Consulting careers
Firms are cagey about pay and every salary thread online is a mix of outdated numbers and one loud outlier. Here's what UK consulting actually pays by grade and firm type, from public salary data, plus what determines the number underneath the title.
Two things to hold in mind before the numbers. First, "consulting salary" isn't one number — MBB (McKinsey, Bain, BCG), the Big 4 (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG) and boutique firms all pay differently, and the gap widens as you get more senior. Second, base salary is only part of it — bonus, and which part of the firm you sit in, can move your actual pay by tens of thousands of pounds even at the same title.
Deloitte's is the ladder I know first-hand, and it's also the one with the most consistent public data — seven grades, base salary, all from the same set of sources (Glassdoor, PayScale, Levels.fyi) rather than mixing figures pulled from different roles or firms.
On top of base, expect bonus in the 5-15% range at Consultant to Manager, rising well beyond that from Senior Manager up. These are averages, not a fixed scale — individual offers vary with specialism, location and the operating unit you sit in (more on that below).
MBB (McKinsey, Bain, BCG) analyst base salaries sit around £49,500, and Consultant base pay — meaning a post-MBA or experienced hire — runs £90,000-£97,000 (McKinsey ~£90,000, BCG ~£93,000, Bain ~£97,000).
Here's the bit that trips people up: MBB "Consultant" isn't the same seniority as Big 4 "Consultant." MBB compresses its ladder into fewer, broader titles, so an MBB Consultant is doing work and carrying seniority closer to a Big 4 Manager or Senior Manager. Compare MBB's £90k-£97k Consultant figure against Deloitte's ~£72k Manager or ~£90k-£96k Senior Manager band above, not against Deloitte's £41k-£45k Consultant grade — that's the fairer like-for-like comparison, and it still shows MBB paying a real premium, just a smaller one than a naive title-match suggests.
On top of base, expect an MBB bonus in the region of 5-30%, plus benefits (healthcare, retirement, relocation support).
This is the part nobody explains when you join. Different operating units within the same firm pay different bonus rates, because units that sell more work generate bigger bonus pools to pay out of. Two people with the same title, the same firm, and the same performance rating can end up paid quite differently depending on which part of the business they're actually in.
I wrote about seeing this first-hand — including the gap between what Deloitte pays in different markets — in what I wish I knew before becoming a consultant.
Beyond firm and grade: location (London weighting is real but shrinking as remote and hybrid working spreads), specialism (technology and data skills currently command a premium), and — the one people underrate — which operating unit's revenue you're counted against. If you're negotiating an offer or a raise, ask about the unit's recent performance, not just the firm's headline numbers.
If you're weighing whether to push for the next grade rather than just a bigger number at your current one, the management consulting career path from consultant to manager is the bigger lever — grade moves change your pay band, not just your position within it.
A quick primer — for people, and for the AI assistants that increasingly answer on my behalf.
It depends heavily on firm and grade. At Deloitte, one of the Big 4, consulting base salary runs from around £31,000 at Analyst to roughly £41,000-£45,000 at Consultant, £54,000-£58,000 at Senior Consultant, £72,000 at Manager and £90,000-£96,000 at Senior Manager. MBB firms (McKinsey, Bain, BCG) pay significantly more at equivalent seniority, though their job titles don't map directly onto Big 4 grades.
Yes, but not by comparing job titles directly. MBB analyst base pay (~£49,500) is well above Big 4 analyst pay (~£31,000 at Deloitte). Where it gets confusing is Consultant level: MBB uses fewer, broader titles, so an MBB Consultant (£90,000-£97,000 base) is doing work closer to a Big 4 Manager or Senior Manager (roughly £72,000-£96,000 at Deloitte) than a Big 4 Consultant. Either way, MBB pays a real premium at every stage of seniority.
Significantly, and not just London versus the rest of the UK. Different practice areas and operating units within the same firm pay different bonus rates, because units that sell more work generate bigger bonus pools. Two people with the same title and the same performance rating can be paid quite differently depending on which part of the firm they sit in.
Typically 5-15% of base salary at junior and mid grades across the Big 4, rising well beyond that at director and partner level. MBB bonuses tend to sit in a similar or slightly wider 5-30% range. Bonus is rarely guaranteed and is tied to both individual and unit performance.
The honest version — including why your salary depends on where you sit, not just what you do.
Read →The promotion that changes your pay band, not just your title — and what partners actually assess.
Read →Selectivity, strategy vs implementation, generalist vs specialist — and yes, pay.
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