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How Wall Street bonuses have exploded since 1986
(Reuters) In 2014 the average Wall Street bonus was about $172,860, according to the Office of New York's comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli.
That's an increase of 2% from the year before. The bonus pool itself increased 3% to $28.5 billion.
Of course, Wall Street is a place of extremes, so keep in mind that people make way, way more and far less than the average.
(Office of the Comptroller of New York State)
Also helpful to keep in mind (and what DiNapoli's office included in this handy table) is how much those bonuses have exploded since 1986, when they averaged $14,120. They peaked at $191,360 in 2006 before reaching last year's $172,860.
Additionally, the average Wall Street salary was $355,900 in 2013. That is five times higher than average salary in the rest of New York City's private sector.
The industry is, however, 20,000 jobs weaker than it was before the financial crisis.
"There's no doubt the economy has become more diversified," said DiNapoli, pointing out that sectors like retail did more work in pulling the state out of the 2008 financial crisis.
Still, its importance to the state is slowly increasing. A few years ago revenue collected from the securities industry and its members made up about 13% of state revenue. Now that number is pushing back up to 19%, where it was before the crisis.
"We have to recognize that this is a key part of the economic engine that keeps our state going," DiNapoli said in a news conference. "When Wall Street is profitable, when Wall Street employment rose, the rest of us benefit from that."
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