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“What are the best management consulting firms?” That is no easy question to answer, because there is no specific metric to decide whether a consulting firm is “good”. However, there are a few common concerns – mostly about career tracks and business outlooks.
In this article, I’ll be listing the top consulting firms on the most relevant criteria: salary, work-life balance, prestige, and overall ranking. I’ll also touch on industry expertise, revenue and growth in recent years.
1. Top Consulting Firms – Overview
What are consulting firms?
Consulting firms are businesses that sell professional advice to businesses and organizations, helping them solve problems. They do so through their in-house experts and/or external experts. Some consulting firms might specialize in one or a few industries and functions, or while others are generalist, covering hundreds or thousands of areas.
Categories of top consulting firms
When the phrase “top consulting firms” is heard, almost everyone imagines McKinsey, BCG and Bain – the “Big Three” consulting firms with the highest prestige. However, “top” or “best” are vague terms, and in the shadows of the MBB firms stand many excellent consultancies, both as service providers and employers.
Consulting firms are divided into many groups, according to size, prestige, as well as areas of specialization. Among the top consulting firms, the most notable groups are:
- MBB Consulting Firms: MBB stands for McKinsey, BCG and Bain – the three most prestigious consulting firms in the world. Each of these firms charge HUGE amounts for their services, with each project going into the millions of dollars. They hold the highest standards in work quality, and pay the most generous salaries for consultants.
- Tier 2 Consulting Firms: This group consists of large, global consulting firms, providing services for big clients. The differences between them and MBB firms are the prestige and the price of projects – Tier 2 projects tend to be cheaper, around six-digit numbers. Some famous names in this segment are Accenture, Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman, LEK.
- Big 4 Consulting Practice: This group consists of the consulting divisions of the Big 4 Accounting Firms – Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG (usually with different brand names). These divisions are the largest consulting firms in the world, revenue-wise. Nonetheless, their projects are smaller than MBB, about the same as Tier 2 firms
- Boutique Consulting Firms: Boutique is a loose term for small, specialized and localized firms, often with an elite status in their target market. These firms often employ less than 500 employees, handling smaller projects than their big generalist cousins. Salaries and benefits vary, but can be competitive with the top firms.
You can click on the name of each group for more detailed insights.
2. Top Consulting Firms – Vault Consulting Lists
The following lists consist of the best consulting firms to work for in each major region. These lists base their data on surveys of working consultants, who are allowed to rate only their firm on quality-of-life issues, and only other firms on prestige and practice areas. Each list is compiled by Vault, which scores and ranks each consulting firm based on the following factors:
