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Big 4 Salary 2026: Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG Pay by Level
Big 4 first-years earn a median base of $72,000 to $93,000 and managers $130,220 to $180,000 in US H-1B filings by Deloitte, PwC and KPMG, level by level.
A first-year associate at a Big 4 firm earns a median base salary of $72,000 to $93,000 in US H-1B filings from January 2025 to June 2026: $74,000 in Deloitte audit, $72,000 in Deloitte tax, $83,150 at KPMG and $93,000 at PwC. Managers are filed at $130,220 to $180,000. For comparison, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the May 2025 median for all US accountants and auditors at $83,680.
Where the numbers come from. Base salaries are from public US Department of Labor filings by Deloitte & Touche, Deloitte Tax, PwC, KPMG and EY, worked out in code. H-1B filings show base salary only: no bonus, signing bonus, profit sharing or benefits. Bonus figures come from the dated reports named next to them.
Deloitte: audit and tax
Median base salary in Deloitte & Touche LLP and Deloitte Tax LLP filings, January 2025 to June 2026. Range is the 10th to 90th percentile.
| Level | Filings | Median base | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit & Assurance Assistant | 230 | $74,000 | $56K to $84K |
| Audit & Assurance Senior | 241 | $88,816 | $76K to $102K |
| Audit & Assurance Manager | 156 | $130,220 | $108K to $155K |
| Audit & Assurance Senior Manager | 32 | $155,000 | $121K to $179K |
| Level | Filings | Median base | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax Consultant | 515 | $72,000 | $56K to $89K |
| Tax Senior | 543 | $96,491 | $76K to $118K |
| Tax Manager | 234 | $142,646 | $107K to $175K |
| Tax Senior Manager | 45 | $199,800 | $118K to $265K |
Deloitte's consulting arm files separately: see Deloitte consultant salary.
PwC
PwC files under PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC and its PwC US entities, with one ladder for all of them. Most of these filings are from the advisory entity.
| Level | Filings | Median base | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Associate | 236 | $93,000 | $78K to $115K |
| Senior Associate | 724 | $147,000 | $115K to $190K |
| Manager | 731 | $180,000 | $152K to $200K |
| Senior Manager | 388 | $206,000 | $179K to $229K |
| Director | 161 | $260,000 | $219K to $294K |
KPMG
KPMG LLP files the same ladder across audit, tax and advisory.
| Level | Filings | Median base | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Associate | 76 | $83,150 | $75K to $110K |
| Senior Associate | 132 | $106,750 | $89K to $150K |
| Manager | 205 | $149,000 | $122K to $189K |
| Senior Manager | 70 | $164,950 | $132K to $227K |
| Director | 71 | $220,500 | $184K to $261K |
EY
EY files under the government's occupation names, not its own levels, so its filings can't be split by level. The three largest groups:
| Occupation | Filings | Median base | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accountants and auditors | 3,939 | $109,000 | $83K to $174K |
| Management analysts | 439 | $175,000 | $106K to $250K |
| Financial and investment analysts | 1,322 | $175,000 | $102K to $250K |
Bonus and total pay
Management Consulted's Consulting Salaries Report 2026 (via Poets&Quants, January 26, 2026) gives first-year totals for MBA hires in the Big 4 consulting and strategy arms:
| Firm and practice | First-year total |
|---|---|
| PwC Strategy& | $280,000 |
| EY Strategy & Operations | $268,000 |
| PwC Consulting Services | $245,000 |
| EY Consulting | $242,000 |
| KPMG Strategy | $230,000 |
| KPMG Consulting | $210,000 |
For undergraduate hires the same report lists a $100,000 base at PwC Strategy& (with up to $22,000 in performance bonus), EY-Parthenon (up to $27,000) and Deloitte Consulting, and a $90,000 base at EY Consulting. In Deloitte audit, staff reported raises of 13.7% to 20.7% on promotion to Senior in 2026 (Going Concern, June 6, 2026, from employee posts).
Against the national figure
The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the May 2025 median for all US accountants and auditors at $83,680, with the lowest 10% under $56,020 and the highest 10% over $144,090. Big 4 associates start near that median, and Big 4 managers ($130,220 to $180,000) are near or above the line for its top 10%.
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: 10,490 across the rows shown, one per DOL case number.
- Job titles matched:
- Audit & Assurance Assistant: "Audit & Assurance Assistant" (230)
- Audit & Assurance Senior: "Audit & Assurance Senior" (241)
- Audit & Assurance Manager: "Audit & Assurance Manager" (156)
- Audit & Assurance Senior Manager: "Audit & Assurance Senior Manager" (32)
- Tax Consultant: "Tax Consultant" (515)
- Tax Senior: "Tax Senior" (543)
- Tax Manager: "Tax Manager" (234)
- Tax Senior Manager: "Tax Senior Manager" (45)
- Associate: "Associate" (236)
- Senior Associate: "Senior Associate" (724)
- Manager: "Manager" (731)
- Senior Manager: "Senior Manager" (388)
- Director: "Director" (161)
- Associate: "Associate" (76)
- Senior Associate: "Senior Associate" (132)
- Manager: "Manager" (205)
- Senior Manager: "Senior Manager" (70)
- Director: "Director" (71)
- Accountants and auditors: "Accountants and Auditors" (3,939)
- Management analysts: "Management Analysts" (439)
- Financial and investment analysts: "Financial and Investment Analysts" (1,322)
- 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.
- EY's filings use occupation names (for example "Accountants and Auditors"), so they are shown by occupation only.
Searches read:
Getting the offer
Each firm has its own guide: PwC interview questions and KPMG interview questions. Big 4 consulting and strategy roles use case interviews. Read our Deloitte case interview guide and the EY-Parthenon case interview guide, then work an EY-Parthenon-style or Deloitte-style practice case out loud.
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
- Going Concern, Compensation Watch '26: Deloitte Salary Numbers Are Out, June 6, 2026
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Accountants and Auditors: Pay, May 2025 wages, page updated August 27, 2026
Frequently asked questions
How much do Big 4 first-years make?
A median base of $74,000 for a Deloitte Audit & Assurance Assistant, $72,000 for a Deloitte Tax Consultant, $83,150 for a KPMG Associate and $93,000 for a PwC Associate, in filings from January 2025 to June 2026.
Which Big 4 firm pays the most?
PwC has the highest medians at every level in the filings ($147,000 for a Senior Associate, $180,000 for a Manager), but most of its filings come from its advisory entity, while Deloitte's audit and tax filings are pure audit and tax.
How much does a Big 4 manager make?
From $130,220 (Deloitte audit) to $180,000 (PwC) in median base salary. KPMG Managers are filed at $149,000 and Deloitte Tax Managers at $142,646.
Do the Big 4 pay more than other accounting jobs?
At entry level, about the same as the national median of $83,680 for accountants and auditors (BLS, May 2025). By manager level, Big 4 base pay is near or above $144,090, the line for the top 10% of the occupation.
Why isn't EY broken out by level?
EY files its H-1B roles under the government's occupation names rather than titles like Senior or Manager, so the filings don't say which level a role is.
Related guides
- McKinsey Salary 2026: Base Pay by Level from H-1B Filings
- BCG Salary 2026: Base Pay by Level from H-1B Filings
- Management Consultant Salary 2026: Base Pay at 8 Firms by Level
- Bain Salary 2026: Base Pay by Level from H-1B Filings
- Deloitte Consultant Salary 2026: Base Pay by Level and State
- How to Practice Case Interviews With AI: What Works