{"type":"ria_benchmark","disclaimer":"Firm-level data as reported on Form ADV to the SEC and state regulators; corrections are made on Form ADV and appear after the next monthly reload.","title":"How many people work at an independent RIA?","lead":"As of October 2, 2026, the median independent wealth management RIA has 2 employees, and the middle half of firms have between 1 and 4 (22,791 firms, from Form ADV). The median firm has 1 advisory employee. By size, the median number of employees is lowest at firms managing under $100 million (1) and highest at firms managing $10 billion and up (205).","as_of":"2026-10-02","facts":{"question":"How many people work at an independent RIA?","answer":"As of October 2, 2026, the median independent wealth management RIA has 2 employees, and the middle half of firms have between 1 and 4 (22,791 firms, from Form ADV). The median firm has 1 advisory employee. By size, the median number of employees is lowest at firms managing under $100 million (1) and highest at firms managing $10 billion and up (205).","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":"employees","label":"Employees","definition":"A firm's employees, full time and part time, not counting clerical workers (Form ADV Item 5.A). One value per firm; firms reporting at least one.","unit":"count"},{"key":"advisory_employees","label":"Advisory employees","definition":"A firm's employees who perform investment advisory functions, including research (Form ADV Item 5.B(1)). One value per firm; firms reporting at least one.","unit":"count"}],"by_size_band":{"employees":[{"group":"All sizes","firms_in_group":22914,"firms_with_value":22791,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":4},{"group":"Under $100 million","firms_in_group":11373,"firms_with_value":11307,"median":1,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":2},{"group":"$100 million to $250 million","firms_in_group":3447,"firms_with_value":3446,"median":3,"middle_50_percent_from":2,"middle_50_percent_to":5},{"group":"$250 million to $500 million","firms_in_group":2025,"firms_with_value":2025,"median":6,"middle_50_percent_from":4,"middle_50_percent_to":8},{"group":"$500 million to $1 billion","firms_in_group":1307,"firms_with_value":1307,"median":9,"middle_50_percent_from":6,"middle_50_percent_to":13},{"group":"$1 billion to $5 billion","firms_in_group":1089,"firms_with_value":1089,"median":18,"middle_50_percent_from":12,"middle_50_percent_to":30},{"group":"$5 billion to $10 billion","firms_in_group":128,"firms_with_value":128,"median":62.5,"middle_50_percent_from":37,"middle_50_percent_to":97.25},{"group":"$10 billion and up","firms_in_group":109,"firms_with_value":109,"median":205,"middle_50_percent_from":124,"middle_50_percent_to":432},{"group":"No AUM reported","firms_in_group":3436,"firms_with_value":3380,"median":1,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":2}],"advisory_employees":[{"group":"All sizes","firms_in_group":22914,"firms_with_value":22705,"median":1,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":3},{"group":"Under $100 million","firms_in_group":11373,"firms_with_value":11283,"median":1,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":1},{"group":"$100 million to $250 million","firms_in_group":3447,"firms_with_value":3441,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":2,"middle_50_percent_to":3},{"group":"$250 million to $500 million","firms_in_group":2025,"firms_with_value":2022,"median":4,"middle_50_percent_from":3,"middle_50_percent_to":5},{"group":"$500 million to $1 billion","firms_in_group":1307,"firms_with_value":1305,"median":6,"middle_50_percent_from":4,"middle_50_percent_to":8},{"group":"$1 billion to $5 billion","firms_in_group":1089,"firms_with_value":1088,"median":11,"middle_50_percent_from":7,"middle_50_percent_to":18},{"group":"$5 billion to $10 billion","firms_in_group":128,"firms_with_value":128,"median":32,"middle_50_percent_from":18.75,"middle_50_percent_to":56.25},{"group":"$10 billion and up","firms_in_group":109,"firms_with_value":109,"median":99,"middle_50_percent_from":46,"middle_50_percent_to":217},{"group":"No AUM reported","firms_in_group":3436,"firms_with_value":3329,"median":1,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":1}]},"by_state_all_sizes":{"employees":[{"state":"California","firms_with_value":3206,"median":1,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":3},{"state":"Texas","firms_with_value":1797,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":4},{"state":"Florida","firms_with_value":1703,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":4},{"state":"New York","firms_with_value":1322,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":4},{"state":"Pennsylvania","firms_with_value":898,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":5},{"state":"Ohio","firms_with_value":834,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":4},{"state":"Illinois","firms_with_value":823,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":4},{"state":"Massachusetts","firms_with_value":772,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":4},{"state":"Colorado","firms_with_value":747,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":4},{"state":"New Jersey","firms_with_value":686,"median":2,"middle_50_percent_from":1,"middle_50_percent_to":4}]},"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))."},"sources":[{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/files/investment/data/other/information-about-registered-investment-advisers-exempt-reporting-advisers/ia100226.zip","checked":"2026-10-02","label":"SEC, Information About Registered Investment Advisers (ia100226.zip)"},{"url":"https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/compilation","checked":"2026-10-20","label":"IAPD compilation reports (IA_FIRM_STATE_Feed_10_20_2026.xml.gz)"}],"related":[{"title":"RIA practice benchmarks","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/"},{"title":"How much AUM does an independent RIA manage per advisor?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/aum-per-advisor/"},{"title":"How many clients does an advisor at an independent RIA serve?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/clients-per-advisor/"},{"title":"How much AUM does an independent RIA hold per client?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/aum-per-client/"},{"title":"How do independent RIAs charge fees?","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/fee-arrangements/"},{"title":"RIA industry data","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/industry/"},{"title":"How the directory is built","url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/methodology/#benchmarks"}],"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."],"url":"https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/firm-size/","citation":"AdvisorIQ, as of 2026-10-02. https://advisoriq.com/ria/benchmarks/firm-size/","license":"https://advisoriq.com/license/","publisher":"AdvisorIQ, independent education for financial advisors"}