Wall Street Pay Falls Further From Pandemic Highs
The average New York City securities salary dropped 5.2% in 2023, mostly due to smaller bonuses, marking a drop from the pandemic highs.
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Everybody wanted things to go back to normal during COVID … except Wall Street.
Compensation in New York City’s securities industry soared during the pandemic thanks in large part to federal stimulus and near-zero interest rates. Fast forward to 2023, and salaries fell for the second year running to $471,370, according to a recent state comptroller report.
It marks quite a drop from the $515,600 that securities employees made on average during the height of the pandemic in 2021. The world may have been shutting down, but hey, at least take-home pay was through the roof.
“After record years during the pandemic, Wall Street’s profits were more in line with pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and 2023,” said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli in a release. “This year has been very strong so far and profits may continue their upward trajectory.”
Buy the Dip
The drop in pay is likely linked to profits. Securities firms in the state took in $26.3 billion in profits last year, which were “levels more typical prior to the pandemic,” according to the report. Again, that’s a major decline from the $58.4 billion in profits Wall Street brought in in 2021 thanks to government stimulus and low interest rates. Dwindling profits also meant smaller bonuses for employees, which topped out at an average of $176,500.
There may be good news on the horizon:
- In the first half of 2024, New York Stock Exchange member firm profits grew to $23.2 billion, a nearly 80% jump year-over-year, the report said.
- They’re estimated to reach $47 billion by the end of year, which means some may be getting bigger bonuses, too.
Back to Normal. Don’t feel too bad for brokers. Despite the wage decline, 2023 was still the third-highest year on record for salaries in New York’s securities industry. And though the growth rate was slower compared to states like Texas and Utah, New York listed the most securities industry jobs last year, at 214,900.
Plus, we can all rest easy knowing CEOs at New York-based financial firms made 234 times more than the median for all their employees.
