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Consultant salary

Quoted Expert
Robin Cormier

Average consultant salary

$78,912

$37.94 hourly rate

Entry-level consultant salary
$58,000 yearly salary
Updated January 8, 2025

How much does a consultant make?

The average consultant salary in the United States is $78,912. Consultant salaries typically range between $58,000 and $107,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for consultants is $37.94 per hour.

Consultant salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Consultants earn the highest average salary in New Jersey.

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Where can a Consultant earn more?

Compare salary by location
Vs
125k
105k
85k
65k
45k
Ashburn, VA$95,478
Atlanta, GA$74,741
Compare salary by company
Vs
158k
138k
118k
98k
78k
L.E.K. Consulting$128,777
TD Ameritrade$108,252

Consultant Salaries By Experience Level

Consultant salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Indeed, Ziprecruiter, SalaryExpert and CareerExplorer, the average salary for a consultant typically falls between $76,530 and $119,772.
zippia
$78,912yearly
indeed[1]
$88,794yearly
Salary.com[2]
$108,364yearly
ZipRecruiter[3]
$103,765yearly
SalaryExpert[4]
$119,772yearly
CareerExplorer[5]
$76,530yearly

Average consultant salary by state

The average consultant salary in New Jersey, Maryland, and Massachusetts are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average consultant salary states are Kansas, Idaho, and New Mexico.

  • State View
  • County View
Average Salary:

Highest paying states for consultants

RankStateAvg. SalaryHourly Rate
1New Jersey$93,100$44.76
2Massachusetts$91,297$43.89
3District of Columbia$95,430$45.88
4Connecticut$85,585$41.15
5Rhode Island$81,603$39.23
6North Carolina$80,858$38.87
7New Hampshire$81,107$38.99
8Washington$86,737$41.70
9Alaska$90,651$43.58
10Illinois$80,510$38.71
11New York$87,380$42.01
12Maryland$91,828$44.15
13Virginia$83,736$40.26
14California$83,756$40.27
15Minnesota$78,007$37.50
16Oregon$79,866$38.40
17Vermont$76,121$36.60
18Texas$78,983$37.97
19Ohio$76,344$36.70
20Colorado$82,226$39.53
21Wisconsin$75,871$36.48
22Michigan$76,651$36.85
23Alabama$77,398$37.21
24Pennsylvania$75,241$36.17
25Hawaii$75,853$36.47
26Arizona$73,682$35.42
27Missouri$74,221$35.68
28Maine$76,237$36.65
29Georgia$74,586$35.86
30Delaware$76,287$36.68
31West Virginia$72,093$34.66
32Iowa$72,420$34.82
33Nevada$68,752$33.05
34Louisiana$72,227$34.72
35Montana$66,652$32.04
36Florida$66,985$32.20
37Indiana$68,136$32.76
38Idaho$65,198$31.35
39Oklahoma$69,797$33.56
40Nebraska$65,806$31.64
41North Dakota$65,974$31.72
42Tennessee$67,220$32.32
43South Carolina$69,330$33.33
44Kentucky$66,131$31.79
45Utah$59,894$28.80
46Kansas$65,375$31.43
47Wyoming$63,922$30.73
48New Mexico$65,025$31.26
49South Dakota$65,548$31.51
50Mississippi$65,420$31.45
51Arkansas$55,786$26.82

Highest paying cities for consultants

The highest-paying cities for consultants are Washington, DC, Englewood, NJ, and Boston, MA.

RankCityAvg. SalaryHourly Rate
1Washington, DC$95,478$45.90
2Englewood, NJ$93,181$44.80
3Boston, MA$91,356$43.92
4Richmond, CA$88,622$42.61
5New York, NY$87,547$42.09
6Seattle, WA$87,490$42.06
7Hartford, CT$85,643$41.17
8Arlington, VA$84,336$40.55
9Denver, CO$82,248$39.54
10Raleigh, NC$81,762$39.31
11Chicago, IL$80,773$38.83
12Hillsboro, OR$79,777$38.35
13San Antonio, TX$79,644$38.29
14Minneapolis, MN$78,025$37.51
15Detroit, MI$76,836$36.94
16Columbus, OH$76,100$36.59
17Milwaukee, WI$75,998$36.54
18Philadelphia, PA$75,532$36.31
19Saint Louis, MO$74,791$35.96
20Atlanta, GA$74,741$35.93

Consultants are the most in-demand in these five cities:

  1. Washington, DC
  2. Englewood, NJ
  3. Boston, MA
  4. Richmond, CA
  5. New York, NY

Consultant salary details

A consultant's salary ranges from $58,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $107,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average Consultant Salary Graph
Average Consultant Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a consultant's salary?