- 30% – Prestige
- 15% – Firm Culture
- 15% – Satisfaction
- 10% – Compensation
- 10% – Work/life Balance
- 10% – Level of Challenge
- 5% – Overall Business Outlook
- 5% – Promotion Policies
Best Consulting Firms to Work For – US 2020 – Vault Rankings
| Rank | Score | Name |
| 1 | 9.273 | McKinsey & Company |
| 2 | 9.190 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 3 | 9.158 | Bain & Company |
| 4 | 7.930 | Deloitte Consulting LLP |
| 5 | 7.855 | Oliver Wyman |
| 6 | 7.747 | Booz Allen Hamilton |
| 7 | 7.705 | EY-Parthenon |
| 8 | 7.623 | PwC Advisory/Strategy& |
| 9 | 7.600 | Kearney |
| 10 | 7.595 | GE Healthcare Partners |
| 11 | 7.578 | Accenture |
| 12 | 7.513 | Putnam Associates |
| 13 | 7.401 | ClearView Healthcare Partners |
| 14 | 7.382 | KPMG LLP (Advisory) |
| 15 | 7.351 | The Bridgespan Group |
| 16 | 7.331 | Strategy&, Part of the PwC Network |
| 17 | 7.304 | Analysis Group, Inc. |
| 18 | 7.293 | L.E.K. Consulting |
| 19 | 7.228 | The Keystone Group |
| 20 | 7.122 | ghSMART |
| 21 | 7.098 | Insight Sourcing Group |
| 22 | 7.081 | Alvarez & Marsal |
| 23 | 7.015 | Gartner, Inc. |
| 24 | 7.006 | Roland Berger |
| 25 | 6.953 | Cornerstone Research |
| 26 | 6.886 | Health Advances |
| 27 | 6.866 | Ignyte Group |
| 28 | 6.832 | The Brattle Group |
| 29 | 6.821 | Clarkston Consulting |
| 30 | 6.812 | Blue Matter |
| 31 | 6.811 | ScottMadden Management Consultants |
| 32 | 6.806 | Simon-Kucher & Partners |
| 33 | 6.794 | The Chartis Group |
| 34 | 6.738 | ZS |
| 35 | 6.733 | Eagle Hill Consulting |
| 36 | 6.634 | Insigniam |
| 37 | 6.569 | Applied Value |
| 38 | 6.551 | NERA Economic Consulting |
| 39 | 6.550 | StoneTurn |
| 40 | 6.547 | Keystone Strategy |
| 41 | 6.527 | TRINITY |
| 42 | 6.490 | Cicero Group |
| 43 | 6.490 | DayBlink Consulting |
| 44 | 6.476 | LeapPoint |
| 45 | 6.428 | Kenway Consulting |
| 46 | 6.427 | Kaiser Associates |
| 47 | 6.408 | Innosight |
| 48 | 6.396 | AArete |
| 49 | 6.387 | OC&C Strategy Consultants |
| 50 | 6.379 | Pace Harmon |
Best Consulting Firms to Work For – Europe 2020 – Vault Rankings
| Rank | Score | Name |
| 1 | 9.099 | McKinsey & Company Europe |
| 2 | 8.841 | Bain & Company Europe |
| 3 | 7.945 | Roland Berger Europe |
| 4 | 7.831 | Oliver Wyman Europe |
| 5 | 7.623 | Strategy&, part of the PwC network, Europe |
| 6 | 7.550 | Kearney Europe |
| 7 | 7.418 | OC&C Strategy Consultants Europe |
| 8 | 7.268 | Simon-Kucher & Partners Europe |
| 9 | 7.251 | QVARTZ |
| 10 | 7.061 | Arthur D. Little Europe |
| 11 | 6.996 | Implement Consulting Group |
| 12 | 6.916 | Blue Matter Consulting – Europe |
| 13 | 6.889 | Teneo (Management Consulting) |
| 14 | 6.848 | Frontier Economics Ltd. |
| 15 | 6.822 | HTS Consulting |
| 16 | 6.816 | Charles River Associates Europe |
| 17 | 6.802 | Delta Partners Group |
| 18 | 6.797 | Marakon Europe |
| 19 | 6.796 | Alvarez & Marsal Europe |
| 20 | 6.664 | Mercer Limited Europe |
| 21 | 6.621 | NERA Economic Consulting Europe |
| 22 | 6.607 | Gartner, Inc. |
| 23 | 6.598 | Candesic |
| 24 | 6.586 | L.E.K. Consulting Europe |
| 25 | 6.583 | ZS Europe |
Best Consulting Firms to Work For – Asia-Pacific 2020 – Vault Rankings
