· 5 min read
BCG Associate Salary: Base Pay (2026)
A BCG Associate earns a $110,000 median base salary in 113 US H-1B filings. BCG now posts $120,000 for first-year Associates from January 2027.
BCG pays an Associate, its undergraduate hire, a median base salary of $110,000 in US H-1B filings from January 2025 to June 2026: 102 of 113 Associate filings name exactly $110,000, across 21 US cities. The 9 filings at $115,000 all date from late April 2026 on. BCG's current US Associate posting, for experienced hires, sets first-year base at $120,000 as of January 1, 2027. Senior Associates are filed at $145,000 and Consultants at $190,000, and Management Consulted's 2026 report adds a $22,000 performance bonus for an Associate.
Where the numbers come from. Base salaries are from 113 Associate and other public US Department of Labor filings, worked out in code, the same filings as our BCG salary page. H-1B filings show base salary only: no bonus, signing bonus, profit sharing or benefits. Bonus figures come from the dated report named next to them.
Associate pay next to the levels above it
Median base salary in BCG's US H-1B filings, January 2025 to June 2026. Range is the 10th to 90th percentile of the filed salaries.
| Level | Filings | Median base | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Associate | 113 | $110,000 | $110,000 |
| Senior Associate | 21 | $145,000 | $145,000 |
| Consultant | 497 | $190,000 | $190,000 |
Most of the 21 Senior Associate filings are from 2026. The step from Associate to Consultant is $80,000 at the median.
Associate salary by city
Cities with three or more filings for this level, by number of filings.
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | 19 | $110,000 |
| Chicago, IL | 15 | $110,000 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 8 | $110,000 |
| Atlanta, GA | 7 | $110,000 |
| Dallas, TX | 7 | $110,000 |
| Brooklyn, NY | 6 | $110,000 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 6 | $110,000 |
| Boston, MA | 5 | $110,000 |
Pay is set by level, not by office: the median is $110,000 in every city in the table. Filings run from $105,760 to $115,000.
Who joins as an Associate
BCG's US Associate recruiting page welcomes applications from undergraduate and non-MBA master's students from all fields of study and backgrounds. Its Associate posting says Associates typically have zero to four years of full-time work experience, while Consultants generally have four or more years and/or an advanced degree such as an MBA or PhD. BCG's consulting work is varied, much of it at client sites, and can mean international travel.
Posted pay against the filings
| Firm and level | Median base in filings | Posted first-year base |
|---|---|---|
| McKinsey Business Analyst | $112,000 | $112,000 to $125,000 |
| BCG Associate | $110,000 | $120,000 from January 1, 2027 |
| Bain Associate Consultant | $112,000 | $120,000 |
Filings are from January 2025 to June 2026. Posted pay is the US first-year base in each firm's job posting as we read it on October 26, 2026: McKinsey, BCG and Bain. BCG's are its US experienced-hire postings. BCG's $120,000 is $10,000 above the median Associate filing.
Bonus and benefits
From Management Consulted's Consulting Salaries Report 2026, which covers offers made in 2025 (via Poets&Quants, January 26, 2026): an Associate gets a $22,000 performance bonus on top of base, with 15 days of paid time off. BCG's posting adds an annual discretionary performance bonus and a contribution to BCG's Profit Sharing and Retirement Fund.
How we got these numbers
US employers that hire someone on an H-1B visa must first file a Labor Condition Application with the US Department of Labor, stating the job title, work site and the wage they will pay. The DOL publishes every filing in its LCA disclosure data. We read the filings through h1bdata.info, a free search of that data, because the DOL's own quarterly files run to hundreds of MB. We read them on October 15, 2026.
- Filing window: filings submitted from January 2025 to June 2026, the latest the DOL has published.
- Filings counted: 631 across the rows shown, one per DOL case number.
- Job titles matched:
- Associate: "Associate" (113)
- Senior Associate: "Senior Associate" (21)
- Consultant: "Consultant" (497)
- Median: the middle filed salary for that title. Range: the 10th to 90th percentile, so a few unusual filings don't stretch it.
- Base salary only. An H-1B filing states the base wage. Bonuses, signing bonuses, profit sharing and benefits are not in it, so the bonus figures on this page come from the dated reports named next to them.
- Who is in it. Only roles filed for visa holders, at every US office. A filing is the wage the employer committed to pay, not proof of a hire.
- BCG files under The Boston Consulting Group Inc. BCG X and other technology roles are left out.
Searches read:
Getting the offer
Read our BCG case interview guide and the Casey online case guide. Students can start with the BCG internship. Then work a BCG-style practice case out loud and rehearse the BCG and Bain fit questions. Our AI case interviewer asks follow-ups the way a real interviewer does, and you can start with a free week. More prep by firm and case type is on our consulting interview page.
Other levels: McKinsey Business Analyst, McKinsey Associate, BCG Associate, BCG Consultant, Bain Associate Consultant and Bain Consultant. Every firm we cover is on consulting salary. What each level does and where people go next is on our consulting career path guide.
Sources
- US Department of Labor, H-1B LCA disclosure data, filings submitted January 2025 to June 2026, via h1bdata.info, read October 15, 2026
- Boston Consulting Group, United States Associate recruiting opportunities, read October 25, 2026
- Boston Consulting Group, Associate, Experienced Hire, United States (job posting), read October 26, 2026
- Poets&Quants (Jeff Schmitt), citing Management Consulted's Consulting Salaries Report 2026, Consulting Pay: What MBAs Earned In 2025, January 26, 2026
Frequently asked questions
How much does a BCG Associate make?
A $110,000 median base salary in filings from January 2025 to June 2026, plus a performance bonus that Management Consulted's 2026 report puts at $22,000. BCG's current posting sets first-year base at $120,000 from January 1, 2027.
Who joins BCG as an Associate?
Undergraduate and non-MBA master's students from any field, and experienced hires with zero to four years of full-time work, per BCG's US recruiting page and Associate posting.
How much does a BCG Senior Associate make?
The median Senior Associate filing is $145,000, from 21 filings.
How much more does a BCG Consultant make?
A Consultant is filed at $190,000, $80,000 above an Associate. See BCG Consultant salary.
Does BCG pay Associates more than McKinsey and Bain?
In the filings, slightly less: $110,000 at BCG against $112,000 for a McKinsey Business Analyst and $112,000 for a Bain Associate Consultant. BCG's and Bain's current postings both say $120,000.
Related guides
- BCG Consultant Salary: Base Pay (2026)
- BCG Salary 2026: Base Pay by Level from H-1B Filings
- Bain Associate Consultant Salary: Base Pay (2026)
- McKinsey Associate Salary: Base Pay (2026)
- Bain Consultant Salary: Base Pay (2026)
- L.E.K. Consulting Salary: Base Pay by Level (2026)