Wall St. Bonuses More Than Double Average NYC Salary In 2017

WALL STREET, NY — Wall Street financiers got an average of $184,220 in bonuses last year, according to a new estimate from the state comptroller's office.

The average salary for New Yorkers in the private sector (not including Wall Street jobs) is about $74,800, according to DiNapoli's estimate. Compare that to securities industry employees, who got an average bonus of $184,220 last year.

Employees in the securities industry made the eye-popping average bonus last year on top of their annual salaries. Thomas DiNapoli, the New York state comptroller, released a report Monday detailing the massive bonuses of Wall Street employees and the profits of their firms.

The report showed that Wall Street profits and bonuses increased sharply in 2017.

"When Wall Street does well, the city and state benefit from higher tax revenues," DiNapoli said in a statement. "The large increase in profitability over the past two years demonstrates that the industry can prosper with the regulations and consumer protections adopted after the financial crisis. It is too soon to tell how increased volatility in the financial markets might impact profits in 2018."

In total, securities industry profits rose by $24.5 billion, a "dramatic" rise for the second year in a row, DiNapoli said.

Wall Street's increased profitably led to higher average bonuses last year, which DiNapoli estimated through personal income tax trends. These bonuses are included in the hefty paycheck of the average securities industry job, which stood at $375,200 in 2016, DiNapoli's office said. The average Wall Street salary is five times higher than in the rest of the private sector in New York City.

Image credit: David Allen / Patch