The ridiculous size of the ‘average’ Wall Street bonus in 2017? Three times what most US households made all year

Wall Street bonuses are climbing toward record highs again, according to government data released Monday showing that in 2017, the average bonus payout reached US$184,220.

That is an 17 per cent increase compared to the previous year and the closest Wall Street has come in more than a decade to its all-time high of US$191,360, according to the New York State Comptroller. That follows an 15 per cent increase in 2016, when the average bonus was about $157,660.

The median US household income in 2016, the most recent available figure, was US$59,039, the Census Bureau said.

The bigger bonuses reflect a revival on Wall Street as the Trump administration begins rolling back financial industry regulations. The recent sell-off in the markets is creating the kind of volatility that Wall Street traders thrive on. And the Federal Reserve has begun raising a key interest rate, making it easier for banks to make a profit. The financial industry’s revenue increased 4.5 per cent last year to US$153 billion, according to the New York State Comptroller.

The government figures also continue to reflect how much more Wall Street executives earn compared to the rest of the private sector. Including bonuses, the average Wall Street salary was US$375,200 in 2016, the most recent year available, five times higher than in the rest of the private sector, with an average of US$74,800, according to the Comptroller’s office. In New York City, about 25 per cent of the industry’s employees took home more than US$250,000, compared with 2 per cent in the rest of the city’s workforce, the report said.

“The large increase in profitability over the past two years demonstrates that the industry can prosper with the regulations and consumer protections adopted after the financial crisis,” Thomas DiNapoli, the N.Y. Comptroller.