Wall Street took home a record bonus haul in 2025. This year is expected to be even better.
The nation's biggest banks have raked in profits from both Wall Street businesses and their Main Street consumers, reflecting booms in corporate dealmaking, initial public offerings, artificial intelligence and market volatility as well as a resilient consumer. That has the industry on pace for more than $90 billion in profits, according to new estimates released by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
In turn, the bonus pool for securities industry employees in New York state is expected to increase, DiNapoli said. That would help the city, which has previously forecast a 20% drop in the bonus pool.
In 2025, the average bonus on Wall Street was $246,900 and the average total compensation was $561,770, reflecting a gangbusters year for banks' results. The total bonus pool was $49.2 billion. Adjusting for inflation, the record was set before the financial crisis.
The forecast for this year requires Wall Street to keep chugging along. But the overall economic picture remains cloudy, in part because of geopolitical conflict and a turbulent bond market. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates in September for the first time in years, reflecting concerns about sticky inflation.
Big banks report third-quarter results next week, which will provide a fresh signal on the health of the economy.
Wall Street's performance is a key contributor to the fiscal health of New York state and city. That puts it front and center in the political changes the city's mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has been urging.
Some bankers and Wall Street fund managers have said high taxes and other politics would drive jobs out of the city. DiNapoli said jobs have increased in recent years and are expected to add more this year.
In New York City, employment in the industry last year rose 3.5% from the year earlier to 207,400, according to DiNapoli. Preliminary data suggests the industry will add an additional 5,300 jobs this year.
Texas has been gunning to challenge New York as a hub for finance. The upstart Texas Stock Exchange has been attempting to persuade big corporations to move their primary listing there, while the state has beefed up its business courts and several large financial institutions have established big presences there.
Job data shows the state has plenty of catching up to do. Texas' 18,800 securities-industry jobs added since 2019 are still behind New York's 24,300 additions, according to DiNapoli.
Higher pay for New York's finance elite is good news for the state, which depends heavily on tax revenue from the sector. The state's budget assumed bonuses for the finance and insurance industry would increase 7.3%, DiNapoli said.