• Consultant starting salaries have remained flat since 2023, a new report found.
• Management Consulted found salaries were largely stagnant at boutique, MBB, and Big Four firms.
• The industry has been impacted recently by slowing demand and AI-fueled productivity increases.

Starting salaries for consultants at both top firms and boutique consultancies largely remained flat for the second year in a row, according to a new report from Management Consulted, a company that provides online resources and career coaching to professionals trying to land jobs in consulting.

The report found that starting pay has remained stagnant since 2023 as the consulting industry reels from a slowdown in demand for services, despite some recent signs of improvement. Previously, annual increases of 5 to 10% were standard for the industry, according to Management Consulted.

The company's 2025 Consulting Salaries Report included over 100 firms and was based on submissions and offer letters shared by its readers and clients who work in consulting. Management Consulted said it does not include salary information that it is unable to verify.

The report found that starting total compensation at the Big Four professional services firms — Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, and EY — has not increased since 2023. This was true for new hires coming out of undergraduate programs as well as the higher paid ones coming out of MBAs or PhDs.

The same was largely true for new hires at MBB firms — McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and Boston Consulting Group — which are widely considered the most prestigious strategy consulting firms and are known for their competitive pay packages.

Do you work in consulting and have insights to share about the industry? Contact this reporter at [email protected] or via the encrypted messaging app Signal at kelseyv.21.

The report said that Management Consulted expected salaries to remain flat despite some increases in demand for consulting services in 2024, which came after a couple years of a downturn that saw major firms conducting layoffs or delaying start dates for new hires.

The plateau is notable given that consulting compensation surged in 2022 and 2023, according to Management Consulted's 2023 salary trends video. The last major increase before that was in 2019.

In 2023 post-MBA hires earned a base salary of $192,000, a performance bonus of up to $60,000, and a signing bonus of $35,000 at the top tiers. Pre-MBA hires earned a base salary of $112,000, a performance bonus of up to $30,000, and a signing bonus of around $5,000.

However, salaries and performance bonuses rose across the industry in 2023, with several firms enhancing benefits like profit-sharing, paid leave, and retirement contributions. Boston Consulting Group even overhauled its compensation structure in a bid to attract new talent and retain existing talent.

One reason salaries remained the same in 2024, according to the report, is productivity advancements sparked by generative AI and remote work. The report also said fewer consultants were leaving the industry due to limited opportunities elsewhere, meaning the stagnant salaries could be another potential side effect of the so-called white-collar recession.

"AI enablement is enabling consulting firms to accomplish more with fewer hires. Productivity gains, combined with slower attrition, reduce the need for new hires and stall salary growth," Namaan Mian, chief operating officer of Management Consulted, said in comments shared with Business Insider.

Mian also said the perception of the value of hiring MBAs, who typically make a higher starting salary than consultants coming out of undergrad, varies widely.

"Firms historically pay MBAs twice as much, but don't get twice the value from them. This doesn't fly in an efficiency oriented environment," Mian said. "This is why we're seeing less hiring from MBA programs and more from undergraduate ones."

Some firms also used changes in their variable compensation — in which pay is partially determined by performance via bonuses — to make their pay packages look more attractive, the report said, adding that only 5 to 10% of consultants typically earn the maximum amount of their bonus.

Management Consulted said it expects an increase in hiring as demand for consulting services and attrition are expected to increase in the coming years. However, it said salaries for new hires could remain stagnant.

Do you work in consulting and have insights to share about the industry? Contact this reporter at [email protected] or via the encrypted messaging app Signal at lvaranasi.70.

• McKinsey, Bain, and BCG are top strategy consulting firms with low acceptance rates.
• These firms, known as MBB, serve Fortune 500 companies and offer competitive salaries.
• MBB firms provide prestigious exit opportunities, often leading to senior roles in various sectors.

McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and Boston Consulting Group — collectively referred to as MBB — are widely considered the top three strategy consulting firms in the world.

Sometimes referred to as the Big Three, MBB firms are among the most prestigious consulting firms and their clients include many Fortune 500 companies as well as government agencies.

CEOs often turn to these firms for their expertise in business strategy and solving complex problems, whether it's handling mergers and acquisitions or budgeting and cutting costs.

Jobs at MBB firms are famously difficult to land and are among the most sought-after positions for MBA students at top schools. The acceptance rates for these firms is less than 1%. Applicants to top business schools are also far more likely to be accepted into MBA programs if they come from an MBB.

MBB firms typically offer highly competitive salaries, generally paying more than other consulting firms, and often come with demanding work responsibilities and expectations.

MBB firms are also well known for the exit opportunities they provide — employees at these firms are highly sought after for other jobs and often end up with senior positions at Fortune 500 companies, startups, hedge funds, and private equity firms, or start their own companies.

The Big Three is sometimes confused with the Big Four, which refers to the professional services firms Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC. The Big Four are the largest accounting firms in the world though they also offer consulting and other services.

The MBB firms are strategy and management consulting firms. Here's how they compare.

McKinsey & Company

McKinsey is typically considered the most prestigious of the Big Three. It's also the oldest and was founded in 1926.

Headquartered in New York City, McKinsey is also the largest of the MBBs, with more than 45,000 employees across 130 offices worldwide.

McKinsey generated around $16 billion in revenue in 2023 and is led by Bob Sternfels, who serves as the firm's global managing partner and chair of the board of directors.

McKinsey told Business Insider it receives more than one million job applications each year and that the company planned to hire about 6,000 people in 2024, about the same as the year prior.

That would mean McKinsey hires around 0.6% of applicants.

McKinsey's average base salary for new hires out of undergrad is $112,000 and for MBAs $192,000, according to the company Management Consulted, which provides students with coaching for consulting interviews.

McKinsey is notorious for its demanding workload, with even entry-level analysts working 12 to 15 hours a day. One former employee told BI that the experience took a toll on her mental health but she came away with confidence and a Rolodex of contacts.

Boston Consulting Group

BCG was founded in Boston, where it is still headquartered, in 1963. The company had 32,000 employees as of 2023 and 128 offices worldwide.

BCG had a global revenue of about $12 billion in 2023.

BCG is led by Christoph Schweizer, who has served as CEO since 2021, and Rich Lesser, the Global Chair of the firm.

BCG's head of talent, Amber Grewal, told BI more than one million people apply to work at the company each year and that only 1% make the cut.

Amid the boom in generative AI the firm is hiring for a wider mix of roles than it did in years past. "It's going to change the mix of people and expertise that we need," Alicia Pittman, BCG's global people team chair previously told BI.

The average base salary at BCG for hires out of undergrad was $110,000 in 2023 and about $190,000 for MBAs and PhDs, according to Management Consulted.

Bain & Company

Bain was founded in 1973 and is also headquartered in Boston.

The smallest of the Big Three, Bain has around 19,000 employees with offices in 65 cities around the world.

Bain's revenue in 2023 reached $6 billion, according to the Financial Times.

Bain is helmed by Christophe De Vusser, who serves as the worldwide managing partner and CEO.

Bain's average base salary for undergrads in the US is around $90,000, while for new hires with an MBA or PhD it was around $165,000, according to Management Consulted.

Despite the grueling hours and high expectations, Bain is known for a collaborative culture.

"We have a motto, 'A Bainie never lets another Bainie fail,'" Davis Nguyen, a former consultant at the firm, previously told BI. "We all work together from entry-level associate consultants to senior partners. I think that is what makes Bain's culture what it is — that we all work together to achieve a goal and make everyone around us better."

Bain is also considered the "frattiest" of the top firms and is known for a "work hard, play hard" culture, according to Management Consulted.