Wall Street is heading toward another record-breaking bonus season as profits surge and dealmaking returns after a long slowdown.

According to a new report from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, firms listed on the New York Stock Exchange earned $30.4 billion in the first six months of 2025 — a pace that would mark the industry’s strongest year on record, Bloomberg reports.

Rising compensation costs suggest that bonus checks could swell once again. Spending on pay jumped almost 10% in the first half of the year compared with 2024, following last year’s unprecedented average bonus of $244,700.

New York collected $6.7 billion in taxes from the securities industry in the first half of the year, up 35%, while the average Wall Street salary climbed 7.3% to $505,630.

DiNapoli praised the sector’s rebound, noting that Wall Street’s prosperity helps fund critical public services through higher tax revenues.

“While uncertainty remains around interest rates, inflation and the broader economy, Wall Street looks to have another strong year,” he said in a statement.

“Whatever one’s view of Wall Street, the reality is our city and state services depend heavily on its success,” DiNapoli said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “Whatever’s happening in politics, we want these jobs to stay in New York.”

Trading desks benefited from tariff-driven market swings and a technology-fueled stock rally. The six biggest U.S. banks — Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo — generated $15.4 billion in third-quarter trading revenue, the highest for that period in at least five years.

Earlier forecasts had predicted a slump in bonuses due to global instability, but those projections have been reversed. Compensation firm Johnson Associates now expects payouts to climb as mergers, acquisitions, and capital-market deals regain momentum.

The state report also underscores Wall Street’s outsized role in New York City’s finances. Securities-industry tax receipts rose 35% to $6.7 billion last fiscal year, while average pay in the sector reached more than five times the citywide private-sector average.

Still, soaring pay has reignited political debate about inequality. Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has proposed higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy to ease the city’s cost-of-living crisis — prompting some concern that affluent residents could leave.