McKinsey & Company Associate Salary 2026
A McKinsey & Company Associate in the United States earns a median base salary of $192,000, based on 602 certified US Department of Labor filings released through 30 June 2026. The middle half of those filings fall between $165,000 and $192,000. Base salary excludes bonus and signing. No verified total compensation has been submitted for this role yet, so none is published here.
| Component | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $165,000 | $192,000 | $192,000 | 602 |
| Signing bonus | Not enough data yet | 0 | ||
| Performance bonus | Not enough data yet | 0 | ||
| Total compensation | Not enough data yet | 0 | ||
Base salary from 602 certified Department of Labor filings in the FY2026 Q3 disclosure release, covering decisions to 30 June 2026. Those filings list 12,957 positions, but the percentiles are over filings, never weighted by positions. Bonus and total compensation come only from submitted offers, and nothing is published below 5 of them.
Where this sits on the McKinsey & Company ladder
| Level | 25th pct | Median base | 75th pct | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Analyst | $90,000 | $112,000 | $112,000 | 493 |
| Associate | $165,000 | $192,000 | $192,000 | 602 |
| Engagement Manager | $115,170 | $185,000 | $220,000 | 389 |
| Associate Partner | $225,000 | $243,000 | $243,000 | 179 |
| Partner | $275,000 | $275,000 | $275,000 | 57 |
Promotion timing is not in this data. A level's median is the median of people certified at that level, not the raise somebody got on being promoted into it.
Median base by year, 2020 to 2026
| Year of decision | Median base | n |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $165,000 | 12 |
| 2021 | $160,000 | 146 |
| 2022 | $165,000 | 103 |
| 2023 | $192,000 | 98 |
| 2024 | $192,000 | 97 |
| 2025 | $192,000 | 78 |
| 2026 | $192,000 | 68 |
Grouped by the year the Department of Labor decided the filing, not the year the person started. The last year is partial.
What these figures include
Base salary is the fixed annual wage, and it is the only component in the Department of Labor data. Signing bonus is paid once on joining and is not in any public dataset. Performance bonus is paid against a review cycle, is the largest single gap between consulting and banking pay, and is also not public.
So the number at the top of this page is a floor on what the role pays, not an estimate of total compensation. Treating it as total compensation will understate a Associate at McKinsey & Company by a wide margin, and by more in banking than in consulting.
By office
8 worksites clear the 5-filing minimum for this role.
| Worksite | 25th pct | Median base | 75th pct | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $165,000 | $192,000 | $192,000 | 64 |
| Chicago | $165,000 | $192,000 | $192,000 | 56 |
| Houston | $160,000 | $183,500 | $192,000 | 28 |
| Los Angeles | $165,000 | $192,000 | $192,000 | 28 |
| Dallas | $165,000 | $192,000 | $192,000 | 28 |
| San Francisco | $160,000 | $192,000 | $192,000 | 27 |
| Boston | $192,000 | $192,000 | $192,000 | 26 |
| Detroit | $160,000 | $192,000 | $192,000 | 25 |
Worksite is the location on the filing, which for a consultant is the home office rather than the client site.
The same role at peer firms
- Deloitte Associate
- PwC Associate
- KPMG Associate
- Boston Consulting Group Associate
- Bain & Company Associate
Every published McKinsey & Company level
All McKinsey & Company pay data, 5 levels
Method, and what this misses
These figures come from H-1B Labor Condition Application disclosure data published quarterly by the US Department of Labor. A filing is a certified wage an employer stated it would pay for a named role at a named worksite. It is not a survey response, not a self-reported number, and not a record of a hire: a certified filing does not prove the position was filled.
Three limits matter. The data covers base salary only, which is roughly 70% of total compensation in consulting and 55% or less in banking, and the gap widens with seniority. It covers US worksites only. And it covers only roles a firm sponsored, so the role mix is skewed toward positions firms sponsor visas for. The Department of Labor itself warns the files contain data-entry errors.
One US entity. Technology, data and AI titles are excluded, so only the generalist consulting ladder is counted. 45.5% of that entity's filings map to a role published here. Everything unmapped is held back rather than guessed at. Percentiles are computed over 2,922,613 unique filings after deduplicating on case number, because the archived quarterly files partially restate each other. No cell is published below 5 filings.
Full method, sources and every firm dropped
Last updated 12 November 2026 from the FY2026 Q3 disclosure release. Next update when the Department of Labor publishes FY2026 Q4.
Last updated .