Tuck MBA Salary: By Job Location (2025) (Analysis)

In this in-depth analysis of the Tuck MBA Employment outcome for the 2025 graduating class by job location, we cover: United States, Northeast, West, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Southwest, South, and International placements.

1.    United States: Dominated Hiring

2.    Northeast: Boston edges New York in Salary 

3.    West: Technology offers Grew 

4.    Midwest: IMPACT of Manufacturing, Healthcare and Low Remuneration Industries

5.    Mid-Atlantic: Advisory and Regulated Industry Exposure Moderated Salary

6.    Southwest: Low Volume, High Compensation Driven by Energy and Infrastructure

7.    South: Secondary Market with Normalized Compensation

8.    International: Structurally Limited Placement

1.    United States: Dominated Hiring

The United States accounts for 96% of total hires for the Tuck MBA Class of 2025, with a median base salary of $175,000, exactly matching the overall class median. This level of domestic concentration is consistent with Tuck’s historical outcomes and is best explained by the nature of roles that dominated hiring in 2025, rather than by geographic preference or mobility constraints. 

American Leadership in Fund Allocation and Trade – Drove Tuck MBA Placements

Consulting, which represents 42% of functional outcomes, and finance-related roles, which together account for 27%, remained overwhelmingly U.S.-based during Q3 2024 to Q2 2025. Consulting firms required proximity to clients for AI implementation, cost-reduction programs, and operating-model redesign, while investment banks and corporate finance teams concentrated execution work around U.S. capital markets. As a result, regional outcomes followed where execution intensity was highest, reinforcing U.S.-centric placement without materially changing salary benchmarks.

2.  Northeast: Boston edges New York in Salary 

The Northeast captures 55% of hires, making it the most significant employment region for the Class of 2025, with a median base salary of $175,000. While this share is marginally lower than the peak observed in the prior year, it remains above Tuck’s long-term average. 

Boston and New York Lead as Tuck MBA Graduates’ Favorite Destination

Hiring in this region is overwhelmingly concentrated in New York and Boston, which together define both the volume and compensation dynamics of the Northeast.

New York: Heart of Tuck MBA’s Finance Placements

New York alone absorbs 27% of total placements, reflecting its continued dominance in investment banking, investment management, and finance-heavy consulting roles. The median base salary of $175,000 aligns exactly with finance benchmarks, signalling that compensation discipline in 2025 was driven by bonus-led competition, even as deal execution activity normalized. 

Boston Job Offers: Tuck MBA Graduates Chose Healthcare, Life Sciences, and Technology

Boston, which also accounts for 27% of placements, shows a higher median base salary of $185,000, a premium driven not by finance but by consulting roles tied to healthcare, life sciences, and AI-enabled productivity work. During 2024–25, these sectors demonstrated stronger margin resilience, allowing consulting firms to pay at the upper end of salary bands. The sharp salary drop outside these two hubs reinforces that the Northeast functions as a city-centric market, where compensation is set by industry concentration rather than regional averages.

3.   West: Technology offers Grew 

The West accounts for 15% of hires, with a median base salary of $165,000, below the class median and reflective of technology’s reweighted role in 2025. Hiring in this region is driven primarily by the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, both of which illustrate how technology hiring recovered selectively after widespread layoffs earlier in the cycle. 

Bay Area Placements: Tuck MBA couldn’t match Schools with Strong Technology Legacy

In the Bay Area, placements were concentrated in product strategy, platform economics, and go-to-market roles at large technology firms, but base salaries remained compressed as companies continued to prioritise margin discipline over headcount expansion. This produced moderate compensation levels despite senior responsibility.

Seattle: Mix of Operations, Logistics and Technology Offers Offset West’s Compensation Average

Seattle’s outcomes further pull down the regional median due to a heavier mix of operations, logistics, and platform execution roles, particularly within large technology and commerce organisations. These roles demand scale management and process ownership but lack the bonus opportunities available for offers in consulting or finance. Taken together, the West’s outcomes show that regional hiring expanded only where technology demand intersected with clearly defined operational needs. The compensation followed internal cost structures over geographic premiums.

4.  Midwest: IMPACT of Manufacturing, Healthcare and Low Remuneration Industries

The Midwest represents 8% of total hires, with a median base salary of $150,000, but this aggregate figure masks a pronounced internal concentration that explains the region’s continued relevance. 

Chicago: Suffered a seven-year low in VC Funding

Chicago anchors Midwest outcomes, accounting for roughly half of regional placements and posting a median base salary of $190,000, comparable to consulting salary ceilings. This premium reflects Chicago’s role as a hub for consulting and financial advisory work tied to industrials, restructuring, and corporate finance, areas that experienced elevated execution demand during 2024–25 as firms navigated supply-chain reconfiguration and balance-sheet stress.

But the city clearly missed out on the AI-run as the city in 2025 experienced a seven-year low in VC funding, losing out to New York and San Francisco.

Manufacturing and Healthcare: Affected Salary Averages

Outside Chicago, Midwest hiring shifts toward manufacturing, healthcare administration, and internal finance roles, which are more operationally focused and less bonus-driven, pulling down the regional median. The Midwest’s employment profile reflects high-pay concentration in a narrow hub, rather than broad regional demand, with salaries closely tracking industry mix rather than geography.

5.    Mid-Atlantic: Advisory and Regulated Industry Exposure Moderated Salary

The Mid-Atlantic accounts for 8% of hires, with a median base salary of $165,000, reflecting a stable but limited employment market. 

Tuck MBA Salary: Above Technology Offers Below Consulting and Finance

Hiring in this region is driven by consulting, regulatory-adjacent advisory, and finance-support roles, particularly in industries subject to policy oversight and compliance pressure. Compensation levels sit below consulting and finance peaks but above technology medians, consistent with roles that are analytically demanding but less bonus-intensive. The region’s outcomes indicate functional relevance without the scale of opportunities AI roles could garner the attention of MBA graduates last year.

6.    Southwest: Low Volume, High Compensation Driven by Energy and Infrastructure

The Southwest contributes 6% of hires, yet reports a median base salary of $190,000, among the highest across all regions. This apparent mismatch between volume and pay is explained by the industry composition of hiring, which is heavily weighted toward energy, infrastructure, and project-finance roles, particularly in Texas. During 2024–25, rising AI-driven power demand and grid investment accelerated capital deployment in these sectors, increasing demand for MBAs capable of managing large-scale, capital-intensive projects. These roles carry higher risk and responsibility, which translated directly into premium compensation despite limited hiring numbers.

7.    South: Secondary Market with Normalized Compensation

The South accounts for 5% of hires, with a median base salary of $168,200, reflecting placements in banking, healthcare, and corporate roles that are operationally meaningful but lack the sector-specific or bonus-driven premiums seen in other regions. 
Hiring volumes and salaries in the South neither materially elevate nor depress overall class outcomes, positioning the region as a stable but secondary employment market for the class.

8. International: Structurally Limited Placement

International placements represent 4% of hires, with a median base salary of $105,160, significantly below U.S. benchmarks. This reflects currency adjustments, cost-of-living differences, and the limited availability of consulting and finance execution roles outside North America during 2025. 

Asia, Latin America, and Canada remain marginal destinations because the industries that concentrated high-intensity execution work were domestically placed during this cycle.

Reference

• Tuck MBA Employment Report