PercentileAnnual SalaryMonthly SalaryHourly Rate
90th Percentile$107,000$8,917$51
75th Percentile$92,000$7,667$44
Average$78,912$6,576$38
25th Percentile$67,000$5,583$32
10th Percentile$58,000$4,833$28

Highest paying consultant jobs

The highest paying types of consultants are senior management consultant, principal consultant, and strategy consultant.

Job TitleAnnual SalaryMonthly SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
Program Management Consultant$101,157$8,430$48.63177,578
Implementation Consultant$80,195$6,683$38.5670,450
Application Consultant$95,522$7,960$45.9299,368
Management Consultant$99,360$8,280$47.77153,045
Contractor/Consultant$84,811$7,068$40.7764,573
Operations Consultant$87,229$7,269$41.94122,880

How would you rate the starting salaries for Consultants, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Robin Cormier

Assistant Professor, Montana State University - Billings

I would rate starting salaries for graduates in the field of school counseling as average to above average. School counselors' median starting salaries range anywhere from $56,000 to $90,000 a year in the United States. While school counseling is not one of the highest paying career fields, it is a fulfilling career that provides a practical work and private life balance in stress level and flexibility. School counselors have opportunities to advance their careers and salary through years of experience and continuing education.

Which companies pay consultants the most?

Consultant salaries at L.E.K. Consulting and Nera Economic Consulting are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average consultant salary at companies like DLA Piper and Apple are highly competitive.

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly Rate
1L.E.K. Consulting$128,777$61.91
2Nera Economic Consulting$128,496$61.78
3DLA Piper$125,482$60.33
4Apple$125,116$60.15
5The Brattle Group$125,021$60.11
6Google$120,875$58.11
7AppDynamics$117,486$56.48
8ConocoPhillips$117,391$56.44
9Bunge$116,675$56.09
10Slalom$113,625$54.63
11Microsoft$112,863$54.26
12Bed Bath & Beyond$111,694$53.70
13Avid$110,617$53.18
14Open Systems Technologies$110,146$52.95
15eBay$109,854$52.81
16SADA$109,766$52.77
17Intuitive Surgical$109,708$52.74
18Adobe$109,450$52.62
19Cisco$109,199$52.50
20TD Ameritrade$108,252$52.04

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$79,000$78,000$77,000$76,000$75,000$74,000
MaleFemale

Consultant salary by industry

The average consultant salary varies across industries:

  • The average consultant salary in the technology industry is $85,405, the highest of any industry.
  • The average consultant salary in the finance industry is $82,820.
  • Consultants in the government industry earn an average salary of $64,583, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for consultants

RankIndustryAverage SalaryHourly Rate
1Technology$85,405$41.06
2Finance$82,820$39.82
3Manufacturing$82,697$39.76
4Professional$80,988$38.94
5Health Care$75,671$36.38
6Government$64,583$31.05

High Paying Consultant Jobs

Consultant salary trends

The average consultant salary has risen by $8,255 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average consultant earned $70,657 annually, but today, they earn $78,912 a year. That works out to a 8% change in pay for consultants over the last decade.

Compare consultant salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average consultant salary over time

Compare consultant salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

    Consultant salary by year

    YearAvg. SalaryHourly Rate% Change
    2025$78,900$37.94+2.7%
    2024$76,800$36.90+1.9%
    2023$75,300$36.19+1.4%
    2022$74,200$35.68+1.4%
    2021$73,200$35.20+0.0%

    Recently added consultant salaries

    CompanyJobLocationDate AddedSalary
    Akraya Inc.SAC ConsultantSanta Clara, CA12/17/2024$166,960
    Griffin HealthEmea ConsultantDerby, CT12/17/2024$90,000
    AmericorDebt ConsultantIrvine, CA12/17/2024$33,392
    ADPLife Cycle Consultant-Bilingual (English/Spanish)San Francisco, CA12/16/2024$39,027
    Bloomingdale's GroupRegistry Consultant, -59Th StreetNew York, NY12/16/2024$35,479
    Yellowstone LocalComfort ConsultantRichardson, TX12/16/2024$35,000
    Health Care Service CorporationWorkforce Insights & Planning ConsultantChicago, IL12/16/2024$58,800
    E2 Consulting Engineers, Inc.Orat ConsultantLos Angeles, CA12/16/2024$94,854
    Scott Credit UnionCollections ConsultantCollinsville, IL12/16/2024$38,317
    Privateinvestigator MansfieldAcoustic ConsultantChesterfield, MO12/16/2024$34,404

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