To find a fee-only advisor near you, open your state or province on the locations page of the public graph. Each page lists the fee-only advisors who are based there or say they serve it, with their firm, city, credentials and how they charge, plus the firms headquartered there. Then decide whether you need someone local at all: many fee-only advisors meet by video, and the best fit for your situation may be in another city.
How location pages work
There’s a page for every US state and the District of Columbia, and for each Canadian province or territory with advisors in the graph. Each page shows:
- By the numbers. How many advisors and firms are listed, in how many cities, how many hold the CFP, and how the advisors with fees on file charge.
- Advisors serving the region. Everyone based there, plus advisors elsewhere who say they serve it. The table shows each advisor’s firm, city, credentials and fees.
- Firms headquartered there, with a link to every firm in the state or province.
- Related lists, such as fee-only advisors in Ontario or in Montana, where one exists.
There are no separate city pages. Each state page names the cities where most of its advisors practice, and the search on the advisors page finds advisors by name, firm or city. Every advisor’s record says where they’re based, which other places they serve, and whether they work virtually when the firm says so.
Start with your state or province
US states: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, Arizona, Massachusetts and Colorado. Every other state is on the US page.
Canada: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, with the rest on the Canada page.
Major metros, by the page that covers them:
| Metro | Page |
|---|---|
| New York City, Westchester, Long Island | New York, and New Jersey or Connecticut for the suburbs |
| Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego | California |
| Chicago | Illinois |
| Dallas, Houston, Austin | Texas |
| Washington, DC | District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland |
| Boston | Massachusetts |
| Seattle | Washington |
| Denver and Boulder | Colorado |
| Atlanta | Georgia |
| Philadelphia | Pennsylvania |
| Phoenix and Scottsdale | Arizona |
| Minneapolis | Minnesota |
| Toronto and Ottawa | Ontario |
| Vancouver | British Columbia |
| Calgary and Edmonton | Alberta |
| Montreal | Quebec |
If you live near a state line, check both states. An advisor’s record lists every place they say they serve.
What local prices look like
Where a firm is based moves the price of ongoing planning a lot. State medians, from states where at least 12 fee-only firms publish an ongoing planning fee:
The national median is $4,500 a year. Hourly rates vary much less by state. The full state table is in the fee report, and the cost guides go further: flat-fee advisors, hourly planners, one-time plans, subscription planning and, for Canada, what fee-only advisors charge in Canada.
The spread is a reason to look beyond your own state if price matters to you. An advisor who works by video can be based anywhere.
Local or virtual
Of the firm websites we read, 29% say, in words we could verify, that they work with clients virtually. That’s a floor, since a firm can meet by video without saying so on its site. So the real question is whether you need someone local.
Choose local when:
- You want to meet in person, or someone in your household will only engage face to face.
- Your situation depends on the place. A divorce under your state’s property rules, a state or municipal pension, state income tax planning around a move, or property and family in one town.
- You’re helping aging parents who need someone they can sit down with.
Look wider when:
- Your situation is rare. Specialists in equity pay, physicians, crypto or cross-border planning are few, and the best one for you is unlikely to be down the street.
- You want a particular way of paying. Hourly or flat-fee advisors may be thin in your area and plentiful by video.
- You live somewhere with few fee-only firms. A state page with a handful of advisors is a reason to search nationally, not to settle.
A good test: if you’d be happy with video meetings for a doctor’s follow-up or a tax appointment, you’ll probably be fine with a virtual advisor.
How to judge an advisor in another state
- Check registration. Look the firm up on the SEC’s free adviser search. Larger firms register with the SEC; smaller ones register with their state. Ask a state-registered firm whether it can take clients where you live. In Canada, check the CSA’s National Registration Search for advisors who recommend specific investments.
- Ask how they meet. Video, phone, shared documents, how quickly they reply between meetings.
- Ask whether they know your state. Taxes, property rules and public pensions differ. A good advisor will say what they’d check.
- Confirm they’re fee-only. Our guide to telling whether an advisor is fee-only shows where to look.
Our guide to how to find a fee-only financial advisor covers the whole search, and questions to ask a financial advisor helps with the first call.