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

In this in-depth analysis of the Yale SOM MBA Employment outcome for the 2025 graduating class by job location, we cover: 

1. North America Placements Strengthened as Employers Consolidated Hiring Around Core Markets
2. Northeast: New York–Boston Consulting and Finance Corridor Drove Volume Without Salary Hikes
3. West: California and Pacific Northwest Shifted Toward Fewer, Higher-Impact MBA Roles
4. Midwest: Chicago-Centered Corporate and Financial Roles Sustained Hiring at Lower Pay Bands
5. Southwest: Energy, Infrastructure Finance, and Cost-Heavy Transformation Lifted Salaries Despite Modest Hiring
6. South: Corporate Relocation and Healthcare Expansion Supported Steady but Uneven Outcomes
7. Mid-Atlantic: Policy-Adjacent Strategy and Regulated Industry Consulting Sustained Stable Placement
8. International: Selective Global Roles Persisted as Employers Prioritized Domestic Execution 

1. North America Placements Strengthened as Employers Consolidated Hiring Around Core Markets

In 2025, 92.4% of Yale MBA graduates accepted roles within the United States, up from 89.6% in 2024, while the median base salary increased to $175,000 from $170,000. This shift reflects a structural re-domestication of MBA hiring, rather than a contraction in international opportunity. Between Q3 2024 and Q2 2025, employers across consulting, finance, and regulated industries concentrated hiring in the U.S. due to three converging factors: tighter global capital conditions, increased compliance and geopolitical risk abroad, and persistent visa-related execution uncertainty.

At the same time, U.S. consulting and finance hiring rebounded on the back of implementation-heavy mandates, large-cap M&A, and restructuring activity, all of which are predominantly staffed from domestic offices.

2. Northeast: New York–Boston Consulting and Finance Corridor Drove Volume Without Salary Hikes 

The Northeast absorbed 57.7% of Yale MBA graduates in 2025, up from 48.0% in 2024, with the median base salary remaining stable at $175,000. The increase in hiring volume is closely tied to activity in New York and Boston, which together function as the primary execution centers for consulting, investment banking, and corporate strategy roles.

New York Hiring Expanded from Investment Banking to Broad Diversified Financial Services

In New York, investment banking and diversified financial services hiring strengthened as large-cap transactions and refinancing activity increased in late 2024, particularly in healthcare, insurance, and energy infrastructure. This aligns with Yale’s finance placements, where investment banking alone accounted for 17.9% of placements, up from 14% the prior year. 

Simultaneously, consulting firms expanded staffing in New York to support financial services transformation and regulatory-driven operating model redesign, especially following higher compliance and capital adequacy requirements.

In Boston, hiring was driven less by pure finance and more by healthcare consulting, life sciences strategy, and internal corporate strategy roles, reflecting the city’s dense concentration of healthcare systems, pharmaceutical firms, and research-driven enterprises. These dynamics explain why Northeast hiring expanded materially without pushing base salaries higher, the region offered depth of opportunity rather than scarcity-driven pay escalation.

3. West: California and Pacific Northwest Shifted Toward Fewer, Higher-Impact MBA Roles

The West placed 17.5% of Yale MBA graduates in 2025, down from 22.7% in 2024, while the median base salary increased slightly to $158,000 from $156,625. This pattern reflects intentional selectivity, not diminished relevance.

San Francisco and Bay Area - Hiring Shifted towards AI Commercialization and Enterprise Software Monetization

Within San Francisco and the broader Bay Area, MBA hiring shifted away from broad product and growth roles toward AI commercialization, enterprise software monetization, and internal strategy positions. Public disclosures from major technology firms during this period show that while headcount growth remained restrained, investment in AI infrastructure, cloud optimization, and enterprise client solutions increased, creating demand for MBAs capable of translating technical investment into commercial outcomes.

Seattle - King of Cloud and Enterprise Platforms

In Seattle, hiring remained concentrated around cloud services, enterprise platforms, and operations-adjacent strategy, particularly as large technology employers emphasized profitability and operational efficiency over expansion. This helps explain why West Coast compensation remained competitive even as hiring volume declined.

Importantly, consulting firms also expanded West Coast transformation teams to serve technology, media, and consumer platforms undergoing restructuring. Many Yale MBAs placed in the West therefore entered consulting or internal strategy roles supporting technology clients, rather than technology firms directly, an important distinction that reconciles West Coast outcomes with Yale’s consulting-heavy function data.

4. Midwest: Chicago-Centered Corporate and Financial Roles Sustained Hiring at Lower Pay Bands 

The Midwest accounted for 6.7% of placements in 2025, down slightly from 7.6% in 2024, with the median base salary declining to $155,000 from $165,000. Midwest hiring was concentrated primarily in Chicago, with smaller numbers across secondary corporate hubs.

