Fee-only financial advisors in California

1,677 fee-only investment advisers in California serve individuals, across 256 cities. 1,106 offer hourly or flat-fee arrangements and 864 are registered with the SEC; the rest are registered with the state securities regulator. Each listing comes from the firm’s own Form ADV filing, as of November 6, 2026.

Cities with three or more fee-only advisers

• San Francisco 144
• San Diego 106
• Los Angeles 91
• Newport Beach 63
• Irvine 52
• Pasadena 41
• Santa Barbara 34
• Walnut Creek 34
• San Rafael 26
• Westlake Village 26
• San Jose 25
• Sacramento 25
• Santa Monica 24
• La Jolla 23
• San Mateo 20
• Beverly Hills 20
• El Segundo 18
• Palo Alto 18
• Menlo Park 18
• Carlsbad 17
• Oakland 17
• Los Altos 16
• Manhattan Beach 16
• San Ramon 15
• Torrance 15
• San Luis Obispo 14
• Mill Valley 14
• Roseville 13
• Thousand Oaks 13
• Pleasanton 12
• Santa Rosa 12
• Carmel 11
• Danville 11
• Woodland Hills 11
• Folsom 10
• Berkeley 10
• Lafayette 10
• Encinitas 10
• Petaluma 9
• Mission Viejo 9
• Los Gatos 9
• Fresno 9
• Encino 9
• Huntington Beach 8
• Long Beach 8
• Camarillo 8
• Orange 8
• Costa Mesa 8
• Bakersfield 7
• Burlingame 7
• Burbank 7
• Tustin 7
• El Dorado Hills 7
• Sherman Oaks 7
• Rancho Santa Fe 7
• Monterey 7
• Laguna Hills 7
• Mountain View 7
• Sausalito 7
• Marina Del Rey 6
• Brea 6
• Redwood City 6
• Foster City 6
• Hermosa Beach 6
• Larkspur 6
• Aliso Viejo 6
• Calabasas 6
• Del Mar 6
• Cupertino 6
• Rolling Hills Estates 6
• Simi Valley 6
• Laguna Beach 6
• San Juan Capistrano 5
• Santa Ana 5
• Alamo 5
• Orinda 5
• Campbell 5
• Greenbrae 5
• Ventura 5
• Granite Bay 5
• Escondido 5
• Glendale 5
• Stockton 5
• Rocklin 5
• Claremont 4
• Chico 4
• Tiburon 4
• Napa 4
• Lake Forest 4
• Redlands 4
• Sonoma 4
• Concord 4
• Modesto 4
• Coronado 4
• Fremont 4
• Novato 4
• Turlock 4
• Redondo Beach 4
• Moraga 4
• Solana Beach 4
• Palm Desert 4
• San Clemente 4
• Arcadia 4
• Seal Beach 4
• San Marcos 4
• Santa Cruz 4
• Temecula 4
• Monrovia 4
• Anaheim 4
• Santa Clara 4
• St. Helena 3
• Valencia 3
• Saratoga 3
• Eureka 3
• Redwood Shores 3
• Sebastopol 3
• Benicia 3
• Corte Madera 3
• Sunnyvale 3
• Ontario 3
• Riverside 3
• Diamond Bar 3
• Clovis 3
• Visalia 3

Fee-only advisers in California serving the most individuals

• Human Interest Advisors LLC San Francisco · 793,057 individual clients
• Sigfig Wealth Management LLC San Francisco · 106,361 individual clients
• Step Advisers, LLC San Mateo · 80,707 individual clients
• Bloom Investment Advisors, LLC San Francisco · 71,486 individual clients
• Insights Investments Palo Alto · 33,896 individual clients
• Ep Wealth Advisors Torrance · 19,618 individual clients
• Brandes Investment Partners, LP La Jolla · 11,167 individual clients
• Octavewealth San Francisco · 8,400 individual clients
• Pure Financial Advisors, LLC San Diego · 7,503 individual clients
• Thepartners Wealth Management Carmel by the Sea · 5,925 individual clients

Other California cities

How to choose between them

1. Decide how you want to pay. Hourly and flat-fee planners suit people who want a plan and will implement it themselves. A percentage-of-assets fee buys ongoing investment management; on $1 million at 1% that is $10,000 a year, every year.
2. Check the SEC record. Each listing links to the firm’s page on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site, where you can read the Form ADV Part 2 brochure (fees, minimums, conflicts) and any disciplinary history.
3. Ask who you will actually work with and what credentials they hold. The advisor versus consultant guide explains which titles are regulated and which are marketing.
4. Ask about minimums. Form ADV Part 1 does not record account minimums, so they are not shown here. Many asset-based firms require $500,000 or more; hourly planners usually have none.
5. Get the fee in writing before you sign, including fund expenses and any platform or custody charges on top.