What Are The Highest Paying MBA Jobs?

A lucrative MBA salary is one of the perks of graduating from a top business school. But what are the highest paying MBA jobs?

From McKinsey to Amazon, some of the world's best-known companies are among the largest recruiters of MBA graduates and offer mega post-MBA salaries.

The average MBA salary for Stanford MBA grads three years out of their degree is more than $250,000. Harvard MBA grads can expect around $246,000, while INSEAD MBAs earn average salaries of $198,000 three years after graduation.

An MBA provides you with a comprehensive understanding of every area of business, from marketing and accounting to strategy and finance, so you’re primed for a career across industries and roles.

You’ll find MBA graduates earning six-figure consulting salaries and landing some of the best paid jobs in technology and the highest-paying finance jobs.

But what are the highest-paying jobs for MBA graduates across all industries?

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9 Highest Paying MBA Jobs

1. Management Consultant

It’s no surprise that management consultant is one of the jobs on this list. The role gives MBA grads huge earning potential. The Big Three consulting firms, McKinsey, Bain & Company, and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), hire thousands of MBA grads every year.

The average MBA salary for MBB consultants starts at around $190,000, and earning potential only increases. After 10 years, an MBA in the role of senior partner at a firm like BCG can expect to earn between $500,000-$700,000 per year.

There are also MBA job opportunities at an array of boutique consulting firms, many of which offer MBA grads starting salaries of at least $160,000.

2. Senior Project Manager

If an MBA teaches you anything, it’s how to manage and lead people across multiple projects. Working in diverse teams on real-time consulting projects is a key part of your MBA education.

Many MBA graduates enter roles as senior project managers across industries ranging from tech to consumer goods. Average salaries in the US sit at around $159,000, according to Glassdoor, but senior project managers working for top firms such as Wells Fargo can earn salaries higher than $164,000.

3. Senior Product Manager

A senior product manager will manage multiple products for a company, or a single product that is highly complex, high-risk, or sensitive. To do this role successfully you’ll need to be able to line manage multiple people and tasks across departments.

The average MBA salary for a senior product manager can be as high as $253,000 with top tech firms such as Oracle. The average for the same role at US tech giant Amazon is around $265,000, and at Google a whopping $370,000.

READ: What Does A Product Manager Do At A Big Tech Firm?

4. Finance Manager

As a finance manager you’re tasked with advising on financial strategy and helping to refine decision making processes to ensure the business is financially successful, keeping a close eye on the balance sheet.

You’ll need a wide finance knowledge to be able to effectively allocate resources, manage budgets, and ensure the financial stability of the company.

Finance is one of the top three industries MBAs enter after graduating, and many MBAs become finance managers in the industry, while some work as finance managers for companies within other sectors.

The median annual wage for a finance manager in the US is around $187,000, however this varies substantially between companies.

Land a financial management role in the tech sector with Amazon or Microsoft, for example, and the average salary is approximately $217,000. However, those working within the financial sector at the likes of American Express and Wells Fargo, earn $148,000 and $181,000, respectively.

5. Investment Banker

Working as an investment banker lets you put to work many of the skills you acquire on an MBA. You’ll need hard financial skills as well as strong soft skills to communicate with multiple stakeholders.

You’ll work on transactions between firms during mergers or acquisitions, or help clients to establish business plans. You'll also work in teams focused specifically on transactions or market sectors.

For MBA graduates, the typical entry point to investment banking is at associate level. According to Wall Street Prep, investment banking salaries for MBAs begin at $150,000 at top firms in New York after they enter the industry. Outside the US, salaries tend to begin at around $102,000.

6. Private Equity Associate

Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, BlackRock; all the financial heavyweights hire private equity associates straight out of business school, usually the most prestigious institutions such as Harvard and Stanford.

You’ll need the knowledge and skillset to find potential investment opportunities, assist with investments, perform due diligence on clients, and see deals through to completion.

In the US, Glassdoor indicates that private equity associates can earn average salaries of $183,000 at Goldman Sachs, $226,000 at The Blackstone Group, and $182,000 at Bain Capital.

7. Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Alongside finance, the tech industry is another of the top three industries that MBA grads enter. Whether you join a startup, an SME, or multinational, the chief technology officer role is a top position to aim for.

You’ll be using your MBA skills to establish a company’s technical vision, manage a technical team, or oversee technological development.

Such a senior role means a hefty MBA salary. The annual salary of a CTO varies, depending on company size, location, and your experience level. The average chief technology officer salary in the United States at top companies can exceed $300,000: IBM pays CTOs around $374,000, at Google it’s $412,000, and at Microsoft it’s as high as $497,000.

8. Marketing Manager

Marketing managers are responsible for organizing and managing marketing campaigns to help boost awareness of products and services offered by companies.

The salary on offer in this role at one of the large tech companies in the US is high. MBA job opportunities in marketing at Amazon, for example, bring high salaries. A marketing manager at the firm earns on average more than $175,000 in annual compensation.

Consumer goods firms in the US also pay marketing managers six figures. A marketing manager at Walmart, for example, can expect an average base salary of around $154,000.

9. Senior Data Analyst

MBA job opportunities in data science have been on the rise for business school grads for some time.

A senior data analyst specializes in collecting data, organizing that data, and then analyzing it so that they can accurately report their findings to help other departments to make informed decisions.

In the US, senior data analysts working with the likes of Target and Home Depot earn salaries of $126,000 to $129,000 while at McKinsey salaries reach a huge $210,000.

For more information on how to launch careers in consulting, finance, technology, and more, plus free advice from b-school careers experts, download our BusinessBecause Careers Guide: What's Next After Business School?

*Salary data sourced from Glassdoor, Management Consulted, and Wall Street Prep