0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Fairfield, CT New York,
NY
San
Francisco,
CA
Suffolk, MA Cook, IL Mecklenburg,
NC
Los Angeles,
CA
Middlesex,
NJ
Hudson, NJ Hennepin,
MN
Q05/3 Q05/4 Q06/1 Q06/2
Wages and bonuses in investment banking
Summary 07-07/ August 2007
U.S. Department of Labor
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Continued on back
Average Weekly Wages in Investment Banking and Securities Dealing, Selected Counties,
Third Quarter 2005 through Second Quarter 2006
County
20,
15,0
10,
5,0
Fairfield,
CT
New York,
NY
San
Francisco,
CA
Suffolk,
MA
Cook,
IL
Mecklen-
burg, NC
Los
Angeles,
CA
Middlesex,
NJ
Hudson,
NJ
Hennepin,
MN
Dollars
25,0
For people working in investment
banking, especially those in and
around Wall Street, it’s hard to deny
that late 2005 and early 2006 was
very, very good to them. With
steady employment totals, very
handsome bonuses being handed
out in fourth quarter 2005, and even
larger ones awarded in first quarter
2006, it would seem to be an under-
statement to say that investment
banking was thriving. In first quar-
ter 2006, private sector investment
banking and securities dealing re-
corded average weekly wages of
$8,367, well above that of any in-
dustry with the exception of the
other Wall Street bonus giant, secu-
rities brokerage. The investment
banking industry’s quarterly total
wages ranged from $6 billion to
$18.9 billion in late 2005 and early
2006 and the industry’s average
weekly wage was nearly 10 times
the national average.
Within this industry a small num-
ber of counties accounted for a large
proportion of the wages. Five coun-
ties were responsible for 71.8 per-
cent of total wages in investment
banking during the first quarter of
2006. Fairfield, Connecticut, New
York, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
and Cook County, Illinois, combined
for wages of $13.5 billion from Janu-
ary through March 2006. During
this time, 38.3 percent of March em-
ployment in investment banking was
within these five counties.
Of the top ten counties, ranked
by average weekly wages, within t