Wharton Employment Report

The Wharton Employment Report provides everything you need to know about Wharton MBA graduates, including expected salary, popular industries, employment location demographics, and much more.

This yearly compilation of employment data is comprehensive and up to date. The report demonstrates the strength of Wharton’s MBA program in helping graduates land lucrative careers. Despite the lingering effects of Covid-19, Wharton MBAs are finding success in high-paying jobs across a diverse group of industries – both domestically and internationally.

Ranked #2 in U.S. News MBA rankings, Wharton School of Business within the University of Pennsylvania has a legacy of developing successful business leaders. Top companies across the globe pay up to employ Wharton MBA graduates. Comparing the 2021 Wharton Employment Report to that of 2020 shows growth: the average Wharton MBA starting salary rose by $5,000.

The Wharton MBA program offers 18 majors and several dual degree options. One can find study abroad and venture abroad opportunities and more than 20 research centers analyzing a wide range of topics: finance, behavioral economics, entrepreneurship, social impact, and risk management.

For more information and an overview, see here. In this article, we’ll be covering Wharton MBA salary and employment data.

Table of Contents:

We’ll give an overview of the Wharton Employment Report (full report here). Topics include:

1. Popular Industries for Wharton MBAs
2. Companies Typically Hiring for Wharton MBAs
3. Average Wharton MBA Salary
4. Average Wharton MBA Salary By Region
5. Wharton Employment Report

Wharton Salary & Employment Report

The Wharton Employment Report covers compensation by field, percent of graduates in each mainstream field, location choices, median salaries, and employers (if 2 or more graduates hired). Here are some key details:

• Students seeking employment: 585
• Reporting job offers: 579 (99%)
• Reporting job acceptances: 566 (96.8%)

In sum, 99% of Wharton MBA graduates seeking full-time roles landed an offer and 96.8% accepted. That’s a very high percentage!

Popular Industries for Wharton MBAs

Wharton MBA industries have become increasingly diverse over time. That said, the program has a strong tradition of producing consultants, with a plurality of MBAs finding jobs in Consulting/Strategy. Wharton also places a high number of graduates in Technology, Investment Banking/Brokerage, and Private Equity/Buyouts.

Below are the most common industries for Wharton MBA graduates.

• Consulting/Strategy (27.2%)
• Technology (18.6%)
• Investment Banking/Brokerage (12.9%)
• Private Equity/Buyouts (11.1%)
• Healthcare (5.3%)
• Venture Capital (3.4%)
• Self Employed/Starting their own business (2.6%)
• Retail (2.5%)
• Real Estate (2.1%)
• Less than 2% of graduates accepted offers in the following industries:
  • Consumer Products
  • Energy
  • Hedge Funds/Other Investments
  • FinTech
  • Future Mobility
  • Legal & Professional Services
  • Manufacturing
  • Media, Sports, & Entertainment
  • Social Impact

Companies Typically Hiring for Wharton MBAs

Over 60 different companies hired at least 2 Wharton MBAs. Given the fact that more than a quarter of Wharton MBAs take consulting jobs after graduation, you’ll see consulting firms represented well in this list. Top companies hiring Wharton MBAs are listed below.

• McKinsey
• Bain
• Boston Consulting Group
• Deloitte
• Apple
• Google
• Amazon
• Goldman Sachs
• Bank of America
• Morgan Stanley
• Hearst
• Blackstone

Average Wharton MBA Salary

The average salary of Wharton graduates for the Class of 2021 is $155,000 within 3 months of graduation. For consultants, the average is $165,000. These figures do not include bonuses. The industry reporting the highest salaries for 2021 MBAs is Legal & Professional Services, with a median starting salary of $190,000.

Average Wharton MBA Salary By Region

The average starting salary for Wharton MBAs does not vary significantly by region in the United States, with a range of $150,000-$165,000. The Mid Atlantic and Southwest regions report $165,000, while the West reports $150,000. MBA graduates taking their talents internationally reported an average salary of $118,100. More region-specific data can be found below.

United States $157,000

• • Mid-Atlantic $165,000
  • Midwest $162,500
  • Northeast $159,000
  • South $160,000
  • Southwest $165,000
  • West $150,000

International $118,100

• • Asia $125,843
  • Europe $105,342

Wharton MBA Signing Bonus

For the class of 2020, 62% of Wharton MBA graduates reported a Wharton MBA signing bonus, listed below.

• Median: $30,000
• 25th percentile: $25,000
• 75th percentile: $50,000

Wharton Employment Report

Of the 585 MBA grads seeking full-time employment, 579 (99%) received offers within 3 months of graduating. The $155,000 average salary of Wharton graduates is obviously a major selling point of the program. That said, a Wharton MBA is so prestigious that its long term value in terms of signaling expertise and access to a global network of alumni dwarfs the first few years of salary earnings.

Conclusion

The Wharton Employment Report, as usual, shows very promising outcomes for MBA graduates. It again reinforces the strong global reputation of the Wharton School of Business.

Of course, you’ll have to keep tuition costs in mind when calculating the cost-benefit ratio – $83,230 per year plus living expenses/other costs. But, if you do go through the program, job offers are all-but-guaranteed across a wide range of fields.

Find more information on Wharton here, and work with the team at Management Consulted to prepare your resume, personal statement, and other essays for MBA applications.

 

Additional Reading:

• McKinsey Hiring Record Number of MBA Students in 2021
• Best Business Schools in the U.S.
• Best Global MBA Programs for Consulting
• MBA Programs Directory