When it comes to finding a high-paying career as a financial advisor, big cities don’t always fulfill big dreams, according to a new ranking by SmartAsset.

The New York City-based financial technology company compared 50 of the largest metropolitan areas nationwide across four metrics: average financial advisor earnings; two-year change in financial advisor pay; financial advisor pay relative to average pay; and housing costs as a percentage of average financial advisor pay.

SmartAsset gave equal weight to all four metrics used to rank each city in the study, then used that average to determine a final score. The metro area with the highest average ranking received a score of 100, while the one with the lowest received a score of 0.

Although financial advisors working in New York City earned the study’s highest average salary of $169,850, equally high-priced housing costs were responsible for shutting America’s largest city out of the study’s top 10. Although financial advisors nationwide typically earn more than double what the average worker in other fields earns, that is not the case in some of the largest cities on the West Coast, such as Los Angeles and San Jose, Calif., locking them out of the study’s top 10, too.

Here, in ascending order, are SmartAsset's top 10 best-paying places for financial advisors.

10. Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.

Indianapolis is the state's most populous city, giving advisors plenty of opportunities to prosper. In 2020, advisors working in the area earned an average pay of $125,550—4.06% higher than what they earned in 2018—and paid the sixth-lowest housing costs as a percentage of average advisor earnings (9.41%).