Consultant salary

Q: What state pays Consultants the most?

New Jersey pays Consultants the most in the United States, with an average salary of $95,430 per year, or $45.88 per hour.

Q: How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Consultant?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Consultant if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in New Jersey you should be paid close to $93,100 per year.

Q: What is a good starting salary for a Consultant?

A good starting salary for a consultant is $67,000 in the United States. That puts you in the 10th percentile of annual income for a consultant in the U.S., which is about what you would expect if you were new to the field. The average salary for consultants is $89,807, but that normally requires some level of experience to achieve. Furthermore, a good starting salary for a consultant can vary by state.

Q: Do consultants make a lot of money?

Consultants can make a lot of money if they have a high education level and plenty of relevant experience in their field. Those with a doctorate earn about $85,178 annually compared to consultants with only a bachelor's degree at $76,727. Those with a master's degree earn about $83,578 annually.

Q: How do consultants pay taxes?

Consultants pay taxes typically as self-employed professionals, this means they are responsible for paying both the employee and employer taxes concerning Medicare and Social Security. This is known as self-employment tax.

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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Consultant salary by:

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Where can a Consultant earn more?

Compare salary by location

125k

105k

85k

65k

45k

District of Columbia$95,478

Atlanta, GA$74,741

Compare salary by company

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

Highest paying states for consultants

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

Top consultant jobs near you

Highest paying cities for consultants

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

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

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

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, Trends, and Summary

What is a consultant's salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly 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 Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Program Management Consultant	$101,157	$8,430	$48.63	177,578
Implementation Consultant	$80,195	$6,683	$38.56	70,450
Application Consultant	$95,522	$7,960	$45.92	99,368
Management Consultant	$99,360	$8,280	$47.77	153,045
Contractor/Consultant	$84,811	$7,068	$40.77	64,573
Operations Consultant	$87,229	$7,269	$41.94	122,880

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.

Top companies hiring consultants now:

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.

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

Rank	Industry	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Technology	$85,405	$41.06
2	Finance	$82,820	$39.82
3	Manufacturing	$82,697	$39.76
4	Professional	$80,988	$38.94
5	Health Care	$75,671	$36.38
6	Government	$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.

National Average

Consultant salary by year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly 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

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Akraya Inc.	SAC Consultant	Santa Clara, CA	12/17/2024	$166,960
Griffin Health	Emea Consultant	Derby, CT	12/17/2024	$90,000
Americor	Debt Consultant	Irvine, CA	12/17/2024	$33,392
ADP	Life Cycle Consultant-Bilingual (English/Spanish)	San Francisco, CA	12/16/2024	$39,027
Bloomingdale's Group	Registry Consultant, -59Th Street	New York, NY	12/16/2024	$35,479
Yellowstone Local	Comfort Consultant	Richardson, TX	12/16/2024	$35,000
Health Care Service Corporation	Workforce Insights & Planning Consultant	Chicago, IL	12/16/2024	$58,800
E2 Consulting Engineers, Inc.	Orat Consultant	Los Angeles, CA	12/16/2024	$94,854
Scott Credit Union	Collections Consultant	Collinsville, IL	12/16/2024	$38,317
Privateinvestigator Mansfield	Acoustic Consultant	Chesterfield, MO	12/16/2024	$34,404

Consultant salary FAQs

What state pays Consultants the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Consultant?

What is a good starting salary for a Consultant?

Do consultants make a lot of money?

How do consultants pay taxes?

Have more questions? See all answers to common business and financial questions.

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Updated January 8, 2025

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