NEW YORK — Wall Street securities industry bonuses reached a record $49.2 billion in 2025, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, a 9 percent increase from 2024. The average bonus climbed 6 percent to $246,900.
Record pretax profits drove the surge. Wall Street firms posted $65.1 billion in pretax profits in 2025, more than 30 percent above 2024's $49.9 billion. Strong trading activity, underwriting services and asset-management fees powered the gains.
DiNapoli said, "Wall Street saw strong performance for much of last year, despite all of the ongoing domestic and international upheavals." The bonus windfall will generate an estimated $199 million in state income tax revenue and $91 million for New York City.
Yet warning signs are mounting. Industry headcount fell to 198,200 in 2025 from a 30-year high of 201,500 in 2024. New York City's share of national securities jobs has also eroded to 17.9 percent, down from roughly one-third of the national total in 1990 as financial centers like Dallas and Miami expand.
The average securities-industry salary in New York City, including bonuses, reached $505,677 in 2024—nearly five times the rest of the private sector and the second-highest on record. Bonuses now account for 42 percent of all industry wages.
The real headwind is 2026. President Trump's tariff escalation has already stalled Wall Street hiring momentum in early 2026. New York State's budget projected finance-sector bonuses would rise 25.9 percent in the current fiscal year; New York City projected a 15.1 percent increase. DiNapoli's estimates suggest both targets are out of reach.
The stakes are material: one in 13 New York City jobs depends directly or indirectly on the securities industry. A prolonged tariff-driven slowdown would crimp both job growth and tax revenue at a moment when federal funding uncertainty looms.
