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Private Equity Salary 2026: Associate, VP and Principal Pay
Private equity associates at Blackstone, KKR, Apollo and Warburg Pincus earn a median base of $140,000 to $200,000 in US H-1B filings, and $175,000 to $400,000 with bonus.
A private equity associate at a large US fund earns a median base salary of $140,000 to $200,000 in H-1B filings from January 2025 to June 2026: $140,000 at Blackstone, $157,500 at KKR, $175,000 at Apollo and $200,000 at Warburg Pincus. Vice presidents and principals are filed at $180,000 to $362,500. With bonus, Mergers & Inquisitions puts associate pay at $175,000 to $400,000 in mid-2026, with little or no carried interest until vice president.
Where the numbers come from. Base salaries are from public US Department of Labor filings by Blackstone, KKR, Apollo and Warburg Pincus, worked out in code. H-1B filings show base salary only: no bonus, signing bonus, profit sharing or benefits. Bonus and carry figures come from the dated reports named next to them.
Associate base salary by firm
Median base salary in each fund's US H-1B filings for Associate, January 2025 to June 2026. Range is the 10th to 90th percentile.
| Firm and title | Filings | Median base | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackstone, Associate | 8 | $140,000 | $140K to $175K |
| KKR, Associate | 12 | $157,500 | $150K to $175K |
| Apollo, Associate | 42 | $175,000 | $135K to $200K |
| Warburg Pincus, Associate | 7 | $200,000 | $180K to $230K |
Large funds hire few associates and fewer on visas, so these medians rest on small counts. Treat one firm's figure as a guide, not a pay scale.
Vice presidents and principals
| Firm and title | Filings | Median base | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| KKR, Vice President | 5 | $180,000 | $168K to $189K |
| KKR, Principal | 20 | $205,000 | $180K to $205K |
| Apollo, Principal | 17 | $300,000 | $88K to $300K |
| Warburg Pincus, Vice President | 8 | $362,500 | $325K to $425K |
Apollo's Principal filings run from $68,869 to $325,000, with most at $300,000.
Analysts
Few funds hire pre-MBA analysts on visas. Apollo's 12 Analyst filings have a median of $117,500, between a first- and second-year banking analyst's $110,000 and $125,000.
| Firm and title | Filings | Median base | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo, Analyst | 12 | $117,500 | $100K to $125K |
Bonus, carry and total pay
- Salary plus bonus by level (Mergers & Inquisitions, figures as of mid-2026, drawn from Heidrick, Selby Jennings and Charles Aris reports): Associate $175,000 to $400,000, Senior Associate $300,000 to $550,000, Vice President $400,000 to $650,000.
- Carried interest in the same guide: 0% to 5% of cash pay for associates, 0% to 10% for senior associates and 10% to 30% for vice presidents.
- 2025 bonuses: Johnson Associates projected 2025 incentives flat to up 5% at large private equity firms and flat at midsize and small ones (Chief Investment Officer, November 10, 2025).
- Raises: in Heidrick & Struggles' survey of 656 North American investment professionals (November 19, 2025), half said their 2025 base increase was 10% or less, and three-quarters said bonuses stayed discretionary rather than set by formula.
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: 131 across the rows shown, one per DOL case number.
- Job titles matched:
- Apollo, Analyst: "Analyst" (12)
- Blackstone, Associate: "Associate titles naming Private Equity or BXPE" (8)
- KKR, Associate: "Associate" (12)
- Apollo, Associate: "Associate" (42)
- Warburg Pincus, Associate: "Associate" (7)
- KKR, Vice President: "Vice President" (5)
- KKR, Principal: "Principal" (20)
- Apollo, Principal: "Principal" (17)
- Warburg Pincus, Vice President: "Vice President" (8)
- 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.
- Left out for too few filings (under 3): Blackstone, Analyst.
- Blackstone files titles that name the team ("Associate, PE-Private Equity"), so only its private equity titles are counted. KKR, Apollo and Warburg Pincus file plain titles ("Associate"), which can include other investment teams such as credit or real estate.
- Carlyle, TPG and Bain Capital had few or no investment-team filings in our searches, so they are left out.
Searches read:
Getting the offer
Private equity interviews test deal judgment as much as technicals: a paper LBO, a case study or modeling test, and why private equity. Read our private equity interview guide and the private equity case study, work through the private equity interview questions, then practice out loud on the private equity page.
Sources
- US Department of Labor, H-1B LCA disclosure data, filings submitted January 2025 to June 2026, via h1bdata.info, read October 15, 2026
- Mergers & Inquisitions, Private Equity Salary, Bonus, and Carried Interest Levels, figures as of mid-2026
- Chief Investment Officer (Michael Katz), on the Johnson Associates November 2025 projections, Certain Wall Street Bonuses to Rise by as Much as 25%, November 10, 2025
- Heidrick & Struggles, 2025 North America Private Equity Investment Professional Compensation Survey, November 19, 2025
- Mergers & Inquisitions, 2026 Investment Banker Salary and Bonus Report, early 2026, covers year-end 2025
Frequently asked questions
How much does a private equity associate make?
A median base of $140,000 to $200,000 at large funds in the filings. With bonus, Mergers & Inquisitions puts the total at $175,000 to $400,000 (mid-2026), higher at the largest funds.
How much does a Blackstone private equity associate make?
Blackstone's private equity Associate filings have a median base of $140,000, from 8 filings in January 2025 to June 2026. Bonus is on top.
How much does a KKR associate make?
KKR's Associate filings have a median base of $157,500, and its Principals $205,000.
Do private equity associates get carry?
Usually little or none. Mergers & Inquisitions puts carry at 0% to 5% of cash pay for associates, rising to 10% to 30% for vice presidents.
Does private equity pay more than investment banking?
Usually. A banking analyst's base is $110,000 to $125,000, while associates at large funds are filed at $140,000 to $200,000. With bonus, Mergers & Inquisitions puts banking analysts at $165,000 to $225,000 and private equity associates at $175,000 to $400,000.
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