BCG pays a new Associate, its undergraduate hire, a base salary of $110,000 and a Consultant, the level MBA hires join at, $190,000, in US H-1B filings from January 2025 to June 2026. Pay is set by level: 442 of 497 Consultant filings name exactly $190,000, across 23 US cities. Project Leaders are filed at $225,400, Principals at $252,900 and Partners at $268,400. Management Consulted's 2026 report puts a Consultant's first year at about $270,000, with a $47,500 performance bonus and a $30,000 signing bonus.

Where the numbers come from. Base salaries are from 497 Consultant, 113 Associate and other public US Department of Labor filings, worked out in code. H-1B filings show base salary only: no bonus, signing bonus, profit sharing or benefits. Bonus and benefit figures come from the dated report named next to them.

Base salary by level

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
Project Leader	173	$225,400	$225,400
Principal	29	$252,900	$243K to $253K
Partner	12	$268,400	$258K to $268K

Senior Associate sits between the two entry levels at $145,000. Most of its 21 filings are from 2026.

Bonus, signing bonus and benefits

From Management Consulted's Consulting Salaries Report 2026, which covers offers made in 2025 (reported by Poets&Quants, January 26, 2026):

Consultant (MBA hire): $190,000 base, a $47,500 performance bonus and a $30,000 signing bonus, about $270,000 in the first year. A lump-sum 401(k) contribution of $11,875 and 15 days of paid time off.
Associate (undergraduate hire): a $22,000 performance bonus on top of base, with 15 days of paid time off.
The trend: the report found starting pay at the top firms flat for a third year in a row.

The $190,000 Consultant base in the report matches the filings to the dollar.

BCG, McKinsey and Bain side by side

Level	McKinsey	BCG	Bain
Undergraduate hire	$112,000	$110,000	$112,000
MBA hire	$192,000	$190,000	$192,000
First manager level	$220,000	$225,400	$212,000

Median base salary in each firm's US H-1B filings. The levels are McKinsey's Business Analyst, Associate and Engagement Manager, BCG's Associate, Consultant and Project Leader, and Bain's Associate Consultant, Consultant and Manager. Full tables: McKinsey salary, Bain salary and management consultant salary across eight firms.

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: 845 across the rows shown, one per DOL case number.
Job titles matched:
- Associate: "Associate" (113)
- Senior Associate: "Senior Associate" (21)
- Consultant: "Consultant" (497)
- Project Leader: "Project Leader" (173)
- Principal: "Principal" (29)
- Partner: "Partner" (12)
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. Data science, AI engineering and other BCG X and Vantage roles are left out because they are not consulting levels.

Searches read:

boston consulting group inc: 2025, 2026

Getting the offer

BCG's interviews are candidate-led cases, often with the Casey online case first. Read our BCG case interview guide and the Casey guide, then work a BCG-style practice case out loud. The fit questions matter too: try the BCG and Bain fit practice.

Sources

US Department of Labor, H-1B LCA disclosure data, filings submitted January 2025 to June 2026, via h1bdata.info, read October 15, 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 base salary in the median filing, plus a performance bonus that Management Consulted's 2026 report puts at $22,000.

How much does a BCG Consultant make?

A $190,000 base salary. With a $47,500 performance bonus and a $30,000 signing bonus, Management Consulted's 2026 report puts the first year at about $270,000.

Does BCG pay the same in every US office?

Almost always. 442 of 497 Consultant filings name exactly $190,000, across 23 US cities.

How much does a BCG Project Leader make?

The median Project Leader filing is $225,400, from 173 filings. Principals are filed at $252,900.

Does BCG pay more than McKinsey and Bain?

Not on base. BCG's Consultant base is $190,000, against $192,000 for a McKinsey Associate and $192,000 for a Bain Consultant. Management Consulted puts BCG's first-year total between McKinsey's and Bain's.

BCG Salary 2026: Base Pay by Level from H-1B Filings