MBA Pay By Region: Here’s How Much You’re Worth

Employees are expensive. And salary is just the start. Think health insurance and 401K match. FICA and unemployment taxes. Equipment and licenses. And let’s not forget the cost of the annual holiday party (or performance bonuses, for that matter).

MBAs have always been treated as premium hires. High skill and high ceiling, they are viewed as long-term investments who’ll someday act as managing partners and vice presidents. The advent of AI has taken some shine off MBA hires, however. Number crunching, researching, modeling – they can all be automated by AI to an extent. The same goes for pitch decks. That’s why MBAs aren’t just competing against the next candidate anymore. They’re fighting against the perception that there are better alternatives. And they’re positioning themselves as difference-makers who can maximize the value of the technology – and know where to take it next.

WHY LOCATION MATTERS

Beyond that, top MBAs are fighting the usual headwinds: where you live dictates what you make. Many gravitate to those urban concentrations packed with incumbent industries and blue-chip companies. Sure, these concentrations drive pay, but they also produce a saturation of certain skill sets and a cost of living that can chomp away at paychecks. Outside these bubbles, MBAs can choose hidden gems with slower paces and shorter commutes. The tradeoff, of course, is flexibility and opportunity can be limited, which tamps down on long-term pay prospects.

So why does regional pay matter? Simple: many MBAs already know exactly where they want to live…and why.

Take UC Berkeley’s Haas School, which is less than an hour from Silicon Valley. In 2025, 38.6% of graduates entered the technology field – nearly 12% higher than consulting. This proximity means access to companies and experts who can open doors…not to mention classmates who share the same passions. With OpenAI, Anthropic, NVIDIA, and Meta located nearby, Haas MBAs can be exposed to cutting edge practices that just aren’t found in cities without AI anchors.

The same is true for Rice University’s Jones Graduate School, which is located in Houston, the world’s energy capital. Here, Rice MBAs can take a short drive to industry leaders like ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Chevron, Baker Hughes, and Reliant Energy. No different than Haas, this corporate might translates potential projects and partnerships. True to form, energy companies hired nearly a quarter of 2025 graduates, tying it with consulting as the top consumers of Rice MBA talent. Plus, there is energy’s spillover effect, which has spurred job growth in sectors like banking and technology where Rice MBAs can capitalize.

SOME ROOM FOR NEGOTIATION

Each year, P&Q reviews the pay data supplied by American business schools to U.S. News & World Report. Like previous years, 2025 higher base pay is generally tied to higher rank. That makes sense given that outcomes account for half of U.S. News’ ranking weight. That includes pay-specific measures like Starting Salary and Bonus and Pay by Occupation, which combine for 30% of the weight.

While pay drives rankings, there is a hidden hand shaping pay. That’s companies leveraging market intelligence to index and adjust pay. In other words, companies know exactly what the market rate is for talent. That begs the question: Is there any room for MBAs to negotiate pay?

There is plenty of regional evidence to suggest the answer is yes. Exhibit A: Emory University’s Goizueta School, which ranks 23rd according to U.S. News. Despite its Atlanta location, Goizueta placed 12 of its 67 graduates reporting pay in the Northeast. Here, base pay averaged $167,083, a better number than higher-ranked East Coast counterparts at Yale SOM, Duke Fuqua, and Cornell Johnson. More than that, Goizueta’s numbers weren’t skewed by one big paycheck, with the highest base doled out being $185,000 – lower than every school ranked above them.

Exhibit B comes courtesy of the University of Miami’s Herbert Business School, ranked 39th by U.S. News. In the South, a Herbert grad collected a $260,000 base, higher than any MBA in the region….including Wharton ($200,000) and Harvard ($250,000).

A SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL COMPARISON

Of course, the U.S. News data must also be viewed in terms of its limitations. For one, there are several schools whose pay data is inflated (or deflated) by a lack of students in a particular region. For example, at NYU’s Stern School, 195 students reported pay data across six regions. However, 166 were based out of the Northeast. By the same token, most U.S. News data revolves around base pay. Although the data includes a combined base and sign-on bonus data point, it doesn’t factor in other compensation streams, including 401K match, health insurance, performance bonuses, and vacation pay – all of which can vary widely by employer (and hence region). At the same time, the numbers cannot incorporate intangible investments that ultimately lead to higher pay over the long-term, such as formal training and mentoring programs.

In the end, regional pay reveals patterns that can tip MBA students off to their market value. In the process, it provides a side-by-side comparison of what graduates can expect to earn in base pay across the United States. To an extent, it also exposes a business school’s footprint in various regions. In other words, if a program lacks pay data in a region, it could indicate the geographic limitations of a school’s alumni network – the kind needed to support students who hope to work there. By lumping states together in regions, U.S. News underestimates the radical pay differences between states (such as DC-adjacent Virginia and economically-strapped West Virginia).

If anything, regional data is a puzzle piece. It tips candidates off to how much employers may be willing to pay in base compensation on average – and make adjustments on the high side. That can be particularly valuable for candidates who have multiple suitors.

Wondering how your target schools fare in various regions? Click on the regional links for a school-by-school comparison of average base pay, along with high and low packages, across American regions (and North America as a whole).

Click on the links below to access school-by-school MBA pay by region. 

NORTHEAST

MID-ATLANTIC

SOUTH

MIDWEST

SOUTHWEST

WEST

OVERALL MBA PAY BY REGION

OVERALL AVERAGE BASE

Editor’s Note: These are the states that constitute each region.

Northeast: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont

Mid-Atlantic: District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia

South: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee

Midwest: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin

Southwest:  Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas

West: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming

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