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Kellogg MBA Salary 2021

Kellogg continued its dominance in Consulting – both in post-MBA function and industry with Technology the 2nd most popular industry and General Management the 2nd most popular function. Keeping up with M7 schools, Kellogg maintained a base salary of $165,000, while Corporate Strategy/Planning offers remained second only to those offered at Harvard. 

In this in-depth analysis of the Kellogg MBA Employment trends and Salary for the 2021 Graduating Class, we cover:

Kellogg MBA Salary by Industry (2021)

Consulting was the leading industry at Kellogg, preferred by 33% of the class, followed by Technology, which had an equivalent representation (30%). This despite Technology attracting $166,000 in total median salary – below the peer school’s range of $170,000 to $175,000.

Investment Banking compensated the salary range with a $200,000 total salary, tied with Wharton, ahead of MIT Sloan ($180,000) but behind the leaders – Columbia and Booth.

The total compensation for Consulting was the standard $195,000. The pandemic has spurred demand for the Healthcare industry, attracting 7% of the offers despite the lowest total salary ($158,500) among the industries. However, the compensation was ahead of the ones offered at Columbia and Wharton.

Kellogg MBA Salary by IndustryPercent HiredMedian Base SalaryMedian Sign-On BonusTotal Salary
Investment Banking5%$150,000$50,000$200,000
Consulting33%$165,000$30,000$195,000
Private Equity6%$150,000$17,500$167,500
Technology30%$136,000$30,000$166,000
Healthcare7%$128,500$30,000$158,500

Kellogg MBA Salary by Function (2021)

With 12% representation, General Management had the highest percentage of offers received for the niche among peer schools, turning Kellogg into a Consulting and General Management specialist.

General Management and Product Management were two popular post-MBA functions, whereas Private Equity & Investment Banking offers could add 10% to the total number of offers.  

Despite the $20,000 range below top M7 schools, Kellogg graduates secured the second highest salary in Corporate Strategy/Planning ($175,000) behind Harvard. Kellogg graduates also secured the second highest salary in Product Management ($175,000), $4,000 behind Wharton.

Kellogg MBA Salary by FunctionPercent HiredMedian Base SalaryMedian Sign-On BonusTotal Salary
Investment Banking5%$150,000$50,000$200,000
Consulting33%$165,000$30,000$195,000
Product Management8%$140,000$35,000$175,000
Corporate Strategy/Strategic Planning7%$147,000$25,000$172,000
Private Equity5%$150,000$20,000$170,000
General Management12%$130,000$25,000$155,000

Kellogg MBA Salary by Location (2021)

92% of all Kellogg MBAs secured employment within the US. It is worth noting that 74% of all students seeking employment were US nationals. 30% of all non-US students were sponsored, constituting 33% of those not seeking employment.

97% of all international students secured offers within 3 months of graduation with a median base salary of $150,000, higher by $5,000 than their US peers.

The Midwest absorbed more Kellogg MBAs than the Northeast, with Chicago attracting 23% of graduates, followed by San Francisco acquiring 20% and New York 11%. The median base salary of Chicago was the highest at $155,000, whereas New York and San Francisco were tied at $150,000.

Internationally, 5.5% of Kellogg MBAs accepted offers in Asia, which offered a higher median base salary of $117,722 as compared to South America, which offered a median base salary of $80,000 and acquired 1.5% of Kellogg MBAs.

RankKellogg MBA Top 11 EmployersNo. of Hires
1McKinsey & Company56
2The Boston Consulting Group33
3Amazon28
4Bain & Company20
4Google20
5PwC Strategy&11
6Deloitte Consulting LLP8
6Microsoft Corporation8
7Apple Inc.7
8Nike, Inc.6
8Adobe Systems6
9PepsiCo, Inc.5
10Accenture Strategy4
10The Estee Lauder Companies4
10Tyson Foods4
10Medtronic, Inc.4
10DICK'S Sporting Goods4
10Intuit Inc.4
11L.E.K. Consulting3
11ZS Associates3
11Capital One Financial Corporation3
11J.P. Morgan3

Kellogg MBA Top Employers (2021)

The dominance of consulting firms across the M7 schools persists at Kellogg as well, with 7 consulting firms in the top 11.

McKinsey leads all the hiring firms by employing 11% of all graduates, followed by BCG. Amazon makes the most hires for a Technology firm, followed by Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe.

Replacing Finance, Consumer Product companies like PepsiCo, Nike, Estee Lauder have a much greater presence than any other M7 school. Within Finance, the top employers are JP Morgan and Capital One Financial Corporation – taking the eleventh position on the list.

Kellogg MBA - Career Service Team - Effectiveness (2021)

72% of all job offers were sourced by the school.

Summer internships were the largest source of MBA job offers at Kellogg that represented 44% for all school-facilitated offers and 7% for all student-initiated offers.

Kellogg’s internal job board facilitated 16% of all job offers.

Most of the M7 schools mention connections within their experiential learning modules and/or faculty connections. However, Kellogg is the only school to mention alumni referrals to specifically contribute toward 3% of all job offers.

Among student-initiated job offers, 11% were sourced through off-campus interviews. Only 3% were sourced from a previous employer.

Related Services

F1GMAT’s Career Planning Service
F1GMAT’s Essay Review Service

Related Books

F1GMAT’s Kellogg MBA Essay Guide
F1GMAT’s Winning MBA Essay Guide (Includes Kellogg MBA Essay Tips and Samples)

Reference

About the Author 

Atul Jose

I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.

 

For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.

 

My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.

 

I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.

 

The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.

 

Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.