The 20% rise in bonuses paid to Wall Street workers exceeds New York City’s forecast of a 15.7% gain, which may mean a higher-than-expected amount of income tax revenue heading into city coffers.
The average annual bonus paid to employees in New York City’s securities industry rose to a record $257,500 last year, according to the annual estimate report released Wednesday by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
“Wall Street’s soaring profits continued to beat expectations in 2021 and drove record bonuses,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “But recent events are likely to drive near-term profitability and bonuses lower,” including market turbulence due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sluggish recovery of other business sectors in the city.
“In New York, we won’t get back to our pre-COVID economic strength until more New Yorkers and more sectors — retail, tourism, construction, the arts and others — enjoy similar success,” he said.
The average salary, including bonuses, in the securities industry rose 7.7% to $438,370 in 2020, according to the latest available data. This is roughly five times higher than the average of $92,315 in the rest of the private sector, the comptroller said.
Although it makes up only 5% of the private-sector jobs in the city, one-fifth of all wages come from the securities industry. DiNapoli estimates one in nine jobs are directly or indirectly associated with the securities industry.
It is estimated by the comptroller's office that in fiscal 2021 the securities industry accounted for 18% of state tax collections and 7% of city tax collections.
The City Council is now holding
