The West is definitely not best, pay-wise that is. Not surprisingly, Stanford GSB grads scored the highest average base pay in their home region at $160,105. However, pay growth has dragged over the past year. HBS grads, for example, earned $155,944, inching up just $1,803 over 2019. The same was true for Dartmouth Tuck (+$319), Northwestern Kellogg (+$339), NYU Stern (+$262) and Duke Fuqua (-$2,743). One surprise: North Carolina Kenan-Flagler punched well above its rank. Grads here earned $138,800 in the West, better than NYU Stern, Michigan Stern, and Virginia Darden -- not to mention local favorites UCLA Anderson and USC Marshall. When it comes to individual bases, a Stanford grad negotiated a $400K base, the best of any school in any region.
| U.S. News Rank | School | 2020 West Low | 2015 West Low | 2020 West Average | 2015 West Average | 2020 West High | 2015 West High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford | $52,000 | $60,000 | $160,105 | $132,870 | $400,000 | $250,000 |
| 2 | Wharton | NA | $81,800 | NA | $126,046 | NA | $200,000 |
| 3 | University of Chicago (Booth) | $90,000 | $80,000 | $146,041 | $126,640 | $250,000 | $170,000 |
| 4 | Northwestern (Kellogg) | $75,000 | $95,500 | $142,472 | $126,088 | $230,000 | $200,000 |
| 5 | Harvard | $100,000 | $80,000 | $155,944 | $132,253 | $275,000 | $220,000 |
| 5 | MIT (Sloan) | NA | $90,000 | NA | $127,940 | NA | $220,000 |
| 7 | California-Berkeley (Haas) | NA | $85,000 | NA | $127,298 | NA | $225,000 |
| 7 | Columbia | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 9 | Yale SOM | $62,400 | $80,640 | $140,151 | $120,529 | $194,000 | $170,000 |
| 10 | Dartmouth (Tuck) | $96,000 | $85,000 | $142,493 | $122,405 | $185,000 | $147,000 |
| 10 | New York University (Stern) | $98,000 | $30,000 | $136,892 | $109,591 | $161,200 | $160,000 |
| 12 | Duke (Fuqua) | $108,000 | $80,000 | $136,853 | $119,852 | $175,000 | $140,400 |
| 13 | Michigan (Ross) | $96,000 | $70,000 | $136,648 | $120,399 | $194,000 | $170,000 |
| 13 | Virginia (Darden) | $88,546 | $70,000 | $131,301 | $115,726 | $155,000 | $140,000 |
| 15 | Cornell (Johnson) | NA | $66,560 | NA | $121,406 | NA | $150,000 |
| 16 | Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) | $110,000 | $70,000 | $138,070 | $118,667 | $165,000 | $140,000 |
| 16 | USC (Marshall) | $85,000 | $45,000 | $132,981 | $106,735 | $145,000 | $160,000 |
| 18 | UCLA (Anderson) | $55,000 | $55,000 | $134,489 | $115,024 | $210,000 | $190,000 |
| 18 | Texas (McCombs) | $100,000 | $90,000 | $130,464 | $115,703 | $175,000 | $150,000 |
| 20 | North Carolina (Kenan Flagler) | $40,000 | $60,000 | $138,800 | $109,954 | $200,000 | $135,000 |
| 21 | Georgetown (McDonough) | $95,000 | $60,000 | $126,204 | $110,500 | $170,000 | $140,000 |
| 22 | University of Washington (Foster) | $90,000 | $49,920 | $126,074 | $104,478 | $160,000 | $185,000 |
| 23 | Vanderbilt (Owen) | $109,000 | $80,000 | $129,975 | $110,037 | $160,000 | $140,700 |
| 23 | Indiana (Kelley) | $80,000 | $60,000 | $124,818 | $115,882 | $155,000 | $140,000 |
| 25 | Rice (Jones) | $80,000 | $87,000 | $121,769 | $114,833 | $151,000 | $130,000 |
| 26 | Emory (Goizueta) | NA | $85,000 | NA | $111,333 | NA | $135,000 |
| 26 | Florida (Warrington) | $80,000 | NA | $110,100 | NA | $155,000 | NA |
| 28 | Georgia Tech (Scheller) | $90,000 | $80,000 | $128,545 | $113,667 | $163,000 | $135,000 |
| 28 | Minnesota (Carlson) | $127,000 | $72,800 | $135,099 | $102,967 | $155,000 | $135,000 |
| 30 | Arizona State (Carey) | $84,000 | $75,000 | $118,168 | $105,086 | $144,000 | $125,000 |
| 31 | BYU (Marriott) | $42,000 | $70,000 | $111,220 | $105,407 | $200,000 | $153,600 |
| 31 | Texas-Dallas (Jindal) | $85,000 | NA | $106,000 | NA | $120,000 | NA |
| 33 | Ohio State (Fisher) | $100,000 | $75,000 | $122,571 | $95,250 | $130,000 | $117,000 |
| 33 | Penn State (Smeal) | $100,000 | $72,000 | $122,286 | $117,000 | $135,000 | $135,000 |
| 33 | Rochester (Simon) | $85,000 | $70,000 | $120,875 | $111,165 | $175,000 | $135,000 |
| 36 | Washington U. (Olin) | $90,000 | $72,000 | $126,364 | $88,167 | $148,000 | $102,500 |
| 36 | Notre Dame (Mendoza) | $120,000 | $62,000 | $131,250 | $111,583 | $145,000 | $200,000 |
| 38 | Texas A&M (Mays) | $115,000 | $92,000 | $125,670 | $110,667 | $138,680 | $120,000 |
| 39 | Michigan State (Broad) | $104,200 | $80,000 | $125,457 | $114,918 | $140,000 | $135,000 |
| 39 | Georgia (Terry) | $108,000 | NA | $126,200 | NA | $140,000 | NA |
| 39 | Tennessee (Haslam) | $65,000 | NA | $106,000 | NA | $130,000 | NA |
| 42 | Wisconsin | $75,000 | $95,000 | $116,136 | $107,300 | $147,500 | $120,000 |
| 42 | Maryland (Smith) | $84,000 | $85,000 | $127,527 | $100,007 | $150,000 | $125,000 |
| 44 | Alabama (Manderson) | $50,000 | NA | $90,000 | NA | $130,000 | NA |
| 44 | SMU (Cox) | NA | $80,000 | NA | $107,929 | NA | $162,000 |
| 44 | Boston College (Carroll) | NA | $75,000 | NA | $90,089 | NA | $120,000 |
| 44 | Utah (Eccles) | $65,000 | NA | $99,406 | NA | $140,000 | NA |
| 44 | Rutgers | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 44 | Purdue (Krannert) | $119,000 | $78,932 | $127,250 | $97,155 | $130,000 | $117,000 |
| 50 | Boston U. (Questrom) | $75,000 | $75,000 | $104,750 | $100,200 | $135,000 | $147,000 |
| 50 | Iowa State | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 52 | Pittsburgh (Katz) | $75,000 | NA | $133,333 | NA | $220,000 | NA |
| 53 | California-Davis (Merage) | $68,640 | $74,000 | $122,609 | $101,020 | $190,000 | $130,000 |
