Finance Industry Pay: US Data and How Bonuses Work
US wage data for finance occupations, how base and variable pay differ across roles, and what to ask about bonuses before you accept an offer.
Published by SalaryBases. Drafted with AI assistance and revised to remove or reword figures we could not trace to a source. Not reviewed by a licensed professional. Pay figures come only from the official datasets named beside each table and apply only to the country, year and definition stated there. Methodology
Finance pay often combines a base salary with variable pay such as bonuses or commissions, and the mix differs a lot between roles. This guide uses official US data where it exists and explains why some widely quoted finance numbers are not repeated here.
What US government data shows
The table uses the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025.
| Occupation (SOC) | 10th pct. | Median | 90th pct. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial and Investment Analysts (13-2051) | $63,720 | $102,740 | $180,860 |
| Personal Financial Advisors (13-2052) | $50,190 | $105,070 | $357,020 |
| Financial Managers (11-3031) | $94,310 | $166,570 | $323,270 |
| Financial Risk Specialists (13-2054) | $64,820 | $117,330 | $196,110 |
| Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents (41-3031) | $48,040 | $78,660 | $212,880 |
| Loan Officers (13-2072) | $39,430 | $76,690 | $153,180 |
| Budget Analysts (13-2031) | $62,250 | $91,640 | $136,660 |
| Accountants and Auditors (13-2011) | $56,020 | $83,680 | $144,090 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Scope: United States, national estimates, all industries, annual wages in US dollars (retrieved 9 October 2026). The median is the middle wage: half of the workers in the occupation earn more and half earn less; 10th/90th percentile mean 10% earn less/more. The survey covers wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments and excludes the self-employed, overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, equity and employer benefit costs. BLS methodology.
What the table does and does not say:
- Financial managers have the highest median in the list at $166,570, followed by financial risk specialists at $117,330 and financial and investment analysts at $102,740. Accountants and auditors have a median of $83,680 and budget analysts $91,640.
- Personal financial advisors have a median of $105,070 but a 90th percentile of $357,020. A spread that wide fits commission- and fee-based pay, which the survey counts when it is paid as incentive pay. Self-employed advisors are not covered.
- Financial and investment analysts span $63,720 at the 10th percentile to $180,860 at the 90th.
Numbers we do not repeat
Entry-level investment banking, private equity and hedge fund pay is widely discussed online, usually as a base salary plus a large discretionary bonus. Those figures come from self-reported surveys and press reports, not from a primary dataset we can check, so this guide does not quote them. The BLS figures above also understate pay in roles where a large part of the year is paid as a nonproduction bonus, which the survey excludes.
How finance pay is structured
- Base plus discretionary bonus: in many investment and trading roles a large part of annual pay is a bonus decided after the year ends.
- Deferral and clawback: at regulated banks part of a bonus may be deferred over several years and can be reduced or recovered in some circumstances.
- Fund economics: private equity and hedge fund professionals may share in fund profits (carried interest or performance fees). That upside is uncertain and depends on fund results.
- Commissions and fees: sales and advisory roles are often paid partly by commission or a share of client fees.
Questions worth asking before you accept: what share of last year's total pay was bonus, is any of it guaranteed, how much is deferred, and under what conditions can it be reclaimed.
Licensing and credentials
In the US, selling securities generally requires registration and passing qualification exams administered through FINRA. Credentials such as the CFA charter, the CPA licence and the FRM are common in investing, accounting and risk respectively. Whether a credential raises your pay depends on the employer and the role, and we have no verified figure for the premium, so we quote none.
Hours and sustainability
Hours and intensity vary by role and employer, so ask about them in interviews. Long working weeks carry health risks: a WHO and ILO analysis links working 55 or more hours a week with higher risks of stroke and ischaemic heart disease (WHO and ILO, 2021).
Putting this to use
Compare your offer against the percentile range for your occupation, then look at the variable part separately. The Job Offer Comparator lets you enter base, bonus and other terms, and the Gross to Net calculator shows what you take home.
Key takeaways
- US medians for the listed finance occupations run from $83,680 to $166,570.
- Variable pay can be a large and uncertain part of finance compensation; ask what is guaranteed, deferred and reclaimable.
- Widely quoted banking and fund pay figures are self-reported, so we do not repeat them.
- Credentials and licences matter for eligibility; we have no verified pay premium for them.
Sources used in this guide
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025: methodology and tables — Every wage figure in the tables above (each row links to its own BLS occupation profile).
- FINRA: Qualification exams — Licensing exams commonly required for securities sales roles in the US.