Wall Street bonuses surged to a record-high $47.5 billion for 2024
In New York’s financial district, 2024 was yet another year when money never slept.
Those of you that have just received your annual company bonus will be pleased to hear that this payout season was a particularly happy one for NYC’s high-flying securities industry execs, marking another big win for some of America’s biggest earners.
Bloomberg reported new estimates from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on Wednesday, which showed that Wall Street’s bonus pot ballooned in 2024, totaling a record $47.5 billion — the largest it’s been in nominal dollars since at least 1987, when records began.
The estimates, based on trends in personal income tax withholdings, suggest that the average annual cash payout was a record-high $244,700, up by almost a third from 2023... though, when adjusted for inflation, the $191,400 bonus paid out in 2006 would be worth over $307,000 today, according to CNN.
These bumper bonuses come after Wall Street's very strong performance in 2024, with profits at the 131 New York Stock Exchange member firms surging more than 90% last year. Despite the fact that New York now makes up a smaller share of America’s securities industry overall, DiNapoli reported that 1 in 11 jobs in the city are estimated to be tied to securities, either directly or indirectly.
Rich people getting richer aside, DiNapoli outlined in a statement that the bonuses indicate the strength of the financial market, calling it “good news for New York’s economy and [its] fiscal position, which relies on the tax revenue it generates.”
Per Bloomberg, Wall Street accounted for 19% of New York’s state tax revenue from 2023-24.
