United States: Wall Street bonus record near 50 billion dollars for 2025

Bonuses paid by Wall Street in 2025 have increased by 9% over the past year, reaching a record $49.2 billion due to the surge in financial activity, as reported by the New York State financial controller. “Wall Street saw strong performance for most of last year, despite disruptions at the national and international levels,” said Thomas DiNapoli in a statement, noting that Wall Street’s cumulative profits had jumped by 30% to $65.1 billion.

According to his estimates, the average bonus paid to finance employees has increased by 6% to $246,900 in a year. “When Wall Street is doing well, it’s good for our state and the city budget, which rely on significant tax contributions from this industry,” he pointed out. However, he added that job growth is “slowing down” and “geopolitical conflicts have global repercussions that pose extraordinary risks for the short-term and long-term outlook of the financial sector and economic markets at large.” American banks and investment firms reported the good health of their asset management and wealth management activities in 2025, sometimes marked by record net inflows, as well as in stock trading and private equity.

The sector employed 198,200 people in 2025

As a result, fees and commissions collected from these transactions have increased, boosting operational profits and employee bonuses as a result. According to the controller’s estimates, the sector employed 198,200 people in 2025, down from 201,500 in 2024, which was a thirty-year high. In 2024, the most recent data available, the average salary, including bonuses, reached $505,677, the second highest level in history and nearly five times higher than the average salary in the private sector of the US economic capital.

The sector accounted for 19.4% of the state’s taxes in the 2024-2025 fiscal year and 8.4% of New York City’s in 2025, the statement noted, emphasizing that bonuses alone are expected to generate an additional $199 million in income taxes for the state and $91 million for the city in 2025. American taxpayers pay income taxes at the federal level, as well as, for the most part, at the state and city level of residence.