# How many clients does an advisor at an independent RIA serve?

As of October 2, 2026, the median independent wealth management RIA has 45 clients per advisory employee, and the middle half of firms have between 21 and 83 (19,915 firms, from Form ADV). By size, the median is lowest at firms managing under $100 million (31) and highest at firms managing $500 million to $1 billion (71).

As of: 2026-10-02
Address: https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/clients-per-advisor/

## Facts

- Question: How many clients does an advisor at an independent RIA serve?
- Answer: As of October 2, 2026, the median independent wealth management RIA has 45 clients per advisory employee, and the middle half of firms have between 21 and 83 (19,915 firms, from Form ADV). By size, the median is lowest at firms managing under $100 million (31) and highest at firms managing $500 million to $1 billion (71).
- Population: Independent wealth management RIAs, SEC-registered and state-registered: firms whose individual and high net worth clients hold at least half of their AUM and that offer financial planning or portfolio management for individuals. Broker-dealers, banks and their advisory arms, asset managers, private fund managers and pension consultants are not counted.
- Period: Form ADV data as of the date above. Each firm's figures are as it last reported them, mostly as of its fiscal year end, which is usually December 31 of the previous year.
- Minimum firms per group: 30
- Measures: Key: clients_per_advisor, Label: Clients per advisory employee, Definition: A firm's clients divided by its advisory employees (Item 5.B(1)). Clients are the firm's count of clients by type (Item 5.D(a) to (n)) plus clients with no AUM (Item 5.C(1)), approximate as the firm reports them. One value per firm; firms reporting at least one client and at least one advisory employee., Unit: count
- By size band: Clients per advisor: Group: All sizes, Firms in group: 22914, Firms with value: 19915, Median: 45.25, Middle 50 percent from: 20.7321428571429, Middle 50 percent to: 83; Group: Under $100 million, Firms in group: 11373, Firms with value: 10820, Median: 30.5, Middle 50 percent from: 14, Middle 50 percent to: 61; Group: $100 million to $250 million, Firms in group: 3447, Firms with value: 3434, Median: 65.5, Middle 50 percent from: 39, Middle 50 percent to: 108; Group: $250 million to $500 million, Firms in group: 2025, Firms with value: 2019, Median: 70, Middle 50 percent from: 44.6666666666667, Middle 50 percent to: 112.75; Group: $500 million to $1 billion, Firms in group: 1307, Firms with value: 1304, Median: 71.125, Middle 50 percent from: 45.3458333333333, Middle 50 percent to: 114.407142857143; Group: $1 billion to $5 billion, Firms in group: 1089, Firms with value: 1087, Median: 68.1935483870968, Middle 50 percent from: 41.0454545454545, Middle 50 percent to: 108.135185185185; Group: $5 billion to $10 billion, Firms in group: 128, Firms with value: 128, Median: 53.2929864253394, Middle 50 percent from: 27.0410714285714, Middle 50 percent to: 98.4906367041199; Group: $10 billion and up, Firms in group: 109, Firms with value: 109, Median: 59.7299035369775, Middle 50 percent from: 28.7169811320755, Middle 50 percent to: 93.3214285714286; Group: No AUM reported, Firms in group: 3436, Firms with value: 1014, Median: 25, Middle 50 percent from: 7, Middle 50 percent to: 65.9375
- By state all sizes: Clients per advisor: State: California, Firms with value: 2760, Median: 39.6666666666667, Middle 50 percent from: 18, Middle 50 percent to: 76; State: Texas, Firms with value: 1535, Median: 37, Middle 50 percent from: 17, Middle 50 percent to: 70; State: Florida, Firms with value: 1478, Median: 37, Middle 50 percent from: 16.0625, Middle 50 percent to: 76; State: New York, Firms with value: 1150, Median: 38.2, Middle 50 percent from: 15, Middle 50 percent to: 79.9285714285714; State: Pennsylvania, Firms with value: 778, Median: 48.1111111111111, Middle 50 percent from: 23, Middle 50 percent to: 86; State: Ohio, Firms with value: 733, Median: 60, Middle 50 percent from: 27, Middle 50 percent to: 108; State: Illinois, Firms with value: 716, Median: 46, Middle 50 percent from: 23, Middle 50 percent to: 86; State: Massachusetts, Firms with value: 678, Median: 43.45, Middle 50 percent from: 20.203869047619, Middle 50 percent to: 78.95; State: Colorado, Firms with value: 652, Median: 42, Middle 50 percent from: 20.375, Middle 50 percent to: 76.0416666666667; State: Georgia, Firms with value: 596, Median: 42, Middle 50 percent from: 22, Middle 50 percent to: 76
- Method: For each firm the measure is worked out from its own Form ADV answers; a size band shows the median of those firm values and the middle 50% around it, so a few very large or very small firms do not pull the figure. Size bands are the AUM bands used in the industry data (Item 5.F(2)(c)).

## Notes

- A group with fewer than 30 firms reporting is not shown.
- Affiliated advisers can report the same assets on their own Form ADV, so totals here may double count across firms, as the SEC's own totals do.

## Sources

- SEC, Information About Registered Investment Advisers (ia100226.zip), checked 2026-10-02: https://www.sec.gov/files/investment/data/other/information-about-registered-investment-advisers-exempt-reporting-advisers/ia100226.zip
- IAPD compilation reports (IA_FIRM_STATE_Feed_10_20_2026.xml.gz), checked 2026-10-20: https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/compilation

## Related

- [RIA practice benchmarks](https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/)
- [How much AUM does an independent RIA manage per advisor?](https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/aum-per-advisor/)
- [How much AUM does an independent RIA hold per client?](https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/aum-per-client/)
- [How many people work at an independent RIA?](https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/firm-size/)
- [How do independent RIAs charge fees?](https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/fee-arrangements/)
- [RIA industry data](https://advisoriq.com/ria/industry/)
- [How the directory is built](https://advisoriq.com/ria/methodology/#benchmarks)

## Cite as

AdvisorIQ, as of 2026-10-02. https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/clients-per-advisor/

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