Tuck | Mr. Invest In Change
GMAT 710, GPA 3.1
Tuck | Mr. Chemical Engineer
GRE 326, GPA 3
INSEAD | Mr. Future AI Product Manager
GMAT 715, GPA 3.7
NYU Stern | Mr. Operations Strategy & Youth Leadership
GMAT 770, GPA 4
IE Business School | Mr. JD Garay
GRE GPA: 3.9, GPA 3.0
Kellogg SOM | Mr. Military To Entrepreneur
GMAT 745, GPA 2.38
London Business School | Mr. Decarbonisation
GMAT 695, GPA 3.5
Kellogg SOM | Mr. MENA Growth Equity
GMAT 730, GPA 3.4
Kellogg SOM | Mr. West Point Logistics
GRE 327, GPA 2.76
Harvard | Mr. Energy & AI PM
GRE 328, GPA 9.65
Tepper | Mr. Tech Mil-Veteran
GMAT TBD, GPA 3.35
Columbia | Mr. European MBB Consultant
GMAT 645 (Gmat Focus), GPA 8.2
MIT Sloan | Mr. Startup Strategy
GMAT 720, GPA 3.7
Stanford GSB | Mr. Mid-Market PE
GMAT 770, GPA 4
Stanford GSB | Mr. MBB Guy From Big 4 & Startup
GRE 325, GPA 3

MBA Pay By Occupation & Industry: Here’s How Much You’re Worth

A school-by-school look at how much MBA grads are earning in every industry

by: Jeff Schmitt on September 01, 2026 | 35 minute read

Stanford MBAs meeting after class

CONSULTING

Looking for a guaranteed payday? Try Consulting, where 2025 graduates from 29 of the Top 50 business schools averaged bases of $150K or more. That’s even better than Finance, where 19 schools matched that feat. Again, Stanford GSB grads attracted the highest bases at $186,350, topping Wharton ($183,976) and Dartmouth Tuck ($183,300). One number that stands out: $179,111 – the average pay achieved by graduates of 32nd-ranked Minnesota Carlson (a number undercut by a 9-student sample entering Consulting in 2025). SMU Cox (3 students averaging $175,000) followed a similar pattern as Minnesota Carlson. In contrast, Rice Jones (22 students averaging $172,734) outperformed programs like NYU Stern, Yale SOM, and Cornell Johnson in Consulting. The field is also marked by slow growth in average pay, but without the spikes-and-crashes that define Finance. Unlike Finance, you won’t find the big bases in Consulting, with a Harvard Business School haggling a $260,000 paycheck to start (though a Rice Jones hire did make off with a $230,000 salary).

