MIT Sloan Campus. Photo Credit: Kelly Davidson

MANUFACTURING

It’s archaic, low skill, and dangerous. Loud, hot, and dirty too. Maybe in some places, but the Manufacturing floor has emerged as a spot to differentiate through high tech practices. No wonder the industry was paying MIT Sloan MBAs a starting base of $188,333 in 2025 – or cutting paychecks as high as $300,000 (Harvard Business School). It also boasts increasing cache among the Ivy League, attracting 16 members of Harvard Business School last year.

U.S. News Rank	School	2025 Manufacturing Low	2024 Manufacturing Low	2023 Manufacturing Low	2025 Manufacturing Average	2024 Manufacturing Average	2023 Manufacturing Average	2025 Manufacturing High	2024 Manufacturing High	2023 Manufacturing High
1	Stanford GSB	NA	NA	NA	$163,336	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
2	Wharton School	$102,135	$130,000	$120,000	$162,459	$163,086	$142,619	$250,000	$185,000	$190,000
3	Chicago (Booth)	$118,500	$150,000	$115,000	$152,056	$159,167	$156,000	$200,000	$175,000	$300,000
4	Harvard Business School	$48,000	$95,000	$135,000	$168,418	$156,214	$158,800	$300,000	$215,000	$207,000
4	Northwestern (Kellogg)	$130,000	$118,400	$120,000	$160,125	$140,962	$135,750	$199,000	$175,000	$175,000
6	MIT (Sloan)	$142,000	$135,000	$125,000	$188,333	$161,538	$151,618	$245,000	$180,000	$170,500
9	Dartmouth (Tuck)	NA	$120,000	$130,000	NA	$136,667	$150,000	NA	$155,000	$195,000
9	Columbia Business School	$130,000	$87,000	$115,000	$146,500	$142,267	$147,857	$176,000	$190,000	$250,000
10	UC Berkeley Haas	NA	NA	$135,000	NA	NA	$158,033	NA	NA	$190,000
11	Yale SOM	$130,000	NA	$110,000	$133,333	NA	$126,667	$140,000	NA	$140,000
11	Virginia (Darden)	$86,000	$58,840	$100,000	$128,375	$122,691	$128,333	$156,000	$155,000	$150,000
12	Michigan (Ross)	$110,000	$125,000	$120,000	$140,750	$132,091	$127,143	$175,000	$140,000	$145,000
14	Duke (Fuqua)	$100,000	NA	$120,000	$132,500	NA	$138,333	$160,000	NA	$170,000
15	Cornell (Johnson)	$92,000	$117,000	$90,000	$132,125	$131,750	$120,500	$155,000	$145,000	$135,000
16	Vanderbilt (Owen)	$130,000	$117,000	NA	$138,600	$132,429	NA	$145,000	$155,000	NA
16	Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)	$110,000	$125,000	$135,000	$132,563	$146,333	$138,367	$150,000	$168,000	$140,100
18	Texas (McCombs)	NA	$117,000	$112,500	NA	$139,400	$136,786	NA	$185,000	$175,000
20	University of Washington (Foster)	$132,000	$120,000	$111,827	$134,667	$131,788	$138,583	$137,000	$148,000	$183,923
21	Indiana (Kelley)	$105,000	$105,000	$90,000	$124,700	$123,333	$110,522	$140,000	$155,000	$130,000
23	Texas-Dallas (Jindal)	$10,000	NA	$99,107	$106,000	NA	$112,018	$158,000	NA	$116,000
25	Georgia (Terry)	$83,000	NA	NA	$100,667	NA	NA	$135,000	NA	NA
27	Georgia Tech (Scheller)	$100,000	$105,000	$118,000	$111,000	$115,000	$137,667	$118,000	$130,000	$155,000
27	Washington University (Olin)	$25,499	$110,000	$65,000	$66,833	$123,333	$109,643	$100,000	$135,000	$144,500
29	Rice University (Jones)	NA	NA	$130,000	NA	NA	$140,000	NA	NA	$160,000
29	Arizona State (W .P. Carey)	$83,000	$70,000	$93,000	$105,860	$104,000	$109,661	$155,000	$135,000	$126,000
31	Georgetown (McDonough)	$100,000	$65,336	$100,000	$130,000	$126,343	$126,000	$140,000	$165,000	$150,000
32	Ohio State (Fisher)	$72,488	$108,000	$83,000	$109,098	$113,667	$92,000	$130,000	$125,000	$108,000
32	Minnesota (Carlson)	$60,000	$80,000	$95,000	$101,000	$111,667	$116,000	$125,000	$130,000	$127,000
34	Notre Dame (Mendoza)	NA	$92,400	$100,000	NA	$120,600	$118,000	NA	$130,000	$130,000
34	Rochester (Simon)	NA	$85,000	$110,000	NA	$111,143	$120,000	NA	$160,000	$140,000
38	Iowa State (Ivy)	$60,000	$58,240	$65,000	$81,846	$81,591	$76,040	$96,000	$110,240	$87,100
39	Florida (Warrington)	$118,450	$90,000	$90,000	$118,450	$118,750	$106,667	$118,450	$135,000	$115,000
39	BYU (Marriott)	$91,000	$75,000	$70,000	$112,250	$98,800	$105,000	$130,000	$135,000	$130,000
39	Utah (Eccles)	$80,000	$80,000	NA	$104,333	$101,500	NA	$118,000	$130,000	NA
43	Michigan State (Broad)	$80,000	NA	$115,000	$98,043	NA	$118,333	$133,000	NA	$120,000
43	Tennessee (Haslam)	$72,500	$70,400	$70,000	$88,239	$98,100	$105,625	$108,000	$135,000	$140,000
48	Wisconsin	NA	NA	$43,131	NA	NA	$111,826	NA	NA	$130,000
48	Pittsburgh (Katz)	NA	NA	$80,000	NA	NA	$113,500	NA	NA	$125,000
48	Arkansas (Walton)	NA	$80,000	NA	NA	$80,000	NA	NA	$80,000	NA
51	UC Irvine (Merage)	NA	NA	$100,000	NA	NA	$110,907	NA	NA	$122,720

Next Page: Retail, MIS, Human Resources, and Transportation & Logistics

© Copyright 2026 Poets & Quants. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Poets & Quants, please submit your request HERE.