The number of certified financial planners grew by 4.3% between early 2025 and 2026, for a total of 107,558 active licenses across the U.S., SmartAsset reported last week, citing the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.
The report noted that the competition for existing CFPs, as well as for financial planners with different credentials, comes down to contextual factors such as local advisors per capita, growth in the local industry and the typical income levels of local households.
With this in mind, SmartAsset researchers examined data for the 50 states and the District of Columbia on active CFPs per capita, along with consumer metrics and growth in licensed CFP professionals.
Data for the number of CFP certificants came from the CFP Board as of February 2026 and January 2025 and for population and income from the U.S. Census Bureau's 1-Year American Community Survey (2024), the latest data available.
The research showed that Colorado and New Hampshire have the most CFPs per capita. Although the CFP mark might stand out the least among advisors in those two states, SmartAsset said, the high rate of this certification also indicates an advisor base with an expected competency set across comprehensive planning.
In both Colorado and New Hampshire, there are an estimated 1,774 consumers per CFP.
One in 10 CFPs is based in California, according to the research. As of early 2026, the Golden State had the most CFPs with 10,868 certificants, with an estimated 3,628 consumers available to each one. CFPs across California, Texas, Florida and New York make up roughly 30% of all such professionals nationwide.
Vermont had the smallest percentage increase in CFPs nationwide at 1.0% over the last year, and Wyoming had the second lowest growth at 1.8%. And even though 20.8% of households earn upward of $200,000 annually in Maryland, licensing there was third lowest with a 2.1% increase in the number of certificants this past year.
See the gallery for the 12 states that saw the fastest year-over-year growth in the number of CFPs.
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