U.S. News Rank School 2025 Consulting Low 2024 Consulting  Low 2023 Consulting Low 2025 Consulting Average 2024 Consulting Average 2023 Consulting Average 2025 Consulting High 2024 Consulting High 2023 Consulting High
1 Stanford NA NA $114,400 $186,350 $181,385 $186,110 NA NA $322,000
2 Wharton $98,337 $94,803 $13,460 $183,976 $178,217 $178,619 $225,400 $229,687 $229,687
3 University of Chicago (Booth) $70,000 $73,000 $79,000 $181,031 $180,581 $183,309 $227,000 $249,375 $200,000
4 Harvard $48,000 $73,000 $66,000 $178,431 $173,582 $176,627 $260,000 $270,000 $250,000
4 Northwestern (Kellogg) $67,113 $70,000 $86,000 $177,719 $178,284 $177,590 $250,000 $260,000 $235,000
6 MIT (Sloan) $80,000 $105,000 $75,000 $178,405 $176,340 $178,146 $200,000 $230,000 $220,000
7 New York University (Stern) $50,000 $100,000 $93,000 $168,185 $173,530 $175,705 $205,000 $217,984 $195,000
7 Columbia $73,116 $41,142 $96,000 $177,172 $171,816 $173,793 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000
9 Dartmouth (Tuck) $105,160 $130,000 $112,372 $183,300 $182,135 $182,190 $200,000 $192,000 $195,000
10 California-Berkeley (Haas) $66,500 $73,640 $72,800 $177,988 $178,489 $180,402 $200,000 $220,000 $208,000
11 Yale SOM $51,049 $60,000 $90,410 $171,457 $165,560 $172,467 $239,000 $208,000 $204,000
11 Virginia (Darden) $89,604 $80,347 $69,216 $182,581 $179,785 $181,454 $192,000 $210,000 $195,000
13 Michigan (Ross) $85,000 $79,420 $108,000 $179,337 $178,145 $178,401 $193,294 $200,000 $300,000
14 Duke (Fuqua) $60,000 $74,524 $69,569 $173,094 $179,473 $176,649 $195,000 $249,375 $195,000
15 Cornell (Johnson) $100,000 $120,000 $71,500 $171,020 $176,979 $178,049 $190,000 $215,000 $195,000
16 Vanderbilt (Owen) $95,000 $100,000 $120,000 $167,075 $171,811 $173,402 $225,000 $192,500 $192,000
16 Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) $110,000 $100,000 $95,000 $177,974 $165,134 $170,805 $192,000 $192,000 $197,500
18 UCLA (Anderson) $88,000 $72,527 $81,069 $171,953 $168,413 $176,325 $198,000 $205,000 $195,000
18 Texas (McCombs) $110,000 $72,000 $100,000 $175,763 $172,667 $173,679 $192,000 $192,000 $195,000
20 University of Washington (Foster) $110,000 $116,000 $124,546 $165,421 $169,458 $169,442 $192,000 $193,000 $192,000
21 Indiana (Kelley) $102,000 $72,000 $105,000 $160,857 $158,583 $158,862 $207,000 $205,000 $192,000
21 North Carolina (Kenan Flagler) $45,221 $52,000 $53,721 $157,453 $147,924 $158,234 $192,000 $192,000 $192,000
23 Texas-Dallas (Jindal) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
23 Emory (Goizueta) $105,000 $30,000 $79,820 $169,514 $170,488 $168,899 $225,000 $194,000 $192,000
25 USC (Marshall) $137,500 $43,200 $115,000 $167,736 $166,412 $171,878 $192,000 $192,000 $192,000
25 Georgia (Terry) $88,000 $88,000 $115,000 $119,444 $122,700 $137,909 $192,000 $180,000 $175,000
27 Washington U. (Olin) NA $90,000 $85,000 NA $112,333 $157,381 NA $135,000 $192,000
27 Georgia Tech (Scheller) $95,000 $45,760 $115,000 $148,692 $170,108 $169,584 $192,000 $312,000 $249,600
29 Rice (Jones) $90,000 $83,200 $130,000 $172,734 $171,460 $172,600 $230,000 $195,000 $200,000
29 Arizona State (Carey) $92,000 $100,000 $85,000 $116,750 $127,000 $145,536 $144,000 $175,000 $188,000
31 Georgetown (McDonough) $110,000 $55,000 $97,000 $168,394 $160,246 $161,790 $192,000 $200,000 $192,000
32 Ohio State (Fisher) $100,000 $75,000 $77,000 $145,000 $160,500 $148,134 $192,000 $192,000 $192,000
32 Minnesota (Carlson) $120,000 $85,000 $90,000 $179,111 $155,875 $167,583 $192,000 $195,000 $192,000
34 Notre Dame (Mendoza) $58,000 $110,000 $85,000 $157,393 $152,235 $153,085 $190,000 $192,000 $192,000
34 Rochester (Simon) $100,000 $87,000 $115,000 $130,038 $133,067 $150,723 $190,000 $192,000 $192,000
36 SMU (Cox) $175,000 $140,000 $98,000 $175,000 $173,182 $148,868 $175,000 $190,000 $192,000
36 Texas A&M (Mays) $110,000 $137,500 $74,500 $135,000 $164,375 $140,133 $175,000 $175,000 $175,000
38 Iowa State (Ivy) $62,000 $78,500 $78,500 $74,000 $84,833 $83,500 $80,000 $88,000 $92,000
39 BYU (Marriott) NA NA $60,277 NA NA $126,611 NA NA $175,000
39 Utah (Eccles) NA $105,000 $104,000 NA $126,750 $116,000 NA $175,000 $140,000
39 University of Miami (Herbert) NA $192,000 NA NA $192,000 NA NA $192,000 NA
39 Florida (Warrington) $70,391 $85,000 $90,000 $134,438 $165,250 $147,143 $192,000 $192,000 $192,000
43 Maryland (Smith) NA NA $110,000 NA NA $136,667 NA NA $170,000
43 Tennessee (Haslam) $95,000 $105,000 $100,000 $131,667 $144,000 $145,758 $175,000 $175,000 $175,000
43 Michigan State (Broad) $85,000 $115,000 $50,000 $110,500 $151,250 $131,600 $140,000 $175,000 $190,000
46 American University (Kogod) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
46 Boston U. (Questrom) $430,000 $88,000 $83,400 $111,492 $124,750 $124,877 $175,000 $175,000 $175,000
48 Wisconsin NA $135,000 NA NA $161,667 NA NA $175,000 NA
48 Pittsburgh (Katz) NA $85,000 NA NA $121,800 NA NA $192,000 NA
48 Arkansas (Walton) $76,000 $75,000 NA $82,833 $81,500 NA $91,500 $90,000 NA
51 UC Irvine (Merage) NA $150,000 NA NA $151,667 NA NA $155,000 NA

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