There are no fancy introductions here. Getting right down to it, the average salary for Wall Street is $289,664, while the average for all of New York City is “only” $56,634.
The Reuters report includes more money figures, but the only piece I find particularly interesting is the average bonus per person: $125,000. My bonus last year was a partly 2% of that amount.
There are a few at the top of the scale whose salaries and bonuses skew the average (mean) higher than the median.
On the topic of salaries, I had a successful interview prescreen (over the phone) for a position in New York (but not Wall Street), similar to what I’m doing now, albeit with fewer responsibilities. The expected salary mentioned by the HR representative is a good $10,000 more than what I’m earning now.
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4:34 pm (reply)
Congrats on the good interview… hopefully it becomes congrats on the good job offer… and acceptance.
I am ready for another $10K jump myself, but I would like to stay at my current employer for another year, at least, to become fully-vested in the match that is 10% my annual salary. Honestly, though, unless some company is out there that does something similar on the 401(k), they are going to have to do better than a $10K bump for it to really be worthwhile. With the match and profit sharing, my employer contributes 14% of my annual salary if I contribute 5% or more. It is a tough one. And in a year, they will cover 100% of my insurance premiums, as well. This is a tough one… because I want a position like my boss has, and he is not going to be departing from his position until he retires, methinks, which would be about another 14-17 years. He has a great job, and they are not going to get rid of him because he is good at his job… and I wouldn’t want that either, because I think he is good at his job and he is pretty good to work for… I just want a job like his. Otherwise, I would stay where I am… but I cannot stay somewhere all that long. Once two years comes up, I am always open to new offers.
8:57 pm (reply)
I’m going to graduate from a private college in the spring. I’ll be accepting a job on Wall Street as an entry level investment banking analyst. I’ll have a $10,000 signing bonus. The base salary I will be getting is “only” $75,000. At the end of the fiscal year, that comes with a matching year-end $70K-80K bonus. I’ll get full healthcare coverage, all-expenses-paid transportation provided, and a free ride to work everyday in a black lincoln towncar or limosine. I’ll pretty much be pulling in $150,000 my first year out of school for doing grunt work like tossing pitch books and making photocopies for guys who are dickheads and too into themselves. (Of course, that includes the cost of living in an area where the rent is $15K-24K a year!)
However, the cash, contacts, and easy ride into the top 10 business schools are worth the sacrifice of 2 years of sweating it. Just having a top 10 investment bank on my resume is enough to land me a job anyway. In some respects, to human resources office it’s better than having a Harvard undergrad diploma.
It’s ridiculous how much they pay us on Wall Street as entry-level, fresh-out-of-college grads, but if you work 100 hrs/wk. and put up with mid-level manager shit, you deserve it!
12:13 am (reply)
awesome, are you going to take it, Flexo?
no kidding, the big money is in the finance field. of course, they also work a lot of hours. you spend more on housing, but you have no automobile expenses.
i changed job recently because i got bored at the previous. the new job not only pays $12,000 more, but also more managerial responsibility.
what do you think is a “i made it in the real world” salary?
1:53 am (reply)
I don’t know if I’ll take it, jersey jen. Getting to New York is a pain, with overcrowded parking at train stations and the extra time it’ll take. Not to mention the position sounds like it has less responsibility. It depends on a bunch of different factors, not the least of which are getting the interview and being offered the position.
In all likelihood, I may use an offer as a bargaining chip, though I’ll have to be prepared to take the job if my current employer doesn’t budge.
I don’t know what it will take for me to feel like I’ve “made it…”
9:56 pm (reply)
yeah, Flexo. your apartment hunting has to work out if you’re going to New York.
10:22 pm (reply)
Don’t do it unless you’re getting a roommate. 10,000 will just cover the difference in how much rent you’ll be paying.
Oh, and if you decide to go, sell your car. Don’t even try to drive in New York. It’s a city made for walking, bus-riding, subway-taking people. Driving a car in New York is like wearing pajamas to work. Don’t make yourself end up paying $200-$300/mo. just for parking and wishing you could get rid of that nice hunk of metal that no one wants to buy.
Few people own cars in New York, and there’s a reason for it. Most of those people who do drive cars in New York actually live in New Jersey and drive a long ways to work.
5:17 pm (reply)
Hey one question what private college did you go to, because i really wanna get into investment banking.Currently im a senior in high school.