The Average Wall Street Bonus Decreased By 26% in 2022, According to a New Report It's the largest drop since the Great Recession.

By Gabrielle Bienasz

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

ANGELA WEISS / Contributor I Getty Images

Wall Street bonuses took a hit in 2022.

According to data analyzed by the New York State Comptroller, people employed in the "securities industry" in New York City saw their bonuses drop 26% — from an average of $240,400 in 2021 to $176,700 in 2022, Bloomberg reported.

Securities industry workers include people who participate in things taken on by large financial institutions — including underwriting securities and helping to buy and sell commodities or securities.

The comptroller's report said the total bonus pool for securities workers in 2022 was $33.7 billion, down from $42.7 billion the year prior. In addition to lamentable effects on the City's coffers, the decrease was "the largest drop since the Great Recession," according to the report.

Since 2008, the average bonuses for securities industry workers went up by 75.2%, left-leaning think tank the Institute for Policy Studies said in a report released Thursday that analyzed the Comptroller data and Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

"By contrast, average weekly earnings for all U.S. private sector workers increased by only 54.4 percent during this period," IPS wrote,

Gabrielle Bienasz is a staff writer at Entrepreneur. She previously worked at Insider and Inc. Magazine. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

JPMorgan Shuts Down Internal Message Board Comments After Employees React to Return-to-Office Mandate

Employees were given the option to leave comments about the RTO mandate with their first and last names on display — and they did not hold back.

Business News

Zillow Predicts These 10 Places Will Have the Hottest Housing Markets in 2025

Zillow predicted that the hottest housing market of 2025 will be Buffalo, New York. Here's why.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

'More Soul-Crushing Than Ever': Popular Hiring Platform Finds Around 20% of Its Postings Were 'Ghost Jobs'

Is that job listing too good to be true? There's a one-in-five chance that it might be.

Business News

'Masculine Energy Is Good': Mark Zuckerberg Tells Joe Rogan He Thinks Companies Need More Aggression

On the most recent episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said corporate culture has become "neutered."

Growing a Business

5 Risk-Taking Lessons From Founders Who Bet Big and Won

Discover the bold moves and strategic risks that catapulted these entrepreneurs to success. Learn how their fearless decisions can inspire your own path to growth.