How to become a financial advisor in North Carolina

What you want to do decides which exams you take and which agency registers you. FINRA, the industry regulator, runs the SIE, Series 6 and Series 7. NASAA, the association of state regulators, is behind the Series 63, 65 and 66. Some roles need more than one row.

• ToolsLicense path finderPick what you want to do and see the exams you need, in order, and which of them need a firm to sponsor you.

To sell and advise, the Series 63 plus the Series 65 works in place of the Series 66. The license path finder lists the exams in order for your goal, the cost and time tool prices your own path, and the roadmap builder puts the steps in order for your situation.

Can you start while still in your current job?

Partly, and the order matters. The SIE, Series 63 and Series 65 need no firm sponsor, so you can pass them while still in another job (FINRA SIE page, NASAA exam FAQ). The North Carolina insurance license also needs no employer or required course to apply, though you can sell only for an insurer that appoints you. The Series 7, the Series 6 and any registration with the Securities Division come after a firm hires you. The second career guide covers the rest.

North Carolina does not issue a separate securities license. What people call a North Carolina securities license is your registration with the Securities Division as a salesman (the state's word for a securities agent) or as an investment adviser representative, filed by your firm after you pass the exams. The Division's representative page and salesman page are the official checklists. The steps below put them in order for one person.

If you plan to start your own advisory firm, the firm registers too. It files Form ADV through IARD, pays North Carolina a $300¹⁸ filing fee (as read in October 2026^{4,5,13,14,18-22}) and renews every year. Larger firms register with the SEC instead and make a notice filing in North Carolina, which the broker-dealer and RIA guide explains. The Division's investment adviser page lists the firm steps.

• One brokerage firm at a time. The Division's salesman page says North Carolina does not permit dual registration, so no agent may be registered with more than one dealer. FINRA's schedule lists the state's setting as "Affiliates Only". The Division's page is the rule to follow.
• Solicitors register too. If your job is bringing clients to an investment adviser, North Carolina requires you to register as a representative of that adviser.
• No continuing education rule for representatives. North Carolina is not on NASAA's IAR CE map. Agents of brokerage firms still complete FINRA's own continuing education through their firm.
• Variable annuities need both agencies. An insurance agent who wants to sell variable annuities has a brokerage firm file a U4, passes the Series 63, and gives the Department of Insurance their CRD number. The Department then adds the variable life and variable annuity line, which has no exam but requires a life license and securities registration with the Secretary of State. The insurance agent to advisor guide covers that move.
• No required insurance course. North Carolina no longer requires a set course or number of hours before the insurance exam, as the insurance section below explains.

Only to sell life, health or annuity products, including variable annuities. Giving investment advice or selling stocks, bonds and mutual funds does not require one. The North Carolina Department of Insurance¹ issues the Life line and the Accident and Health or Sickness line, and you apply on your own, with no employer needed.

There is no required course. Since October 1, 2025³², North Carolina law bars the Insurance Commissioner from requiring a set course or number of hours before the license exam (state insurance licensing law), so pages that list required pre-licensing hours are out of date. The Department still lists approved course providers if you want one.

Together the applications, background check and both exams come to $272^13,14,21 before NIPR's transaction fee and any course you choose to buy, at the Department's and Pearson VUE's fees as read in October 2026^{4,5,13,14,18-22}. The Department's become an insurance producer page and its exam candidate handbook are the official sources.

How much do financial advisors make in North Carolina?

The median wage of personal financial advisors in North Carolina was $96,880¹⁵ in May 2025, below the US median of $105,070¹⁶, according to BLS. One in ten earned less than $48,790¹⁵ and one in ten more than $287,290¹⁵. The middle half earned between $63,190¹⁵ and $153,970¹⁵, against $72,440¹⁶ to $176,790¹⁶ for the US. These are survey figures for all employers that leave out the self-employed. They are not what a new advisor earns or a forecast of what any one person will earn. The table shows advisors beside two related jobs, securities sales agents and insurance agents.

