Kellogg MBA Salary: By Industry (2025) (Analysis)

In this in-depth analysis of the Kellogg MBA Salary and placement trends by F1GMAT’s Research team for the class of 2025, we observed 6 trends:

• Consulting Salary and Placements: Hiring Percentage Grew
• Financial Services Salary and Placements: The Rise of the Specialist Advisor
• Technology Salary and Placements: Base Salary Fell
• Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Salary and Placements: Lion’s Share of Marketing Hires
• Healthcare Salary and Placements: Hiring Volume Fell with Marginal Improvement in Base Salary
• Manufacturing Salary and Placements: Highest Growth in Median Base Salary

Kellogg MBA Consulting Salary and Placements: Hiring Percentage Grew

Consulting has reasserted itself as the definitive destination for Kellogg MBA graduates, capturing 38% of the Class of 2025, a significant 3% increase from last year’s 35%. While the hiring volume expanded, the compensation package remained stagnant, with a median base salary of $190,000 and a median total compensation of $220,000. This stagnation in pay could also be interpreted as the resilience of the Kellogg MBA brand, given the volatility the consulting industry faced in 2023-2024. The increase in hiring percentage is another indicator that employers are willing to take in more Kellogg MBA Consultants while keeping the base pay competitive for an M7 school. 

Consulting Roles: Implementation-First Mandate in 2025

The growth in consulting volume is a direct reflection of the "Implementation Era" that dominated the industry between late 2024 and early 2025. As corporations moved past the experimental phase of Generative AI, consulting mandates shifted from broad strategy to tangible AI Deployment and Post-Merger Integration. 

McKinsey, Bain and BCG: Prioritized Implementation Experience

Firms like McKinsey, Bain, and BCG, all premier Kellogg recruiters, prioritized MBAs who could deliver "measurable outcomes". 

Midwest Opportunities: Kellogg MBA Consultants

The regional concentration in the Midwest (39%) further fueled this, as Chicago-based industrial and financial clients sought consultants to lead large-scale digital transformation and cost-optimization projects.

This functional success is deeply rooted in the skill acquisition through the Strategy major and the Strategy & Business Development Club, which prepare students to lead under ambiguity. 

Kellogg’s Early Pivot to AI Courses

Kellogg’s investment in an "AI-driven economy" curriculum, specifically the AI Foundations for Managers course offered across five departments, positioned graduates to meet the specific "AI Integration" demands of 2025. Experiential courses like the Analytical Consulting Lab provide students with the "Value-Based" modeling skills that firms now require to prove ROI on agile client projects.

Kellogg MBA Financial Services Salary and Placements: The Rise of the Specialist Advisor

Financial Services saw a healthy expansion this year, attracting 21% of graduates, up from 19% last year.

Kellogg’s Pivot Away from Consulting and Marketing School to Upper-Tier Finance School

More importantly, the median base salary rose to $175,000 (up from $173,000), while the median signing bonus adjusted to $35,000. This uptick in both volume and base pay indicates that Kellogg is no longer just a "marketing or consulting school" but has become a critical supplier for competitive finance roles.

Buy-Side Market: Long-Term Pivot of Kellogg MBA's Hiring Strategy

The financial sector’s performance was driven by an "M&A Boom" and a wave of Industrial Consolidation that took hold in early 2025. Political shifts and discussions of deregulation energized the banking sector, leading firms like J.P. Morgan and Evercore to recruit heavily for transaction execution and capital deployment roles. Additionally, the period saw a "Flight to Alternatives," where multi-family offices and asset management firms expanded their private equity and venture capital verticals, creating a niche demand for Kellogg talent with deal-making experience. The slight decrease in the median signing bonus from last year's $40k reflects a shift toward higher base salaries to ensure long-term talent retention in a competitive "Buy-Side" market.

Kellogg MBA and IMPACT of Real World Asset Management Experience

The Asset Management Practicum (I, II, III) allows students to manage real-world long/short equity portfolios worth over $27 million, providing the institutional-grade experience required by top-tier investment firms. For those pursuing the private markets, the Advanced Private Equity Experience (APEX) and the Private Equity Lab offer direct mentorship from senior alumni and accelerated coursework in LBOs and corporate restructuring, making graduates "transaction-ready" from day one.

Kellogg MBA Technology Salary and Placements: Base Salary Fell

The Technology sector experienced a "normalization" this year, with hiring volume dipping slightly to 19% from 20% last year. 

The most notable change was in compensation: the median base salary fell to $151,500 from $157,000, and the median signing bonus adjusted to $40,000. This reflects an industry-wide move away from the inflated "generalist" pay of the post-pandemic years toward more disciplined, role-specific hiring.

Big Tech vs. Enterprise Saas vs. AI Infrastructure

Between Q3 2024 and Q2 2025, the tech market bifurcated; while "Big Tech" (FAANG) continued to show hiring caution and layoffs, Enterprise SaaS and AI Infrastructure companies stepped up their MBA intake. 

Firms like Snowflake and Scale AI began seeking "Product-Technical Leaders" who can translate complex AI code into strategic business value. The decline in median base salary is partly due to a larger portion of the class entering mid-sized, high-growth startups that offer lower base pay but high-upside equity, a trend that the base salary data does not fully capture. However, the $40,000 median signing bonus remains one of the highest in the Kellogg MBA Employment report, signaling that firms are still aggressively bidding for candidates with proven technical or platform exposure.

