Top 50 Consulting Firms To Work For In 2025

Every company has its time. In the 1980s, IBM and AT&T dominated industry. Twenty years later, General Electric and Microsoft were the places to be. Today? Take your pick: Google, Amazon, Apple, and NVIDIA. Thing is, companies are always investing, striving, and transforming. Often, it takes time for the strategy, financing, and training to take hold.

Look no further than management consulting. Since 2007, Vault has taken the pulse of the consulting industry, surveying the top talent at the top players to gauge prestige, quality of life, and overall satisfaction. For the past four years, Bain & Company has been the crème-de-la-crème of management consulting, earning the industry’s highest marks in areas like Benefits and Training. Before that, McKinsey & Company ranked as the envy of the industry from 2018-2020, setting the bar for Prestige, Firm Leadership, and Exit Opportunities. The final member of the MBB, the Boston Consulting Group, placed as the runner-up in five of the past seven Vault rankings, slowly improving its scores across every dimension.

In 2025, BCG finally reached the pinnacle in the Vault Consulting 50, which was unveiled on February 12th. It knocked off Bain & Company for the #1 spot in North America, while McKinsey & Company remained AWOL with Vault for the second consecutive year. Bain & Company returned to the #2 spot, a tough pill for a firm that has been losing ground for two consecutive years. Alvarez & Marsal, ranked 13th just three years ago, held onto the #3 spot. However, Alvarez & Marsal can’t get too comfortable, however. The firm bested Putnam Associates by just .001 of a point! While Putnam Associates climbed three spots to 4th, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants cracked the Top 5 by moving up five spots. That’s a far cry from 24th, where Roland Berger ranked just five years ago.

A LONG TIME COMING FOR BCG

For BCG, the #1 spot caps off a long-term effort to enhance the firm’s resources, amplify its culture, and leverage its strengths. In Vault surveys conducted with BCG consultants, the firm’s average scores improved across all 19 Quality of Work and Quality of Life dimensions. At the same time, competitors listed BCG as the second-most prestigious firm in consulting.

“BCG’s tremendous growth over the past five years is a product of the quality of our people, the strength of our culture, and the value we deliver to clients,” writes an anonymous BCG consultant surveyed by Vault. “These set us apart from our peers and will continue to drive a strong upward trajectory going forward.”

Another BCG survey respondent points to BCG’s 1st place North American finish as the start of a run similar to those previously enjoyed by Bain and McKinsey in the Vault Consulting 50.

“We remain in the strongest position in our industry. We have a cohesive team, and we are investing in the topics and capabilities that will matter most in the next few years. We also have the sharpest focus on value creation and highest ROI for clients of any firm in the industry.”

In response to a query from Poets&Quants, Kaitlin McManus, senior editor of profiles at Vault, provided some additional context on BCG’s surge in the ranking.

“BCG boasts a culture of apprenticeship that consultants at the firm seem to really appreciate. Based on comments from consultants, there is mentorship occurring at all levels, and the firm seems to genuinely invest in the development of their people—whether that’s by supporting career progression or providing a compensation package that’s, to use the words of one consultant, “very competitive and transparent.” The firm also offers 100% medical coverage, which is a very attractive perk in today’s economy.”

THE ‘GOLD STANDARD’ FOR EVALUATING CONSULTING FIRMS

Despite this, McManus adds that BCG claiming the top spot in North America was one of the surprises in the 2025 Vault Consulting 50.

“Bain has held that spot for four years running prior to this year, and it’s always a big shakeup when a longstanding ranking changes. In that vein, we also had a change in the No. 1 spot of our Boutique ranking, with Aminad moving ahead of ghSMART. ghSMART has been No. 1 in our Boutique ranking since 2021.”

Indeed, you could look at the Vault Consulting 50 as a series of survey-based rankings that reveal just how consultants feel about their employers – and their competitors. They included rankings across three regions: North America, Europe, and Asia. Vault also supplies rankings for survey results related to Quality of Work (i.e. Compensatiion, Internal Mobility, Firm Culture) and Quality of Life (i.e. Health & Wellness, Work-Life Balance, Hours In Office). In addition, Vault supplies scores regarding how consultants feel about competing firms in both Prestige and Practice Areas (Data Analytics, Energy, Human Resources, etc.).

Think of the Vault Consulting 50 as the gold standard for evaluating where consulting firms excel – and how they compare to their peer firms. The ranking is produced by Vault, an intelligence collection platform that features employee reviews, rankings, and in-depth company profiles in areas like banking, consulting, law, accounting, and internships. At the same time, Vault offers expert advice through career-related blogs and industry-driven career guides.

HOW CONSULTING FIRMS ARE EVALUATED

This fall, Vault surveyed roughly 12,000 verified consulting professionals across the world at every level of their firms. Using a scale ranging from 1 to 10 – where 10 is the highest possible score – Vault had survey respondents score their own firm across 19 Quality of Work and Life dimensions and 6 Diversity measures. Using this same scale, consultants rated peer firms for Prestige, while applying a different scale to evaluating the practices of their rivals.

To produce the Consulting 50, Vault focuses on the areas that matter most to consultants. In Norh America, that covers Prestige and seven Work-Life Dimensions, each given its own weight. Like the previous year, Vault provides the following weights to these dimensions:

30% Prestige
15% Culture
15% Overall Satisfaction
10% Compensation
10% Work-Life Balance
10% Level of Challenge
5%  Overall Business Outlook
5%  Promotion Policies

This methodology is consistent across North America, Europe, and Asia. However, Vault modifies this model to score boutique firms. While Vault collects data on Diversity and Practice Areas, neither are factored into the ranking (nor are the scores of 12 Work-Life Dimensions).

“Our consulting rankings are unique in that they allow readers to compare firms within specific regions across dozens of categories,” explains Eric Stutzke, Vault’s senior VP and general manager, in a press release. “The global business landscape is rapidly changing, and we saw some notable changes in the rankings this year, including at the top of the Best Overall Consulting Firm to Work For in North America list.”

Wondering how your favorite firms are viewed both internally and externally? Click on the links below for in-depth analysis and ranking tables for each area of the Vault Consulting 50.

WHY BCG RANKED #1 AND BAIN RANKED #2 (Analysis)

VAULT CONSULTING 50 RANKING (Analysis Plus Table)

FIRM PRESTIGE RANKING (Analysis Plus Table)

BOUTIQUE FIRM RANKING (Analysis Plus Table)

BAIN-MCKINSEY-BCG HISTORICAL COMPARISON (Compensation, Training, Management, Outlook, etc.)

QUALITY OF EMPLOYMENT AND LIFE RANKINGS

PRACTICE AREA RANKINGS (Energy, Finance, Management, Strategy, etc.)

DIVERSITY (Women, LGBTQ+, Military)

HISTORICAL VAULT CONSULTING 50 SCORES 

EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AND AFRICA RANKING

ASIA-PACIFIC RANKING