Chicago - A Feeder City for Corporate Finance, Management Consulting and General Management

Chicago-based outcomes were driven by corporate finance, management consulting, and general management roles within diversified corporations, financial institutions, and healthcare systems. During 2024–2025, Midwest employers focused on cost discipline, supply chain resilience, and operational efficiency, limiting salary growth but sustaining demand for analytically trained MBAs.

Unlike the Northeast or West, Midwest hiring emphasized role stability over variable compensation, which explains both the lower base salary and the reduced signing bonus prevalence. Yale’s decline in general management placements nationally maps directly to this regional pattern, as Midwest firms reduced rotational leadership pipelines in favor of role-specific accountability.

5. Southwest: Energy, Infrastructure Finance, and Cost-Heavy Transformation Lifted Salaries Despite Modest Hiring 

The Southwest accounted for 6.7% of Yale MBA placements in 2025, up from 5.6% in 2024, with a median base salary of $190,000, marginally higher than last year. This region stands out because salary levels are among the highest nationally despite a moderate hiring share, indicating role seniority rather than volume-driven demand.

Southwest and Yale MBA Energy Hires

Hiring in the Southwest during Q3 2024–Q2 2025 was anchored primarily in Texas-based firms in Houston, Dallas, and Austin. 
Houston continued to see strong demand from energy majors and infrastructure-focused financial institutions, driven by capital deployment into LNG projects, grid modernization, and energy transition investments. These initiatives required MBAs in capital planning, project finance, and regulatory strategy, which aligns closely with Yale’s elevated finance and consulting placement share.

Austin’s contribution was smaller in volume but skewed toward internal strategy and transformation roles within technology and professional services firms that expanded selectively after cost restructuring in 2023–2024. 

The Southwest’s compensation profile reflects capital-intensive, execution-heavy roles, explaining why salaries remained high even as hiring volumes stayed contained.

6. South: Corporate Relocation and Healthcare Expansion Supported Steady but Uneven Outcomes 

The South absorbed 6.2% of Yale MBA graduates in 2025, up from 4.0% in 2024, with a median base salary of $167,500, a substantial increase over last year’s $117,500. This improvement reflects a shift in role mix rather than a surge in hiring volume.
Cities such as Atlanta, Nashville, and parts of Florida drove regional outcomes, supported by continued corporate relocations, healthcare system expansion, and logistics network investment. 

During 2024–2025, several firms relocated finance, strategy, and operations functions to the South to manage costs while maintaining access to large labor markets. Healthcare providers and insurers also expanded administrative and strategy teams in response to reimbursement pressure and operational complexity.

South Placements in Corporate Finance, healthcare strategy, and general management

Yale graduates placed into the South were therefore more likely to enter corporate finance, healthcare strategy, and general management roles, which command higher base salaries than traditional operations roles. This explains the sharp rise in median pay despite only moderate growth in placement share.

7. Mid-Atlantic: Policy-Adjacent Strategy and Regulated Industry Consulting Sustained Stable Placement 

The Mid-Atlantic region accounted for 5.2% of Yale MBA placements in 2025, down from 12.1% in 2024, while the median base salary rose sharply to $175,000 from $145,000. This pattern reflects a reduction in lower-paid public-sector or nonprofit roles, coupled with continued demand for high-skill, policy-adjacent positions.

Washington, D.C - Most Hires

Washington, D.C. remained the dominant city within the region. Between Q3 2024 and Q2 2025, consulting firms and financial institutions expanded teams focused on regulatory compliance, government contracting strategy, healthcare policy, and energy regulation. These roles are fewer in number but significantly higher in compensation, which explains why placement volume declined while salaries increased.

Yale’s curriculum emphasis on macro policy, stakeholder management, and systems thinking aligns closely with these roles, but the overall hiring aperture narrowed as government-linked organizations tightened budgets and reduced entry-level pipelines.

8. International: Selective Global Roles Persisted as Employers Prioritized Domestic Execution 

International placements declined from 10.4% in 2024 to 7.6% in 2025, with a median base salary of $127,099, up from $120,000. This decline should be interpreted as a positive signal of domestic strength, not a weakening of global relevance.

Fewer Incentive for Asia Placements

Asia remained the largest international destination, though placement fell from 5.8% to 4.75%, and median base salary declined to $90,000. Hiring was concentrated in consulting and corporate strategy roles, particularly in financial services and consumer sectors. Lower compensation reflects local market norms and currency effects, not role seniority.

Placements across Canada, Europe, MENA, and Australia were highly selective, typically tied to pre-MBA employer sponsorships, internal transfers, or niche consulting roles. The absence of standardized salary data reflects small sample sizes rather than weak outcomes.

Between late 2024 and mid-2025, many global firms delayed cross-border MBA hiring due to visa uncertainty, geopolitical risk, and slower economic recovery outside the U.S. This reinforced the shift toward U.S.-based placements, which offered faster onboarding and clearer regulatory pathways.

 

Reference

• Yale SOM MBA Employment Report