What Salary Can You Get After The Harvard MBA?

At around $150,000 for two years of tuition, the Harvard MBA is not cheap—but is it a worthwhile investment? 

According to the Harvard Business School's most recent MBA employment statistics, 86% of 2023 Harvard MBA grads received a job offer within three months of graduating. 

Not only that: the median Harvard MBA salary in 2023 was $175,000, meaning most recent graduates are likely to pay back their tuition within a year. 

Once you include signing and performance bonuses—over half of the class of 2023 received $30k and $40k on average for each type of bonus—the Harvard MBA begins to look like a very lucrative choice for ambitious professionals. 

Here’s what you could earn by studying for the Harvard MBA program, broken down by industry, function, and location.

Average Harvard MBA salary by industry

Consulting

Almost half of prospective MBA students target careers in consulting according to a recent Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) survey, and 17% of the current Harvard MBA class were in consulting before enrolling. 

It’s no surprise, then, that consulting is the most popular industry for grads from the top M7 business school. Just over a quarter of Harvard’s MBA class graduated into consultancy roles in 2023, earning a median base salary of $192k. 

Signing and performance bonuses are also more common in consulting than other fields. Among the Harvard grads who went into the sector, 86% received a signing bonus and 87% a performance bonus, both of which were around $30k on average. 

Private Equity

The next most popular career route for Harvard MBAs in 2023 was private equity, accounting for 17% of grads.

While salaries were slightly lower than in consulting, the median performance bonus for a Harvard MBA grad in private equity was a whopping $181k, the highest across all sectors.

Tech

The third most-common career path for Harvard grads was technology, with 16% of MBAs entering the sector.

The median base salary for Harvard MBAs in tech was $158k, with signing and performance bonuses of $30k and $21k respectively.

READ: BCG, McKinsey & 25 Top Consulting Firms With The Highest Salaries

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 Average Harvard MBA salary by function

Finance

Henry Paulson, former US secretary of the Treasury and CEO of Goldman Sachs, is one of Harvard Business School’s most famous alumni. With such financial pedigree among the school’s alumni, it’s no surprise that many Harvard MBAs land finance jobs after graduation. 

In fact, a third of 2023 grads took up finance roles across several industries, with 64% of MBAs in the sector going into venture capital and private equity. Finance salaries held steady with an overall average of $175k, earning median signing and performance bonuses of $40k and $150k respectively.

General Management

Harvard is the home of the MBA program, which is famously a generalist degree that prepares graduates to thrive in a variety of business contexts and general management roles.

In 2023, the school helped 16% of the cohort find roles in general management, earning a median base salary of $150k. Grads were awarded a median signing bonus of $30k, along with the promise of a median $22k performance bonus.

Marketing

Marketing roles made up for 10% of Harvard’s class of 2023 graduate destinations, with 8% going into product management.

The median Harvard MBA salary for those in marketing roles was $152k, where grads earned median signing packages of $25k and performance bonuses of $20k.

Average Harvard MBA salary by location

Overview

Like many US MBA programs, the Harvard MBA is dominated by domestic students. In the current class, 61% of students are from the USA, with half of those being US minorities.

In addition to this already domestic-focused cohort, US salaries are a strong incentive for international students. Median base salaries in 2023 were $175k—significantly higher than the median base salaries of students who went abroad who earned a still impressive median base salary of $130k.

Strong salary potential likely contributes to the high number of students who settle in the US post-graduation: 89% of the 2023 cohort took up roles in the United States. 

USA

Within the US, over half of grads settled in the Northeast. Here, salaries were above the cohort’s average, at $180k, with signing and performance bonuses of $30k and $40k.

Among those who settled in the Northeast: 35% of students moved to New York, where median base salaries climbed as high as $185k, and 15% remained in Boston, where grads had slightly lower salaries of $175k.

The number of grads who settled in the West dropped to 16% in 2023, with 9% in the Bay Area where salaries were higher, with a median base of $175k. The highest salaries among US-based Harvard MBA grads were found in the South and Southwest, where salaries averaged out at $190k a year. Perhaps surprisingly, only a combined 12% of students settled in those areas.

Europe

The second most popular destination; 5% of Harvard MBA grads flocked to Europe, with most choosing the UK. 

Salaries in the UK came in at a median base of $149k, substantially lower than the US. But there were enormous performance bonuses to be found in the UK, reaching as high as $112k—enough to put you within the 98th percentile of earners in Britain.

Asia

Outside of Europe, 3% of graduates settled in Asia, with the majority landing roles in India. Salaries across Asia were lower than their counterparts in the US or Europe, though still comfortably in the six figures in the continent at large, with a median base salary of $121k.

Average Harvard MBA Salary by...

How to apply: Harvard MBA

Clearly, an MBA from Harvard Business School is a strong indicator of financial success. That’s partly why it’s one of the toughest MBA programs to get into: out of over 8000 applications received, just 938 students made it into the class of 2025.

But the HBS admissions team advises to put your best foot forward, despite the strong competition.

“We don’t want anyone to take themselves out of the process by not applying,” says Chad Losee, a former HBS admissions director and MBA alum. “I remember feeling like it was a long shot when I applied, but I’m so glad I took the shot!”

To have the best chance of success, Chad advises not to focus too hard on any one part of the application, and instead make sure you communicate the impact you can have to the admissions team.

Successfully applying could help you unlock a range of opportunities and land you a top job, with the Harvard MBA salary to match.