McKinsey, Bain and BCG Raise Starting Pay for the First Time Since 2022

McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company and Boston Consulting Group now pay a U.S. first-year base of $120,000 for pre-MBA hires and $200,000 for post-MBA hires starting in 2027, the first increase at the three firms, often called MBB, since August 2022 by Management Consulted's count. The numbers were verified through more than 120 candidate offer letters with 2027 start dates, submitted to Management Consulted, a platform that collects consulting pay data, for its 2027 Consulting Salary Report. For Metaintro readers who are recruiting for consulting or holding an offer from a smaller firm, this guide sets out the old and new pay at each level, what bonuses add, how the raise compares with inflation, and how to use the new numbers when you negotiate.

What Exactly Did McKinsey, Bain and BCG Change?

The new figures cover U.S. first-year base salary only, with performance and signing bonuses separate, and they apply to 2027 start dates.

Here is the change at each firm and level, using the job titles each firm gives new hires:

• McKinsey Business Analyst (pre-MBA): $112,000 to $120,000, an increase of $8,000 or 7.1%.
• Bain Associate Consultant (pre-MBA): $112,000 to $120,000, also $8,000 or 7.1%.
• BCG Associate (pre-MBA): $110,000 to $120,000, an increase of $10,000 or 9.1%.
• McKinsey Associate (post-MBA): $192,000 to $200,000, or 4.2%.
• Bain Consultant (post-MBA): $192,000 to $200,000, or 4.2%.
• BCG Consultant (post-MBA): $190,000 to $200,000, or 5.3%.

BCG posted the largest increase at both levels because it started $2,000 behind McKinsey and Bain. The result is that all three firms now pay exactly the same base at both entry levels.

How Do We Know the Pay Went Up if No Firm Announced It?

None of the three firms has announced the raise, and the figures were verified through candidate offer letters with 2027 start dates. Namaan Mian, chief operating officer of Management Consulted, explains that the figures reflect firm-wide U.S. policy, not individual offers, because entry-level base at the three firms is standardized.

On timing, Mian's view is that McKinsey appears to have moved first, with BCG and Bain following quickly. Management Consulted says it will publish firm-by-firm numbers for the wider market in the 2027 Consulting Salary Report in January.

The death of consulting has been greatly exaggerated, in the words of Management Consulted COO Namaan Mian in the Poets&Quants story on Yahoo Finance.

Why Has Starting Pay Been Stuck Since 2022?

In August 2022, post-MBA base pay rose from $175,000 to between $190,000 and $192,000. Undergraduate base at Bain and McKinsey hit $112,000, a 12% rise, with BCG offering around $110,000, according to sources who spoke to the Financial Times, and Keith Bevans, Bain partner and global head of consulting recruiting, described a very hot talent market to the paper.

For 2026 hires, consulting salaries at both entry levels stayed flat compared to 2025, and by Management Consulted's count that was only the fourth time in the last 16 years it had seen overall starting salaries not increase at all from year-to-year.

The reasons given for flat pay in 2026 were about efficiency, not weak demand. In 2026, firms were doing more with less through AI, automation and leaner project teams, attrition stayed below historical averages, and many firms opted to increase performance bonus caps while leaving attainment rates unchanged instead of lifting base salary.

Does the New Pay Keep Up With Inflation?

No. U.S. prices are up about 13% since the last MBB increase in August 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures Management Consulted cites. That is more than any of the new increases, so starting pay remains below 2022 levels in real terms.

The historical pace makes the point clearer. From 2012 to 2022, MBB starting base grew an average of roughly 3.5% to 5% a year by Mian's figures, while the new raise, spread over the four years since the last one, works out to about 1% to 2% a year.

Mian called the figures below inflation and muted by any historical measure. The new numbers close part of that gap left by four years of rising prices, not all of it.

Why Are the Firms Paying More Now?

Strong demand for consulting work is part of it, but Management Consulted sees competition for the same candidates as the bigger driver, from inside and outside the industry. Mian also linked the timing to the firms being more confident in demand over the next one to two years.

After two years of layoffs, big tech is adding people again. Top tech companies were hiring 20% more vs a year ago for software engineering roles in a May 2026 deep dive by The Pragmatic Engineer newsletter, and Google had +62% more engineering roles advertised than last year.

AI labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic now recruit the same top talent MBB wants, and a pre-IPO equity offer is hard for a base salary to match. Mian has seen candidates turn down MBB offers for big tech roles.

The choice of base pay over bonus also matters. Base salary carries forward every year and compounds through every promotion raise built on top of it, which is why Management Consulted reads the move as a bet that demand for MBB consultants will hold.

What Do Bonuses and Benefits Add on Top of Base Pay?

The new figures cover base pay only, so the closest guide to bonuses is the Management Consulted 2026 salary guide.

For pre-MBA hires in the 2026 start class, the main extras were:

• Bain: a performance bonus of up to $22,500 (target: $15,000) and a $5,000 signing bonus.
• BCG: a performance bonus of up to $22,000, profit sharing deposited into a 401(k) account and a $5,000 signing bonus.
• McKinsey: a performance bonus of up to $18,000, 7.5% of qualified pay paid into a 401(k) and a $5,000 signing bonus.

For MBA and PhD hires in 2026, the extras were larger. Bain paid a $30,000 signing bonus with a performance bonus of up to $63,000, BCG paid a signing bonus of up to $30,000 with a performance bonus of up to $47,500, and McKinsey paid a $30,000 signing bonus with a performance bonus of up to $40,000.

Because bonuses can flex up or down with performance and the economy and base salary doesn't, negotiate a job offer after you have it in writing and read every line, not only the base figure.

What Do the Firms Pay Outside the United States?

