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MIDWEST

Chicago Booth and Northwestern Kellogg may be MBA royalty in the Midwest, but they don’t attract the starting pay of several counterparts. There are five business schools that rank ahead of Chicago Booth for starting pay, including Texas McCombs. And Northwestern Kellogg ranks behind Washington Foster for (though Foster’s numbers are predicated on three 2025 grads relocating to the Midwest). Wharton tops the list with a $188,842 average, edging out Harvard Business School ($187,810) and Stanford GSB ($183,500). At the same time, Chicago Booth and Northwestern Kellogg grads pulled in $173,104 and $169,660 respectively. Similarly, a Harvard Business School grad negotiated a $300,000 starting base in the Midwest, with a Booth grad snatching a $285,000 paycheck to start. Beyond Booth and Kellogg, Michigan Ross grads averaged $149,787 to start in the Midwest, though this number was down roughly $8K from the previous year. Overall, 11 business schools ranked among the Top 20 saw pay drop in the 2025 class – a red flag for a region known for its marketing and consulting prowess.

U.S. News Rank	School	2025 Midwest Low	2024 Midwest Low	2023 Midwest Low	2025 Midwest Average	2024 Midwest Average	2023 Midwest Average	2025 Midwest High	2024 Midwest High	2023 Midwest High
1	Stanford	NA	NA	$180,000	$183,500	$191,286	$248,000	NA	NA	$450,000
2	Wharton	$135,000	$100,000	$113,000	$188,842	$165,708	$176,000	$275,000	$193,000	$250,000
3	University of Chicago (Booth)	$90,000	$110,000	$97,000	$173,104	$177,215	$175,524	$285,000	$400,000	$235,000
4	Northwestern (Kellogg)	$90,000	$95,000	$110,000	$169,660	$166,312	$169,975	$245,000	$250,000	$275,000
4	Harvard	$140,000	$120,000	$113,000	$187,810	$175,970	$174,800	$300,000	$275,000	$360,000
6	MIT (Sloan)	$142,000	$135,000	$130,000	$177,333	$152,083	$169,833	$200,000	$175,000	$200,000
7	New York University (Stern)	NA	NA	$125,000	NA	NA	$157,500	NA	NA	$192,000
7	Columbia	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
9	Dartmouth (Tuck)	$120,000	$115,000	$105,000	$159,400	$163,923	$159,409	$192,000	$192,000	$195,000
10	California-Berkeley (Haas)	NA	$120,000	$115,000	$168,333	$134,400	$136,260	NA	$150,000	$175,000
11	Yale SOM	$127,000	$86,000	$130,000	$160,423	$159,433	$174,273	$225,000	$192,000	$192,000
11	Virginia (Darden)	$75,000	$120,000	$120,000	$153,000	$164,789	$158,708	$192,000	$210,000	$195,000
13	Michigan (Ross)	$72,800	$101,200	$115,000	$149,787	$157,829	$166,996	$192,000	$197,000	$300,000
14	Duke (Fuqua)	$100,000	$111,000	$100,000	$157,466	$155,203	$161,938	$192,000	$249,375	$195,000
15	Cornell (Johnson)	$100,000	$110,000	NA	$152,412	$153,647	NA	$192,000	$192,000	NA
16	Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)	$118,500	$80,000	$115,000	$158,991	$152,772	$166,680	$190,000	$190,000	$192,000
16	Vanderbilt (Owen)	$116,000	$115,000	$90,000	$156,483	$140,318	$153,648	$192,000	$185,000	$192,000
18	Texas (McCombs)	$145,000	$110,000	$115,000	$173,571	$152,600	$154,444	$192,000	$188,000	$192,000
18	UCLA (Anderson)	$113,000	NA	$73,000	$155,000	NA	$148,850	$192,000	NA	$192,000
20	University of Washington (Foster)	$132,000	$120,000	$120,000	$170,667	$156,667	$149,917	$192,000	$175,000	$188,000
21	Indiana (Kelley)	$84,000	$72,000	$61,250	$128,372	$133,571	$137,458	$175,000	$205,000	$215,000
21	North Carolina (Kenan Flagler)	$75,000	$75,000	$117,500	$126,107	$130,467	$144,678	$150,000	$175,000	$175,000
23	Emory (Goizueta)	NA	$125,000	$31,200	NA	$159,500	$145,171	NA	$188,000	$185,000
23	Texas-Dallas (Jindal)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
25	USC (Marshall)	NA	NA	$113,000	NA	NA	$126,500	NA	NA	$135,000
25	Georgia (Terry)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
27	Georgia Tech (Scheller)	$115,000	NA	$118,000	$125,000	NA	$127,667	$142,000	NA	$140,000
27	Washington U. (Olin)	$47,840	$90,000	$55,500	$109,302	$123,500	$131,034	$165,000	$150,000	$192,000
29	Rice (Jones)	NA	$125,000	$130,000	NA	$135,000	$144,500	NA	$150,000	$188,000
29	Arizona State (Carey)	$96,000	$108,000	$115,000	$123,320	$120,967	$143,667	$142,800	$142,800	$188,000
31	Georgetown (McDonough)	$109,000	$125,000	$110,000	$143,825	$159,400	$139,783	$190,000	$192,000	$192,000
32	Ohio State (Fisher)	$70,000	$40,000	$77,000	$117,170	$125,000	$128,461	$192,000	$192,000	$192,000
32	Minnesota (Carlson)	$60,000	$80,000	$60,000	$137,716	$131,810	$140,269	$192,000	$195,000	$192,000
34	Notre Dame (Mendoza)	$58,000	$78,000	$30,000	$133,996	$136,661	$127,728	$175,000	$192,000	$192,000
34	Rochester (Simon)	NA	$95,000	$115,000	NA	$131,875	$131,375	NA	$160,000	$185,000
36	SMU (Cox)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
36	Texas A&M (Mays)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
38	Iowa State (Ivy)	$53,400	$55,000	$55,000	$78,482	$79,861	$74,944	$96,000	$110,240	$97,000
39	Florida (Warrington)	$130,000	$125,000	$120,000	$131,333	$126,000	$126,800	$132,000	$128,000	$130,000
39	BYU (Marriott)	$67,600	NA	$60,000	$115,229	NA	$116,250	$130,000	NA	$135,000
39	Utah (Eccles)	NA	$78,000	NA	NA	$97,667	NA	NA	$125,000	NA
39	University of Miami (Herbert)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
43	Michigan State (Broad)	$80,000	$92,000	$50,000	$101,557	$104,444	$109,400	$133,000	$118,000	$190,000
43	Maryland (Smith)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
43	Tennessee (Haslam)	$80,000	NA	$105,000	$108,922	NA	131,600	122,000	NA	175,000
46	American University (Kogod)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
46	Boston U. (Questrom)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
48	Wisconsin	$50,000	$64,500	$60,000	$106,375	$112,157	$119,340	$175,000	$175,000	$175,000
48	Pittsburgh (Katz)	NA	$90,000	NA	NA	$104,800	NA	NA	$125,000	NA
48	Arkansas (Walton)	$76,000	$70,000	NA	$76,000	$80,000	NA	$76,000	$90,000	NA
51	UC Irvine (Merage)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

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