Earnings of nonsupervisory bank employees averaged $458 a week in 2002, compared with $632 for all workers in finance and insurance industries, and $506 for workers throughout the private sector. Relatively low pay in the banking industry reflects the high proportion of low-paying administrative support jobs.

In general, greater responsibilities result in a higher salary. Experience, length of service, and, especially, the location and size of the bank also are important. In addition to typical benefits, equity sharing and performance-based pay increasingly are part of compensation packages for some bank employees. As banks encourage employees to become more sales-oriented, incentives are increasingly tied to meeting sales goals, and some workers may even receive commissions for sales or referrals. As in other industries, part-time workers do not enjoy the same benefits that full-time workers do.

Very few workers in the banking industry are unionized-only 2 percent are union members or are covered by union contracts, compared with 15 percent of workers throughout private industry.