CNN
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Bonus season on Wall Street runs through March, and based on estimates released Wednesday morning, it has been a lucrative start to spring for the more than 200,000 people working in the securities industry.
Their total bonus pool hit a record $47.5 billion, up 34% from last year, according to the office of New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The average bonus paid to employees also hit a record high, at $244,700, up 31.5% from the year before.
The big bonus payouts follow a 90% jump in Wall Street profits last year, DiNapoli said in a statement. “The record high bonus pool reflects Wall Street’s very strong performance in 2024. This financial market strength is good news for New York’s economy and our fiscal position, which relies on the tax revenue it generates.”
The record highs are based on nominal dollars. When adjusted for inflation, the year 2006 still takes the cake. That year, the bonus pool totaled $34.3 billion, and the average bonus paid was $191,400. That would be worth more than $307,000 in 2025 dollars, according to the inflation calculator from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Record or not, the average Wall Street bonus still handily tops median US household income. This year it came in three times higher than the $80,610 in median household earnings reported by the US Census for 2023.
DiNapoli’s estimates are based on tax withholding trends on cash bonuses paid for work performed in 2024 plus any deferred bonuses from prior years that were cashed in last year. Notably, however, they do not include stock options or other forms of deferred compensation people may have received, for which no taxes have yet been withheld.
New York prospers when Wall Street does
Even though a smaller share of employees in the securities industry works in New York City than used to be the case — they now make up 18% of the industry overall, down from 33% in 1990 — it is still the largest share for any single state, according to data from DiNapoli’s office. And those employees are a big contributor to the state and local economy, with an estimated one in 11 jobs in the city directly or indirectly tied to the securities industry.
DiNapoli noted that Wall Street accounts for 19% of taxes collected by New York State and 7% of taxes paid to New York City. Relative to the prior year’s tax collections, this year’s bonuses alone are estimated to generate an additional $600 million in state revenue and $275 million more in city revenue.
He also noted that Wall Street accounts for nearly 18% of the city’s overall economic activity, and has one of the highest return-to-office rates of any sector in New York City.
Big profits in 2024. But what about this year?
Looking ahead, DiNapoli noted, “increasing uncertainty in the economy amid significant federal policy changes may dampen the outlook for parts of the securities industry in 2025.”
DiNapoli didn’t specify which policy changes he was referencing. But the chaotic on-again-off-again rollout of President Donald Trump’s controversial tariffs coupled with his upending of US relations with its allies, among other jarring moves, has left the business world and investors unclear how to proceed, and has pushed consumer confidence in the economy to its lowest level since January 2021.