Wall Street Bonuses Hit a Record High. Here’s How Much Bankers Made.
Wall Street’s bonus pool hit a record $49.2 billion in 2025, a 9% increase from the previous year.
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Key Takeaways
- The average Wall Street bonus hit a record $246,900 in 2025, about $15,000 higher than in 2024.
- The total bonus pool climbed to $49.2 billion, fueled by a more than 30% jump in industry profits.
- The richer payouts added an estimated $199 million in extra state income tax revenue.
The average Wall Street bonus reached $246,900 in 2025, a record high, as bank profits surged, per a recent report from New York State’s Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
DiNapoli reported this week that the average Wall Street bonus increased by 6% in 2025 compared to 2024. That means that the average bonus rose by almost $15,000.
Meanwhile, Wall Street’s pool of bonuses hit a record $49.2 billion in 2025, a 9% increase from 2024. These figures cover cash bonuses for Wall Street workers in New York City, excluding employees in other hubs such as Charlotte or Dallas.
“Wall Street saw strong performance for much of last year, despite all of the ongoing domestic and international upheavals,” DiNapoli said in a press release. “When Wall Street does well, it’s good for our state and city budgets, which are reliant on the industry’s significant tax contributions.”
Wall Street accounted for 19.4% of New York state’s tax collections and 8.4% of city tax revenue in fiscal year 2025, per DiNapoli. He stated that the 2025 bonuses will generate $199 more in state income tax revenue and $91 million more for the city when compared to 2024.
Why bonuses hit records
The increases in bonuses reflect a growth of more than 30% in Wall Street’s profits, which equaled $65.1 billion in 2025.
In 2025, Wall Street’s profits and bonuses got a boost from busy trading floors and higher client management fees, per DiNapoli.
The industry saw a small dip in jobs last year, slipping to 198,200 in 2025 from a 30-year high of 201,500 in 2024, based on DiNapoli’s data.
Chris Connors, a managing director of the compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates, told ABC News that the record-high bonuses were no surprise, given Wall Street trends.
“I think 2025 was a great year, probably the best year since 2021 for many firms on Wall Street,” Connors told the outlet.
How much bankers made
Though 2025 salary figures have yet to be released, DiNapoli disclosed numbers for 2024.
The average Wall Street paycheck climbed 7.3% in 2024 to $505,677, bonuses included — the second-highest on record. That’s nearly five times what the average private-sector worker elsewhere in the city earned. Bonuses made up about 42% of those wages, and overall, Wall Street accounted for just over 20% of New York City’s entire economic activity last year.
In 2024, New York City accounted for about 17.9% of the nation’s finance industry jobs, down from roughly a third back in 1990, but still more than any other state can claim. The city remains the country’s financial hub, even as some other regions have been adding jobs at a faster pace.
DiNapoli estimates that about one in every 13 jobs in New York City is directly or indirectly tied to Wall Street.
Key Takeaways
- The average Wall Street bonus hit a record $246,900 in 2025, about $15,000 higher than in 2024.
- The total bonus pool climbed to $49.2 billion, fueled by a more than 30% jump in industry profits.
- The richer payouts added an estimated $199 million in extra state income tax revenue.
The average Wall Street bonus reached $246,900 in 2025, a record high, as bank profits surged, per a recent report from New York State’s Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
DiNapoli reported this week that the average Wall Street bonus increased by 6% in 2025 compared to 2024. That means that the average bonus rose by almost $15,000.
Meanwhile, Wall Street’s pool of bonuses hit a record $49.2 billion in 2025, a 9% increase from 2024. These figures cover cash bonuses for Wall Street workers in New York City, excluding employees in other hubs such as Charlotte or Dallas.