$0$100,000$200,000$300,000$400,000

North Carolina

One in ten earn less than

$48,790¹⁵

One in four earn less than

$63,190¹⁵

Median

$96,880¹⁵

One in four earn more than

$153,970¹⁵

One in ten earn more than

$287,290¹⁵

United States

One in ten earn less than

$50,190¹⁶

One in four earn less than

$72,440¹⁶

Median

$105,070¹⁶

One in four earn more than

$176,790¹⁶

One in ten earn more than

$357,020¹⁶

Where are the advisor jobs in North Carolina?

BLS counted 12,340¹⁵ personal financial advisors on North Carolina payrolls in May 2025, and the state has more advisors per job than the US, with a location quotient of 1.46¹⁵ (above one means a larger share of jobs than nationally). Securities sales agents run at 1.41¹⁵ and insurance agents at 1.35¹⁵, also above the US share. The three metros with the most advisors tell different stories.

• Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is a two-state metro (North Carolina and South Carolina), so its figures are not North Carolina figures. It has 4,850³⁵ advisors at a location quotient of 2.08³⁵, and an even denser securities sales agent workforce, 9,890³⁵ jobs at 2.31³⁵. That is the workforce the banker to advisor guide describes.
• Durham-Chapel Hill has the highest advisor concentration in the table, 2.56³⁵, but a median of $63,300³⁵. Its bottom tenth, $48,790³⁵, matches the state's, while its top tenth starts at $138,010³⁵.
• Raleigh-Cary has fewer advisors per job than either, at 1.84³⁵, and a median of $104,780³⁵. Concentration and pay are different questions.

The error column is the relative standard error BLS publishes for each employment estimate. The higher it is, the rougher the estimate, so read the smaller metros and the areas outside metros as approximate.

Fayetteville, Jacksonville and Goldsboro are the metros around Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, and Pinehurst-Southern Pines sits next to Fort Bragg. BLS counts few advisors on payrolls in Fayetteville and Pinehurst-Southern Pines and publishes no advisor row at all for the Jacksonville, NC or Goldsboro metros, so any advisor figure you see for those two did not come from this survey. The military to advisor guide covers the path from service. NCWorks, the state's job site, lists current openings (ncworks.gov).

Are advisor jobs growing in North Carolina, and will AI replace advisors?

The state projects growth, and the newest national projection is slower. NC Commerce, the state labor agency, expects advisor jobs in North Carolina to grow 14.6%³⁶ from 2024 to 2034, with about 1,360³⁶ openings a year. The newest BLS national projection, for 2025 to 2035, is growth of 1%², slower than the average for all occupations, with about 17,100² openings a year, mostly to replace advisors who change jobs or retire. The two cover different years, so they are not a like-for-like comparison, and neither is a promise of openings in any one place or for any one person. Pages and AI answers that still show 17.1%³⁷ national growth are quoting the 2023 to 2033 projection, which BLS has replaced.

On AI, BLS says AI tools for financial advice may moderate demand for advisors, while many consumers are expected to keep relying on human advisors for more complex and specialized investment advice. Is financial advisor a good career? looks at what the outlook means for newcomers.

Why do other sites show different North Carolina numbers?

• OEWS counts wage and salary workers only, so it leaves out self-employed advisors. Nationally, the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook counts 299,400² advisor jobs in 2025 including the self-employed, against 266,800¹⁶ in OEWS.
• The North Carolina mean of $143,740¹⁵ sits well above the median because the highest earners pull it up, so the median is the better guide to the middle of the range.
• From the May 2025 survey on, BLS publishes the top tenth of advisor wages as a number instead of capping it at $239,200³⁸, so pages using older data show a lower top end.
• Some North Carolina salary tables online still show BLS metro data from May 2019, or label state tables as national figures. Others call the median an average, or label the lowest and highest tenth of pay as the bottom and top fifth. Salary sites built from job postings or self-reported pay are not government survey data.
• BLS warns against comparing survey years to track pay changes, so those older tables cannot be set beside these to show a trend.

Two metros cross North Carolina's border. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia reaches into South Carolina, and Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk reaches into northeastern North Carolina, so advisors there can have clients in two states. The Charlotte guide explains how registration works across the North Carolina and South Carolina line. Guides for South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee are listed on all state guides as they publish.