The data doesn't support the conclusion that they pay more for engineers, just that they pay more per employee. I've been an engineer in financial services in NYC for 3.5 years, and I can fairly confidently say that those large salaries are going to the senior salespeople and traders who pull in hundreds of thousands or millions per year in commission. Maybe I've just been at the wrong places (I don't think so), but unless you're some kind of phenom quant engineer or you are in a very profitable and very small hedge fund, the offers are better at the Googles, Microsofts, and Amazons of the world than the Goldmans, JPMorgans, and Citigroups.