The Top 10 Highest Paying Consulting Firms in 2023
Review our top 10 list of the highest-paying consulting firms in 2023.
We’ve compiled a list of the top 10 highest-paying consulting firms based on their estimated compensation for entry-level undergraduate consultants. And no, McKinsey is not the highest-paying consulting firm on the list.
Management Consulting: The Paid Problem Solvers
The management consulting career path is one of the most popular, prestigious, and lucrative career choices for university business school students.
Although on aggregate, consulting professionals tend to make less than their investment banker colleagues, consultants work significantly fewer hours which sometimes makes consulting the better-paid alternative on an hourly basis.
Additionally, management consultants who work at prestigious tier 1 (MBB: McKinsey, Bain, Boston Consulting Group) and tier 2 firms are consistently accepted into some of the most prestigious MBA programs in the nation.
Consulting Firms Ranked by Pay
Below is a summary of the top 10 consulting firms by US entry-level analyst pay in 2023:
- EY Parthenon
- PwC Strategy&
- Investor Group Services (IGS)
- Bain & Company
- Avencore
- Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
- Oliver Wyman
- Accenture Strategy
- McKinsey & Company
- Alvarez & Marsal
Note: Consultant pay estimates were gathered from Management Consulted and other reputable online data sources. Individual compensation may vary depending on individual performance, office location, and team deal flow.
#10 EY Parthenon - $130,000
EY Parthenon is the strategy consulting arm of the larger Big 4 accounting firm, Ernst & Young (EY). Parthenon consultants generally work very heavily on commercial due diligence projects and are particularly well known for making market assessments in healthcare and general private equity markets.
Compensation Notes:
- Undergraduate Base Pay: $100,000
- Undergraduate Performance Bonus: $22,000
- Undergraduate Signing Bonus: $8,000
- Undergraduate Total Compensation: $130,000
Other Compensation Figures:
- Undergraduate Intern Compensation: $45/Hour + $2,000 Signing Bonus
- MBA & PhD Intern Compensation: $35,000 + $5,000 Signing Bonus
- MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: $267,500
#9 PwC Strategy& - $132,000
PwC Strategy&, similar to EY Parthenon, is the strategy consulting arm of another Big 4 accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Although the firm had a rough growing history during its acquisition and integration phases in PwC, the firm still maintains its prestige as a pure strategy consulting team with a solid deals team.
Compensation Notes:
- Undergraduate Base Pay: $100,000
- Undergraduate Performance Bonus: $27,000
- Undergraduate Signing Bonus: $5,000
- Undergraduate Total Compensation: $132,000
Other Compensation Figures:
- Undergraduate Intern Compensation: $48/Hour + Overtime
- MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: $280,000
- Canada Undergraduate Total Compensation: C$89,000
#8 Investor Group Services (IGS) - $137,500
Investor Group Services is a private equity and management consulting specialty firm known for its mergers and acquisitions due diligence and sell-side industry analysis.
Compensation Notes:
- Undergraduate Base Pay: $90,000
- Undergraduate Performance Bonus: $40,000
- Undergraduate Signing Bonus: $7,500
- Undergraduate Total Compensation: $137,500
#7 Bain & Company - $139,500
Bain & Company is one of the Big 3 MBB consulting firms, making it one of the most prestigious consulting companies on this list. The firm is rumored to carry more of a collegiate atmosphere and is particularly well regarded as one of the best private equity consulting teams in the industry.
Compensation Notes:
- Undergraduate Base Pay: $112,000
- Undergraduate Performance Bonus: $22,500
- Undergraduate Signing Bonus: $5,000
- Undergraduate Total Compensation: $139,500
Other Compensation Figures:
- Undergraduate Intern Compensation: $22,500
- MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: $285,000
- UK Undergraduate Total Compensation: £63,700
#6 Avencore - $140,000
Avencore is a French-centric technology and engineering focused consulting firm known to recruit from the best technical universities in the world. Consultants at this firm can expect to be staffed on high-level industrial, energy, manufacturing, and other engineering-intensive sector projects.
