--- title: Why Wall Street Bonuses Tumbled--And How That Affects Tax Revenues description: The average bonus among Wall Street workers fell by 9% in 2015, the first time in three years that bonuses have decreased. authors: - name: Denver Nicks url: https://money.com/author/denver-nicks/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 60 covers: - Business - Banking - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance - Pets - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://x.com/DenverNicks - https://plus.google.com/105122198911201917932 former_staff: true published: '2016-03-08T15:36:55.000Z' modified: '2016-03-08T15:36:55.000Z' section: Business tags: - bonuses - dodd-frank - finance - financial sector - pubdesk - wall street word_count: 243 canonical: https://money.com/wall-street-bonuses-decrease/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![A man passes by the New York Stock Exchange during a rain storm in New York February 24, 2016.](https://img.money.com/2016/03/160308_inv_wallstreetbonuses1.jpg) *A man passes by the New York Stock Exchange during a rain storm in New York February 24, 2016.* Total average compensation on Wall Street is much higher than during the dark days of the financial crisis, but bonuses—a key part of compensation packages in the financial sector—were down 9% in 2015, the [New York State Comptroller’s Office](https://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/mar16/030716.htm) revealed Monday. The average Wall Street bonus fell to $146,200 last year. It was the first time in three years that average bonuses declined, and the figure is down from an all-time high of $191,360 in 2006 amid a lackluster year in the financial sector. Few expect the industry to significantly improve in 2016. While Wall Street workers obviously wish their latest is bonuses are always bigger than the previous ones, they're not the only parties affected. Smaller bonuses on Wall Street mean less tax money for local governments. “Both the state and city budgets depend heavily on the securities industry and lower profits could mean fewer jobs and less tax revenue,” New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a statement. Morgan Stanley has already slashed 1,000 jobs, and state officials who once projected a bonus pool this year to grow by a modest 0.7% now expect a decline of 2.5%, the [*Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2016/03/07/why-146200-is-a-terrible-bonus-for-wall-street/) reports. [![Best college education image](https://content.money.com/wp-content/themes/money2018/img/college-site-banner-01.png)](https://best-colleges.time.com/money/search-colleges/?xid=cm-mcpTop200Widget) Even with falling bonuses, average salaries on Wall Street have been rising, up 14% in 2014 to $404,800. (Data for 2015 average salaries is not yet available.) Pressure will remain strong for regulators to tamp down financial sector compensation under powers enumerated in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/wall-street-bonuses-decrease/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Business", "item": "https://money.com/business/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Asset Management", "item": "https://money.com/asset-management/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Why Wall Street Bonuses Tumbled--And How That Affects Tax Revenues" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/wall-street-bonuses-decrease/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/wall-street-bonuses-decrease/", "name": "Why Wall Street Bonuses Tumbled--And How That Affects Tax Revenues", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-03-08T15:36:55.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/wall-street-bonuses-decrease/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/wall-street-bonuses-decrease/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2016-03-08T15:36:55.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Why Wall Street Bonuses Tumbled--And How That Affects Tax Revenues", "articleSection": "Business", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/03/160308_inv_wallstreetbonuses1.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1400, "caption": "160308_INV_WallStreetBonuses" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Denver Nicks", "url": "https://money.com/author/denver-nicks/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/denver-nicks/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2012/09/09_1165862081.jpg?quality=85&w=640&h=640&crop=1", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/DenverNicks", "https://plus.google.com/105122198911201917932" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-03-08T15:36:55.000Z", "description": "The average bonus among Wall Street workers fell by 9% in 2015, the first time in three years that bonuses have decreased.", "abstract": "The average bonus among Wall Street workers fell by 9% in 2015, the first time in three years that bonuses have decreased.", "@id": "https://money.com/wall-street-bonuses-decrease/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2016-03-08T15:36:55.000Z", "wordCount": 243, "keywords": [ "bonuses", "dodd-frank", "finance", "financial sector", "pubdesk", "wall street" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Business", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Asset management", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_management" ] } ] } ] } ```