| Rank | Score | Name |
| 1 | 9.273 | McKinsey & Company Asia-Pacific |
| 2 | 9.190 | Bain & Company Asia |
| 3 | 9.158 | Boston Consulting Group Asia |
| 4 | 7.930 | Roland Berger Asia |
| 5 | 7.855 | Oliver Wyman Asia-Pacific |
| 6 | 7.747 | Kearney Asia-Pacific |
| 7 | 7.705 | OC&C Strategy Consultants Asia |
| 8 | 7.623 | Arthur D. Little Asia |
| 9 | 7.600 | Simon-Kucher & Partners Asia-Pacific |
| 10 | 7.595 | ZS Asia-Pacific |
| 11 | 7.578 | Alvarez & Marsal Asia |
| 12 | 7.513 | Gartner, Inc. |
| 13 | 7.401 | Avalon Consulting |
| 14 | 7.382 | Mercer Limited Asia |
| 15 | 7.351 | Incapsulate Asia |
Best Boutique Consulting Firms to Work For – US 2020 – Vault Rankings
| Rank | Score | Name |
| 1 | 9.336 | ClearView Healthcare Partners |
| 2 | 9.328 | ghSMART |
| 3 | 9.327 | Insight Sourcing Group |
| 4 | 9.305 | Putnam Associates |
| 5 | 9.136 | The Keystone Group |
| 6 | 9.042 | Ignyte Group |
| 7 | 9.007 | Blue Matter |
| 8 | 8.952 | Clarkston Consulting |
| 9 | 8.927 | Health Advances |
| 10 | 8.918 | DeciBio Consulting |
| 11 | 8.861 | ScottMadden Management Consultants |
| 12 | 8.792 | Eagle Hill Consulting |
| 13 | 8.789 | The Bridgespan Group |
| 14 | 8.696 | StoneTurn |
| 15 | 8.686 | The Chartis Group |
| 16 | 8.591 | Applied Value |
| 17 | 8.526 | Cicero Group |
| 18 | 8.502 | DayBlink Consulting |
| 19 | 8.485 | The Cambridge Group |
| 20 | 8.476 | Kenway Consulting |
| 21 | 8.455 | Censeo Consulting Group |
| 22 | 8.416 | LeapPoint |
| 23 | 8.394 | Keystone Strategy |
| 24 | 8.39 | Cornerstone Research |
| 25 | 8.382 | The Poirier Group |
3. Top Consulting Firms by Salary, Benefits, and Exit Opportunities
The following lists consist of the best consulting firms in the US on three areas: benefits, compensations, exit opportunities and work-life balance. The firms are scored and ranked by Vault, using surveys of working consultants, who are allowed to rate only their firm.
Best Consulting Firms by Salary (US 2020)
| Rank | Score | Name |
| 1 | 9.571 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 2 | 9.420 | Analysis Group, Inc. |
| 3 | 9.229 | McKinsey & Company |
| 4 | 9.185 | Bain & Company |
| 5 | 9.100 | ghSMART |
| 6 | 9.093 | Insight Sourcing Group |
| 7 | 9.087 | ClearView Healthcare Partners |
| 8 | 9.077 | Ignyte Group |
| 9 | 8.963 | DayBlink Consulting |
| 10 | 8.962 | Cornerstone Research |
| 11 | 8.938 | The Keystone Group |
| 12 | 8.775 | Putnam Associates |
| 13 | 8.759 | GE Healthcare Partners |
| 14 | 8.694 | Kenway Consulting |
| 15 | 8.687 | Roland Berger |
| 16 | 8.578 | EY-Parthenon |
| 17 | 8.571 | ScottMadden Management Consultants |
| 18 | 8.487 | Health Advances |
| 19 | 8.477 | Pace Harmon |
| 20 | 8.408 | Alvarez & Marsal |
| 21 | 8.395 | Kearney |
| 22 | 8.321 | Clarkston Consulting |
| 23 | 8.319 | The Brattle Group |
| 24 | 8.263 | Blue Matter |
| 25 | 8.179 | The Bridgespan Group |
Best Consulting Firms by Benefits (US 2020)
| Rank | Score | Name |
| 1 | 9.871 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 2 | 9.781 | McKinsey & Company |
| 3 | 9.552 | Bain & Company |
| 4 | 9.519 | DayBlink Consulting |
| 5 | 9.380 | Analysis Group, Inc. |
| 6 | 9.256 | Ignyte Group |
| 7 | 9.169 | Putnam Associates |