Compensation Notes:
- Undergraduate Base Pay: $100,000
- Undergraduate Performance Bonus: $25,000
- Undergraduate Signing Bonus: $15,000
- Undergraduate Total Compensation: $140,000
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#5 Boston Consulting Group - $140,000
Boston Consulting Group is another top-of-the-line Big 3 MBB firm on the list. The firm is known to have a strong reputation amongst a wide variety of industry sectors. Although it's finance and private equity teams are slightly less well-known relative to Bain and McKinsey, the firm has a reputable name in technology and general management consulting.
Compensation Notes:
- Undergraduate Base Pay: $110,000
- Undergraduate Performance Bonus: $25,000
- Undergraduate Signing Bonus: $5,000
- Undergraduate Total Compensation: $140,000
Other Compensation Figures:
- Undergraduate Intern Compensation: $21,154
- MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: $270,000
- UK MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: £125,300
- CA MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: C$295,300
#4 Oliver Wyman - $140,900
Oliver Wyman is a prestigious management consulting firm that arguably sits just under the Big 3 MBB consulting teams. The company is particularly well-regarded for its coverage of financial services, technology, and healthcare.
Compensation Notes:
- Undergraduate Base Pay: $110,000
- Undergraduate Performance Bonus: $20,900
- Undergraduate Signing Bonus: $10,000
- Undergraduate Total Compensation: $140,900
Other Compensation Figures:
- Undergraduate Intern Compensation: $19,038
- MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: $271,100
#3 Accenture Strategy - $142,500
Accenture Strategy is a strong execution focused consulting firm that is very competitive amongst the tier 2 consulting firms just under the Big 3 MBB. The company has one of the best technology consulting operations in the world alongside a strong finance and enterprise consulting team.
Compensation Notes:
- Undergraduate Base Pay: $100,000
- Undergraduate Performance Bonus: $30,000
- Undergraduate Signing Bonus: $12,500
- Undergraduate Total Compensation: $142,500
Other Compensation Figures:
- Undergraduate Intern Compensation: $32/Hour + Signing Bonus
- MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: $282,500
- UK MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: £124,500
- Tuition Reimbursement Available ($80,000 Cap)
#2 McKinsey & Company - $147,000
McKinsey & Company is the last, and highest paying Big 3 MBB consulting firm on this list. McKinsey is arguably the most prestigious consulting firm of all tier 1 companies and consistently attracts the top Fortune 500 clients to its offices around the world. In finance and banking terms, McKinsey is very much known as the “Goldman Sachs” of management consulting.
Compensation Notes:
- Undergraduate Base Pay: $112,000
- Undergraduate Performance Bonus: $30,000
- Undergraduate Signing Bonus: $5,000
- Undergraduate Total Compensation: $147,000
Other Compensation Figures:
- Undergraduate Intern Compensation: $21,250
- MBA & PhD Intern Compensation: $36,923
- MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: $267,000
- Canada MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: C$300,000
- Partial Tuition Reimbursement Available (50%)
#1 Alvarez & Marsal - $185,000
Alvarez & Marsal is the top paying consulting firm in America, best known for its capital restructuring team that consistently lands some of the largest bankruptcy consulting deals year after year. The firm runs a unique bonus payment structure for its consultants that uses a utilization and ranking percentage which essentially gives junior-level employees a percentage cut of the firm’s billable revenues.
Compensation Notes:
- Undergraduate Base Pay: $129,000
- Undergraduate Performance Bonus: $51,000
- Undergraduate Signing Bonus: $5,000
- Undergraduate Total Compensation: $185,000
Other Compensation Figures:
- Undergraduate Intern Compensation: $35/Hour + Overtime
- MBA & PhD First Year Total Compensation: $287,500
Honorable Mentions
- Advancy (Undergraduate Total Compensation: $119,000)
- Kearney (Undergraduate Total Compensation: $125,000)
- OC&C (Undergraduate Total Compensation: $127,500)
Additional Resources
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