Workers on Wall Street enjoyed a record 2021 as a report released Wednesday by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found the average bonus paid to employees in New York City’s securities industry exceeded a quarter-of-a-million dollars.

DiNapoli said the large gains in the stock market helped securities workers draw an average bonus of $257,500 – a 20% jump from last year’s record high. The overall bonus pool for workers is estimated to be $45 billion, a 21 percent increase from last year.

The bonuses are estimates from the comptroller’s office based on data from the New York State Department of Labor. The 2021 bonus estimate was based using personal income tax collections. Deferred forms of compensation are not included in the estimates.

However, he added that the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine and economic uncertainty may lead to lower bonuses.

“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,” the comptroller said in a statement.

The investment sector accounts for just 1-in-20 private-sector jobs in New York City. However, the jobs in that sector – a total of 180,000 – accounted for 20 percent of all private-sector wages in the city.

Including bonuses, the average securities worker was paid $438,370 in 2020, DiNapoli said. That was almost five times the average of workers in other industries. In 1981, workers at investment firms got paid twice what other workers made.

Because of that, the comptroller estimates the industry provided nearly $15 billion in state tax revenue and $4.7 billion in city tax revenue.

According to figures from DiNapoli’s office, the jobs total is down by about 3,500 from 2019 but up 10,500 from 2012.

The pre-tax profits for brokers on the New York Stock Exchange have not been finalized yet as fourth-quarter figures must still be accounted for. However, DiNapoli believes that amount will be the industry’s best in 12 years.

Through the first three quarters, those member firms reported pre-tax profits of $44.9 billion, a nearly 20 percent year-to-year increase. The full-year 2020 profits were $50.9 billion, the best year since the firms reported $61.4 billion in 2009.

This article was originally posted on Average bonuses in New York City’s securities industry exceeded a quarter-of-a-million dollars