New York City

NORTHEAST

Want to earn the big dollars? Head to the Northeast, where 21 business schools graduate students who averaged $150,000 or more in base starting out in 2025. That number is consistent with 2024 (21) and 2023 (23). Among Top 20 business schools, 12 programs reported pay increases for its graduates in the Northeast, with Wharton (+13K), Texas McCombs (+12K), and UCLA Anderson (+17K) leading the pack. By the same token, UC Berkeley Haas, Michigan Ross, and Vanderbilt Owen’s number show average base pay decreases by $10K or more in the Northeast. True to the Northeast’s deep banking roots, some MBAs collected major starting salaries in 2025. In fact, four schools – Harvard Business School, Wharton, NYU Stern, and Chicago Booth – produced graduates who received $400K or more, led by one HBS grad at $470,000. More than that, there were 23 schools where at least one graduate made $175,000 or more to start their post-MBA careers. As a whole, Northeast employers invested the most in Stanford grads ($189,510), followed by Wharton ($185,168) and Harvard Business School ($181,740).

U.S. News Rank	School	2025 Northeast Low	2024 Northeast Low	2023 Northeast Low	2025 Northeast Average	2024 Northeast Average	2023 Northeast Average	2025 Northeast High	2024 Northeast High	2023 Northeast High
1	Stanford	NA	NA	$120,000	$189,510	$190,255	$200,430	NA	NA	$400,000
2	Wharton	$78,000	$100,000	$95,000	$185,168	$172,129	$179,393	$450,000	$275,000	$300,000
3	University of Chicago (Booth)	$72,000	$102,000	$100,000	$178,712	$179,558	$178,629	$400,000	$375,000	$247,500
4	Northwestern (Kellogg)	$110,000	$117,000	$120,000	$171,707	$164,948	$174,663	$250,000	$200,000	$450,000
4	Harvard	$100,000	$46,000	$42,000	$181,740	$177,490	$177,939	$470,000	$375,000	$350,000
6	MIT (Sloan)	$92,724	$110,000	$105,000	$173,046	$171,710	$173,769	$224,000	$250,000	$550,000
7	New York University (Stern)	$80,000	$80,000	$85,000	$171,891	$167,667	$171,393	$400,000	$225,000	$225,000
7	Columbia	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
9	Dartmouth (Tuck)	$110,000	$100,000	$100,000	$173,422	$170,644	$175,043	$225,000	$225,000	$275,000
10	California-Berkeley (Haas)	$125,000	$135,000	$140,000	$160,157	$172,643	$172,262	$192,000	$220,000	$208,000
11	Yale SOM	$95,000	$90,000	$77,000	$164,929	$161,293	$165,968	$225,000	$200,000	$215,000
11	Virginia (Darden)	$125,000	$120,000	$80,000	$172,556	$170,600	$169,625	$192,000	$225,000	$225,000
13	Michigan (Ross)	$120,000	$110,000	$115,000	$155,636	$165,346	$162,657	$192,000	$215,000	$225,000
14	Duke (Fuqua)	$90,000	$120,000	$100,000	$163,908	$168,935	$166,659	$192,000	$192,000	$225,000
15	Cornell (Johnson)	$85,000	$60,000	NA	$162,261	$165,857	NA	$225,000	$225,000	NA
16	Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)	$110,000	$120,000	$116,000	$163,686	$156,237	$161,574	$194,000	$190,000	$197,500
16	Vanderbilt (Owen)	$70,000	$130,000	$115,000	$151,800	$167,647	$161,768	$225,000	$190,000	$190,000
18	Texas (McCombs)	$145,000	$120,000	$104,000	$169,875	$157,564	$163,385	$194,000	$185,000	$195,000
18	UCLA (Anderson)	$95,000	$95,000	$128,000	$163,161	$147,211	$157,641	$192,000	$175,000	$192,000
20	University of Washington (Foster)	NA	NA	$134,150	NA	NA	$144,683	NA	NA	$157,100
21	Indiana (Kelley)	NA	$95,000	$90,000	NA	$148,200	$145,417	NA	$180,000	$175,000
21	North Carolina (Kenan Flagler)	$111,000	$80,000	$100,000	$156,429	$149,190	$155,380	$192,000	$175,000	$249,600
23	Emory (Goizueta)	$130,000	$120,000	$83,000	$167,083	$163,000	$159,604	$185,000	$175,000	$192,000
23	Texas-Dallas (Jindal)	NA	NA	$87,000	NA	NA	$118,500	NA	NA	$130,000
25	USC (Marshall)	NA	NA	$100,000	NA	NA	$156,143	NA	NA	$190,000
25	Georgia (Terry)	NA	$120,000	NA	NA	$130,000	NA	NA	$140,000	NA
27	Georgia Tech (Scheller)	$95,000	NA	$115,000	$130,008	NA	$150,000	$157,000	NA	$180,000
27	Washington U. (Olin)	NA	$80,000	$80,000	NA	$130,571	$144,417	NA	$200,000	$187,000
29	Rice (Jones)	NA	$130,000	$90,000	NA	$161,250	$147,500	NA	$175,000	$175,000
29	Arizona State (Carey)	$92,000	$108,000	NA	$124,050	$120,750	NA	$144,000	$135,000	NA
31	Georgetown (McDonough)	$100,000	$110,000	$98,000	$150,100	$156,577	$157,433	$190,000	$192,000	$192,000
32	Ohio State (Fisher)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
32	Minnesota (Carlson)	NA	$80,000	NA	NA	$131,810	NA	NA	$195,000	NA
34	Notre Dame (Mendoza)	$100,000	$120,000	$90,000	$131,875	$161,000	$161,036	$175,000	$175,000	$185,000
34	Rochester (Simon)	$82,000	$85,000	$100,000	$132,158	$125,619	$145,773	$175,000	$192,000	$190,000
36	SMU (Cox)	NA	NA	$120,000	NA	NA	$141,000	NA	NA	175,000
36	Texas A&M (Mays)	NA	NA	$84,000	NA	NA	$140,214	NA	NA	$175,000
38	Iowa State (Ivy)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
39	Florida (Warrington)	$132,000	NA	$130,000	$133,500	NA	$142,000	$135,000	NA	$170,000
39	BYU (Marriott)	NA	$120,000	$85,000	NA	$140,000	$131,250	NA	$175,000	$175,000
39	Utah (Eccles)	NA	$75,100	NA	NA	$111,033	NA	NA	133,000	NA
39	University of Miami (Herbert)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
43	Michigan State (Broad)	NA	$100,000	$115,000	NA	$116,667	$126,250	NA	$130,000	$160,000
43	Maryland (Smith)	$84,000	NA	$103,000	$124,667	NA	$129,889	$170,000	NA	$145,000
43	Tennessee (Haslam)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
46	American University (Kogod)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
46	Boston U. (Questrom)	$43,000	$61,250	$65,000	$114,523	$114,966	$121,095	$175,000	$175,000	$175,000
48	Wisconsin	$75,000	$130,000	$90,000	$103,400	$132,667	$128,875	$137,000	$135,000	$186,000
48	Pittsburgh (Katz)	$77,000	$85,000	$67,000	$105,000	$126,000	$122,571	$140,000	$192,000	$170,000
48	Arkansas (Walton)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
51	UC Irvine (Merage)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

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