| 8 | 9.152 | ClearView Healthcare Partners |
| 9 | 9.000 | Insight Sourcing Group |
| 10 | 8.839 | The Brattle Group |
| 11 | 8.735 | Applied Value |
| 12 | 8.692 | Cornerstone Research |
| 13 | 8.688 | The Keystone Group |
| 14 | 8.672 | Roland Berger |
| 15 | 8.652 | The Bridgespan Group |
| 16 | 8.609 | Eagle Hill Consulting |
| 17 | 8.604 | Clarkston Consulting |
| 18 | 8.586 | GE Healthcare Partners |
| 19 | 8.547 | Innosight |
| 20 | 8.543 | ScottMadden Management Consultants |
| 21 | 8.471 | StoneTurn |
| 22 | 8.389 | Kenway Consulting |
| 23 | 8.375 | Keystone Strategy |
| 24 | 8.330 | Kearney |
| 25 | 8.226 | Insigniam |
Best Consulting Firms by Exit Opportunities (US 2020)
| Rank | Score | Name |
| 1 | 9.921 | McKinsey & Company |
| 2 | 9.881 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 3 | 9.804 | ClearView Healthcare Partners |
| 4 | 9.730 | Bain & Company |
| 5 | 9.562 | Putnam Associates |
| 6 | 9.366 | ghSMART |
| 7 | 9.028 | The Bridgespan Group |
| 8 | 8.968 | EY-Parthenon |
| 9 | 8.800 | Oliver Wyman |
| 10 | 8.786 | Deloitte Consulting LLP |
| 11 | 8.759 | The Chartis Group |
| 12 | 8.740 | Clarkston Consulting |
| 13 | 8.667 | Insight Sourcing Group |
| 14 | 8.654 | Applied Value |
| 15 | 8.653 | L.E.K. Consulting |
| 16 | 8.633 | GE Healthcare Partners |
| 17 | 8.629 | TRINITY |
| 18 | 8.553 | Simon-Kucher & Partners |
| 19 | 8.550 | Kaiser Associates |
| 20 | 8.543 | Pace Harmon |
| 21 | 8.540 | Innosight |
| 22 | 8.531 | The Keystone Group |
| 23 | 8.513 | Ignyte Group |
| 24 | 8.487 | Health Advances |
| 25 | 8.471 | Analysis Group, Inc. |
4. Top Consulting Firms by Work/Life Balance
One important dimension of any job is work-life balance. The following list consist of the best consulting firms in the US on work/life balance. The firms are scored and ranked by Vault, using surveys of working consultants, who are allowed to rate only their firm.
Best Consulting Firms by Work/Life Balance (US 2020)
| Rank | Score | Name |
| 1 | 9.587 | Insight Sourcing Group |
| 2 | 9.580 | Eagle Hill Consulting |
| 3 | 9.282 | Ignyte Group |
| 4 | 9.250 | ghSMART |
| 5 | 9.222 | Kenway Consulting |
| 6 | 9.103 | Blue Matter |
| 7 | 9.101 | StoneTurn |
| 8 | 8.981 | Bain & Company |
| 9 | 8.978 | ClearView Healthcare Partners |
| 10 | 8.975 | Health Advances |
| 11 | 8.876 | Putnam Associates |
| 12 | 8.847 | McKinsey & Company |
| 13 | 8.793 | Booz Allen Hamilton |
| 14 | 8.793 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 15 | 8.741 | DayBlink Consulting |
| 16 | 8.677 | Insigniam |
| 17 | 8.656 | The Keystone Group |
| 18 | 8.653 | The Bridgespan Group |
| 19 | 8.596 | Clarkston Consulting |
| 20 | 8.577 | ScottMadden Management Consultants |
| 21 | 8.571 | Sia Partners North America |
| 22 | 8.490 | AArete |
| 23 | 8.468 | Jabian Consulting |
| 24 | 8.463 | EVERSANA CONSULTING (formerly Promidian) |
| 25 | 8.419 | GE Healthcare Partners |
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5. Top Consulting Firms by Prestige
The following list consists of the most prestigious consulting firms in the US. This list is compiled by Vault using surveys of working consultants, who rank the prestige of consulting firms they know on a scale of 1 to 10. They are not allowed to rank their own firm.
