MBA Salary Levels & Business Schools in the US

By Tim Dhoul Updated Oct 30, 2014

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Introduction
Evolution of salaries and MBA ROI

MBA salary levels reported by US schools

Industry and worldwide salary trends in the latest J&S report - available free

The average MBA salary on offer to graduates in the US is US$93,200, according to the recently-released 2014/15 TopMBA Jobs & Salary Trends Report.

This placed it fifth in the list of countries offering the highest average MBA salary levels this year.

However, graduates of the top business schools in the US can attract MBA salary levels some 10- 30% higher than this – particularly those lying in close proximity to the major cities of New York, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago.

Below are the 10 top business schools in the US that reported the highest average MBA salary levels for last year’s graduating class.

Evolution of salaries and MBA ROI

A new report from PayScale affords an impression of how salaries and MBA ROI (return on investment) in the US can improve as graduates move further into their careers.

The report contains a look at MBA ROI using salary data from the alumni of 166 business schools in the US. For those who continue to work in the US, it compares the difference between alumni earnings in the first five years after graduating (‘early career’) with those made at least ten years after leaving business school (‘mid-career’).

Its top-10, based on mid-career earnings is displayed below. Please note that it is using median MBA salary levels rather than mean averages in its analysis. The results suggest that looking beyond the early career earnings of MBAs can give a different outcome when it comes to analyzing MBA ROI among the top business schools in the US.

Annual pay for alumni with an MBA. Typical early career graduates have 0 to 5 years of experience; mid-career graduates have 10 years or more. Source: PayScale

Written by

Tim Dhoul

Tim is a writer with a background in consumer journalism and charity communications. He trained as a journalist in the UK and holds degrees in history (BA) and Latin American studies (MA).