Top consulting firms attract top talent, and top talent gets paid very competitively.
Consulting-industry resource Management Consulted looked at 2016 compensation data from 17 prestigious consulting companies to find out which ones pay top candidates the most right out of college.
To determine these figures, they culled through data from clients, spoke with industry insiders, and pored over real offer letters from readers.
Management Consulted found that new hires in management-consulting positions can earn as much as $80,000 to $100,000 in total compensation their first year out of undergrad. They cautioned though that these figures represent maximum salary packages, not average compensation — typically only the top employees receive the full amount, with average and below-average employees earning significantly less.
Here are 17 of the top-paying consulting firms for new grads, ranked below by total compensation:
1. Parthenon-EY
Total compensation: Up to $110,000
Base salary: $90,000
Signing bonus: $10,000
Performance bonus: Up to $10,000
2. Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Total compensation: Up to $108,000
Base salary: $75,000
Signing bonus: $5,000
Relocation: $2,000-$8,000
Performance bonus: Up to $16,500
3. McKinsey & Company
Total compensation: Up to $107,000
Base salary: $75,000
Signing bonus: $5,000
Relocation: $2,000-$9,000
Performance bonus: Up to $18,000
4. Bain & Company
Total compensation: Up to $105,000
Base salary: $80,000
Signing bonus: $5,000
Relocation: $2,000-$8,000
Performance bonus: Up to $12,000
5. Deloitte
Total compensation: Up to $101,250
Base salary: $75,000
Signing bonus: $10,000
Relocation: $2,000-$5,000
Performance bonus: Up to $11,250
6. Strategy&
Total compensation: Up to $100,600
Base salary: $73,000
Signing bonus: $5,000
Relocation: $5,000-$8,000
Performance bonus: Up to $14,600
7. Oliver Wyman
Total compensation: Up to $100,000
Base salary: $75,000
Signing bonus: $10,000
Performance bonus: Up to $15,000 (20% base for first year; up to 40% of base for second years)
8. L.E.K.
Total compensation: Up to $97,600
Base salary: $73,000
Signing bonus: $7,500
Relocation: $2,000-$9,000
Performance bonus: Up to $14,600
9. A.T. Kearney
Total compensation: Up to $96,250
Base salary: $65,000
Signing bonus: $5,000
Relocation: $5,000-$10,000
Performance bonus: Up to $9,750
10. PwC
Total compensation: Up to $95,950
Base salary: $73,000
Signing bonus: $5,000-$10,000
Relocation: $2,000
Performance bonus: Up to $10,950
11. Accenture Consulting
Total compensation: Up to $94,500
Base salary: $75,000
Signing bonus: $10,000
Relocation: $2,000
Performance bonus: Up to $7,500
12. IBM Global Business Services
Total compensation: Up to $94,000
Base salary: $75,000
Signing bonus: $7,000
Relocation: $3,000
Performance bonus: Up to $9,000
13. EY
Total compensation: Up to $80,000
Base salary: $72,000
Signing bonus: $5,000
Relocation: $1,000
Performance bonus: Up to $2,000
14. FTI Consulting
Total compensation: Up to $78,000
Base salary: $62,000
Signing bonus: $5,000
Relocation: $1,000
Performance bonus: Up to $10,000
15. ZS Associates
Total compensation: Up to $77,700
Base salary: $62,000
Signing bonus: $5,500
Relocation: $4,000
Performance bonus: Up to $6,200
16. KPMG
Total compensation: Up to $75,000
Base salary: $65,000
Signing bonus: Rare
Relocation: $2,000
Performance bonus: Up to $8,000
17. Mercer
Total compensation: $67,000 + overtime
Base salary: $62,000
Signing bonus: $3,000
Relocation: $2,000
Performance bonus: No bonus; instead, paid time and a half for every hour over 40 a week