Most Prestigious Consulting Firms (US 2020)
| Rank | Score | Name |
| 1 | 8.984 | McKinsey & Company |
| 2 | 8.738 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 3 | 8.600 | Bain & Company |
| 4 | 7.121 | Deloitte Consulting LLP |
| 5 | 6.751 | PwC Advisory/Strategy& |
| 6 | 6.490 | Booz Allen Hamilton |
| 7 | 6.474 | EY (Ernst & Young) LLP Consulting Practice |
| 8 | 6.445 | Accenture |
| 9 | 6.155 | KPMG LLP (Advisory) |
| 10 | 6.066 | Oliver Wyman |
| 11 | 5.780 | IBM Global Services |
| 12 | 5.756 | EY-Parthenon |
| 13 | 5.749 | Kearney |
| 14 | 5.650 | Strategy&, Part of the PwC Network |
| 15 | 5.472 | L.E.K. Consulting |
| 16 | 5.190 | Lockheed Martin Corporation (IT Consulting) |
| 17 | 4.988 | Gartner, Inc. |
| 18 | 4.719 | Grant Thornton LLP (Consulting Practice) |
| 19 | 4.712 | Capgemini |
| 20 | 4.695 | Mercer LLC |
| 21 | 4.584 | Oracle Consulting |
| 22 | 4.518 | GE Healthcare Partners |
| 23 | 4.472 | Northrop Grumman Corporation (IT Consulting) |
| 24 | 4.347 | SAP Services (IT Consulting) |
| 25 | 4.307 | Navigant Consulting, Inc. |
| 26 | 4.274 | Huron |
| 27 | 4.218 | Charles River Associates |
| 28 | 4.206 | Gallup Consulting |
| 29 | 4.133 | FTI Consulting, Inc. |
| 30 | 4.124 | ZS |
| 31 | 4.113 | Roland Berger |
| 32 | 4.097 | Alvarez & Marsal |
| 33 | 4.066 | The Bridgespan Group |
| 34 | 4.043 | AlixPartners, LLP |
| 35 | 4.013 | Willis Towers Watson |
| 36 | 4.005 | Slalom Consulting |
| 37 | 3.986 | Aon Hewitt |
| 38 | 3.923 | BearingPoint NA |
| 39 | 3.902 | Korn Ferry |
| 40 | 3.796 | Cognizant |
| 41 | 3.742 | Raytheon Professional Services |
| 42 | 3.717 | BAE Systems North America |
| 43 | 3.682 | Kurt Salmon |
| 44 | 3.628 | The Advisory Board Company |
| 45 | 3.592 | NERA Economic Consulting |
| 46 | 3.524 | Cornerstone Research |
| 47 | 3.505 | The Brattle Group |
| 48 | 3.494 | Analysis Group, Inc. |
| 49 | 3.437 | Tata Consultancy Services |
| 50 | 3.398 | Arthur D. Little |
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6. Top Consulting Firm by Industry
The following lists consist of the best consulting firms in each industry, which is compiled by Vault using surveys of working consultants. Consultants are asked to vote for 3 firms as the best in each industry, but not allowed to rank their own firm. The “%” is the percentage of consultants who vote for that firm as the best in the given industry.