The 2027 figures cover U.S. pay, and the non-U.S. figures are for 2026 hires in the Management Consulted 2026 salary guide. Those are the numbers to compare against if you are recruiting in London or Toronto.

For MBA and PhD hires in 2026, Bain paid UK: £97,000 (about $129,500) and Canada: C$195,000 (about US$138,900). BCG paid MBA hires UK: £100,000 (about $133,500), and McKinsey paid UK: £90,000 (about $120,200).

For undergraduate and master's hires in 2026, Bain paid UK: £52,200 (about $69,700), BCG paid UK: £49,500 (about $66,100), and all three paid Canada: C$100,000 (about US$71,200). The 2027 raise covers U.S. first-year base salary only.

Where Will You See These Numbers on Job Postings?

Mian said the new figures now appear on job postings in states that require pay disclosure. In New York, one of the states with such a rule, Labor Law Section 194-B requires New York State businesses with four or more employees to give job descriptions and list compensation ranges for designated job opportunities, promotions and transfers.

The New York State rules are specific about the range. It can be either the minimum and maximum annual salary or the hourly compensation believed to be accurate at the time of posting, employers must say if a role is commission-based, and the law prohibits employers from retaliating against employees or applicants who request this information.

New York City has its own rule on top of that. Since November 1, 2022, the NYC Human Rights Law requires employers to include a good faith pay range in all job advertisements, and an advertisement includes, but is not limited to, postings on internal bulletin boards, internet advertisements, printed flyers distributed at job fairs, and newspaper advertisements.

If a posting for a covered New York role leaves out a range, applicants can file a complaint with New York State Department of Labor. Applicants in covered roles can also ask for the pay range if a posting leaves it out.

Will Other Consulting Firms Follow the Raise?

Tier 2 strategy firms, the Big 4 and boutiques are setting their own 2027 offers and will be measured against the new MBB figures. Mian expects Tier 2 strategy firms and boutiques to move faster than the Big 4, and in his view Tier 2 firms may not match MBB outright but they'll raise pay to keep the gap where it was.

For a sense of the gap, 2026 undergraduate base pay at Oliver Wyman was $110,000, at Kearney it was $100,000, and at Deloitte Consulting it was $84,000-$95,000, with master's hires at Deloitte paid up to $105,000.

In Mian's words, some boutiques already match MBB on salary, and he expects them to move quickly to keep that parity. A firm that keeps pay flat falls further behind MBB while it competes for the same candidates, in Management Consulted's view.

Entry-level pay sets the floor that every level above it is priced against, as the Management Consulted analysis of the 2027 raise puts it.

Does the Raise Mean the Firms Will Hire More People?

Not by itself. A bigger prize doesn't add seats, firms are still hiring selectively, and higher pay will pull even more applicants into MBB recruiting, in Management Consulted's view.

More than 60% of MBB hires now come from outside the MBA pathway, including undergraduates, PhDs and lateral hires, by Mian's estimate. In the 2026 salary guide, less than 20% of McKinsey's most recent intake was made up of direct MBA hires, and the firm hired analysts from over 370 universities.

The bigger percentage raise for pre-MBA hires fits leaner project teams, more AI-assisted delivery, and a heavier reliance on pre-MBA hires over more expensive MBA talent, and MBA intakes at many firms have been shrinking, in Management Consulted's view. Mian added that this does not necessarily mean MBB is hiring fewer MBAs.

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

The headline raise is real, but Poets&Quants calls it a catch-up, not a windfall. The useful part for you is the benchmark. With all three firms on the same two numbers, $120,000 is the reference point to know before you negotiate an offer from another consulting firm, and $200,000 is the new post-MBA base at all three firms.

If you are an undergraduate or master's student, the pre-MBA route carries the bigger percentage raise, and the hiring growth Management Consulted sees is weighted more toward undergraduate hires. BCG runs separate early careers and internship tracks for students. Target schools still drove most hiring, so students at non-target schools are advised to network now and apply early.

If you hold an offer from a smaller strategy firm or a boutique, use the new figures as leverage, not as a demand. Those firms are setting 2027 offers right now, so compare the full package, since bonus caps, profit sharing and retirement pay differ from firm to firm even where base pay is the same. If you are an experienced hire, find out which level you're being mapped to first, since that drives your base more than any single line item.

Lacey Kaelani, Metaintro's CEO, puts it this way: A public pay number is only useful if you bring it to the table. Know the benchmark for your level before the offer call, and ask about every part of the package, not just the base.

Related Articles

• How to Handle a Competing Job Offer While Currently Employed
• What to Do When a Job Offer Is Far Below the Posted Salary Range
• Should You Mention Another Job Offer During Interviews and When It Helps You
• Entry-Level Jobs That Pay Well and How to Land One
• IBM Is Betting on Entry-Level Workers as Rivals Cut Them
• Employers Say New Grads Arrive Missing the Basics and Here Is What to Learn First
• Why Cutting Entry-Level Jobs Could Backfire on Employers
• Why a Brutal First Job Market Can Dent Graduate Pay for Years, and How to Fight It

People Also Asked

Q: What is the new starting salary at McKinsey, Bain and BCG?

A: All three firms pay a U.S. first-year base of $120,000 for pre-MBA hires and $200,000 for post-MBA hires starting in 2027, with performance and signing bonuses paid on top.

Q: When did McKinsey, Bain and BCG last raise starting pay?

A: The last raise was in August 2022, when post-MBA base rose from $175,000 to between $190,000 and $192,000 and pre-MBA base at McKinsey and Bain rose to $112,000.

Q: Does the MBB raise beat inflation?

A: No. Prices have risen more than any of the new increases since the last MBB raise in August 2022, so starting pay remains below 2022 levels in real terms.

Wondering what you should earn? Metaintro brings together 50M jobs in one place. Create a free profile and start your search today.