centennial State has roughly one-sixth the number of potential clients per CFP® as first-place West Virginia. There are an estimated 1,836 consumers per each CFPs®. This is after a 5.09% increase in the number of CFPs® in Colorado, which brought the total to 3,202. However, this state is more affluent than many others, with a median household income of $92,911 and 15.9% of households earning $200,000 or more annually.

  • CFP® certificants are getting younger. This year, 26.0% of CFPs® are between the ages of 40 and 49, up from 25.7% last year. And both 10-year age brackets below also grew: by +0.1 points to 23.2% for those aged 30 to 39, and by +0.5 points to 6.4% for those between 20 and 29. Comparatively, certifications for advisors in older age brackets dropped. Those between 50 and 59 went down by 0.3 points to 21.80%; those between 60 and 69 shrank by 0.7 points to 16.3%; but those aged 70 to 79 remained steady at 5.4%.

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