How Much Do Foreign Currency Traders Make?

Having a clear understanding of earnings potential is important, especially if you are researching career paths or considering changing jobs. If you're one of those people, and you're curious what kind of salary foreign currency traders make, you've come to the right place.

Using data from Lightcast,™ the Best Adult Colleges and Careers Guide has compiled rich information about salary for foreign currency traders and related jobs, including details about average compensation, salary trends and job growth. We've also gathered advertised salaries from actual job postings to provide insight into what employers of foreign currency traders are offering as compensation.

Keep reading to learn more about how much foreign currency traders can expect to make in the United States.

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Foreign Currency Traders

According to data from 2023, there were about 495,901 positions for foreign currency traders in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for foreign currency traders was reported to be $76,898. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 91,537 job postings related to positions for foreign currency traders.

How Much Money Do Foreign Currency Traders Make?

Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money foreign currency traders and related positions can expect to make in the United States, it can be helpful to look at the full range of compensation for those jobs.

Let's look more deeply at data that was reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for detail into the lowest and highest salary earnings for foreign currency traders.

Annual Salary for Foreign Currency Traders

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for foreign currency traders and related professions earned about $45,427 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $212,181 annually.

As mentioned previously, the median salary for foreign currency traders in the United States in 2023 was $76,898.

Hourly Salary for Foreign Currency Traders

The BLS also breaks down compensation for foreign currency traders by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for foreign currency traders in 2023 was $37. Lowest hourly earners took home $22 while the highest reported hourly salaries for foreign currency traders was $102.

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Degree Options for Foreign Currency Traders

Advertised Compensation for Foreign Currency Traders

Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for foreign currency traders, but another way to build a more real-time understanding of salary is to look at actual job postings and see what compensation organizations are currently providing to fill open positions for foreign currency traders.

Keep in mind that salary data is not included in every job posting, so the information compiled here is reflective of the data available through Lightcast.™

Annual Salary from Job Postings for Foreign Currency Traders

During a review of 110,671 job postings related to foreign currency traders, advertised salary was included in 29,066 of them, which was 26%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for foreign currency traders was $53,120 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Foreign Currency Traders

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for foreign currency traders. Based on 32% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for foreign currency traders in the United States is about $26.

Salary Trend for Foreign Currency Traders

If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for foreign currency traders. The chart below provides a snapshot of advertised salaries over the past three years.

Based on compensation data that was included in job postings for foreign currency traders dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for foreign currency traders have decreased 8%.

What's the Job Growth for Foreign Currency Traders?

Another data point that someone thinking about a career path should consider is whether or not jobs are expected to see growth in the future. The chart below looks at projected employment for foreign currency traders over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 496,027 jobs for foreign currency traders in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 48,856 jobs will be added. That's a 9.8% increase over the next 10-year period.

Additional Links

Ready to dig deeper into career information about foreign currency traders? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for foreign currency traders.

What do foreign currency traders do?
Foreign Currency Traders: How do you become one?

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