IMPACT of Technology Management Pathway 

Kellogg’s ability to maintain a near-20% tech share despite industry headwinds is largely due to the Technology Management Pathway and the MBAi program. The MBAi integrates electives like Modern Software Architectures and Human and Machine Intelligence, ensuring that graduates can "speak both the language of code and capital". Additionally, the Kellogg Tech Club and the Product Management for Technology Companies course provide the networking and functional depth required to pivot into the specialized "Product-led growth" roles that dominated tech hiring in early 2025.

Kellogg MBA Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Salary and Placements: Lion’s Share of Marketing Hires

Kellogg has solidified its status as the premier training ground for the CPG industry, with 9% of the Class of 2025 entering the sector, a notable 2% increase over last year's 7%. While the median base salary was at a low of $128,000, compared to other industries where Kellogg MBA graduates enter, the industry is the primary vehicle for Marketing professionals. The median signing bonus adjusted to $32,500 gave some credibility to the ROI angle for Kellogg MBA graduates entering CPG. The sustained volume in a historically lower-paying sector (compared to consulting or finance) signals that Kellogg students are viewing CPG  as a strategic pivot for long-term CXO roles.

Recruiters Prioritized Kellogg MBA Graduates with Digital Native Experiences

Between late 2024 and early 2025, the CPG industry underwent a fundamental shift from "price-led" to "volume-led" growth as consumer resistance to inflation-driven price hikes reached a breaking point. This transition necessitated a new cohort of Brand Managers capable of managing Revenue Growth Management (RGM) and Omnichannel analytics to drive unit volume. 

Furthermore, the rise of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) challenger brands forced legacy firms like General Mills and PepsiCo, both top Kellogg recruiters, to hire MBAs who could navigate digital-native business models and supply chain resiliency.

Influence of Kellogg’s Marketing Major

Kellogg’s dominance in CPG is engineered through the Marketing major and the Strategic Product and Marketing Immersion (SMI). The SMI curriculum provides foundational training in consumer insights and product lifecycle management, while the Marketing Research and Analytics course equips students with the quantitative rigor to handle the "data-first" RGM strategies now required by major CPG firms. Students also leverage the Kellogg Food & Agribusiness Club and specialized electives like Omnichannel Experience Strategy to prepare for the "anywhere, anytime" retail reality that defined the industry's 2025 strategic priorities.

Kellogg MBA Healthcare Salary and Placements: Hiring Volume Fell with Marginal Improvement in Base Salary

The Healthcare sector saw a contraction in hiring volume, falling to 6% in 2025 from 9% last year. However, the financial return for those entering the sector improved significantly, with the median base salary rising to $142,500 (up from $140,000). This "lower volume, higher pay" trend suggests that the 2025 market moved away from generalist administrative roles toward specialized leadership in high-margin verticals like biotech and health-tech strategy.

Strategy Roles Prioritized in Healthcare

The healthcare industry in 2025 was defined by the rapid integration of AI-driven diagnostic tools and a massive emphasis on Payer-Provider efficiency. After the funding volatility of 2023, the first half of 2025 saw a stabilizing biotech market, where firms like Amgen and Eli Lilly sought MBAs specifically for "Commercialization" and "Global Strategy" roles. The hiring dip reflects a more selective environment where firms prioritized candidates who could navigate the intersection of complex Regulatory Affairs and Digital Health strategy, rather than the broad administrative hiring seen in previous years.

IMPACT of Healthcare at Kellogg Pathway

Graduates successfully navigated this selective market by utilizing the Healthcare at Kellogg (HCAK) Pathway and the specialized Certificate in the Business of Healthcare. This structured track ensures students possess the sector-specific depth required to lead in pharma and med-tech. Key electives like Healthcare Strategy Consulting Lab and Medical Technology Financing and Commercialization provide the exact "application-ready" skills demanded by firms like Johnson & Johnson and DaVita. The Healthcare Club also facilitates "Deep Dive" courses that help students bridge the gap between clinical advancements and business viability.

Kellogg MBA Manufacturing Salary and Placements: Highest Growth in Median Base Salary

Manufacturing saw a marginal bump in volume and one of the strongest growth in pay, rising to 3% of hires (up from 2%) with a median base salary of $159,500. This reflects the "Reshoring" wave and the adoption of Agentic AI in industrial settings. 

The manufacturing surge is a direct result of the "Tariff Test" and supply chain disruptions of early 2025, which forced industrial giants to invest in domestic Smart Manufacturing and automation. 

IMPACT of Kellogg’s Operations major and the Strategic Operations Immersion (SSO)

Kellogg’s Operations major and the Strategic Operations Immersion (SSO) provide the capacity planning and lean manufacturing skills that made graduates highly attractive for these industrial strategy roles. 

For the Media/Entertainment track, students often utilize the Media & Entertainment Club and specialized electives in Luxury Strategy or Intellectual Capital Management to pivot into high-value branding and content roles.

Kellogg MBA Media/Entertainment Salary and Placements: Middle-of-the Pack Median Base Salary

Media/Entertainment remained steady at 2%, serving as a niche, network-driven outcome for students interested in new media and an increasingly fragmented studio system. 

The median base salary was in the middle-of-the-pack $150,861.

Reference

• Kellogg MBA Employment Report