Best Management Consulting Firms (US 2020)
| Rank | % | Name |
| 1 | 68.61 | McKinsey & Company |
| 2 | 58.71 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 3 | 54.02 | Bain & Company |
| 4 | 28.13 | Deloitte Consulting LLP |
| 5 | 14.66 | PwC Advisory/Strategy& |
| 6 | 13.47 | Accenture |
| 7 | 9.65 | EY (Ernst & Young) LLP Consulting Practice |
| 8 | 5.78 | Booz Allen Hamilton |
| 9 | 5.59 | KPMG LLP (Advisory) |
| 10 | 5.04 | Oliver Wyman |
Best Strategy Consulting Firms (US 2020)
| Rank | % | Name |
| 1 | 79.03 | McKinsey & Company |
| 2 | 71.14 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 3 | 66.26 | Bain & Company |
| 4 | 15.23 | Deloitte Consulting LLP |
| 5 | 9.57 | Accenture |
| 6 | 5.46 | Strategy&, Part of the PwC Network |
| 7 | 4.69 | Oliver Wyman |
| 8 | 4.47 | EY (Ernst & Young) LLP Consulting Practice |
| 9 | 4.10 | KPMG LLP (Advisory) |
| 10 | 3.61 | IBM Global Services |
Best Financial Consulting Firms (US 2020)
| Rank | Score | Name |
| 1 | 33.04 | EY (Ernst & Young) LLP Consulting Practice |
| 2 | 32.57 | Deloitte Consulting LLP |
| 3 | 32.53 | McKinsey & Company |
| 4 | 31.25 | PwC Advisory/Strategy& |
| 5 | 24.12 | Bain & Company |
| 6 | 21.91 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 7 | 18.87 | KPMG LLP (Advisory) |
| 8 | 14.09 | Oliver Wyman |
| 9 | 10.58 | Accenture |
| 10 | 5.91 | Grant Thornton LLP (Consulting Practice) |
| 11 | 5.14 | Booz Allen Hamilton |
| 12 | 5.06 | FTI Consulting, Inc. |
| 13 | 4.36 | Alvarez & Marsal |
| 14 | 3.89 | AlixPartners, LLP |
| 15 | 3.50 | Kearney |
| 16 | 3.15 | L.E.K. Consulting |
| 17 | 2.22 | Charles River Associates |
| 18 | 1.95 | Capco |
| 19 | 1.83 | Mercer LLC |
| 20 | 1.79 | Analysis Group, Inc. |
Best Healthcare Consulting Firms (US 2020)
| Rank | Score | Name |
| 1 | 34.47 | McKinsey & Company |
| 2 | 25.89 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 3 | 15.75 | Deloitte Consulting LLP |
| 4 | 15.66 | Bain & Company |
| 5 | 15.62 | GE Healthcare Partners |
| 6 | 12.74 | Huron |
| 7 | 12.74 | ZS |
| 8 | 10.82 | ClearView Healthcare Partners |
| 9 | 10.59 | PwC Advisory/Strategy& |
| 10 | 10.55 | L.E.K. Consulting |
| 11 | 9.86 | Accenture |
| 12 | 9.41 | IQVIA (formerly IMS Consulting Group) |
| 13 | 9.36 | Kaiser Associates |
| 14 | 7.81 | Navigant Consulting, Inc. |
| 15 | 6.71 | The Advisory Board Company |
| 16 | 5.84 | Oliver Wyman |
| 17 | 4.98 | Putnam Associates |
| 18 | 4.93 | Mercer LLC |
| 19 | 4.47 | EY (Ernst & Young) LLP Consulting Practice |
| 20 | 4.47 | Health Advances |
Best IT Consulting Firms (Operations) (US 2020)
| Rank | % | Name |
| 1 | 45.04 | Accenture |
| 2 | 31.29 | Deloitte Consulting LLP |
| 3 | 29.57 | IBM Global Services |
| 4 | 13.70 | PwC Advisory/Strategy& |
| 5 | 10.75 | Capgemini |
| 6 | 9.35 | Oracle Consulting |
| 7 | 8.91 | SAP Services (IT Consulting) |
| 8 | 8.30 | McKinsey & Company |
| 9 | 7.80 | Cognizant |
| 10 | 7.57 | Infosys Ltd. |
| 11 | 7.18 | Tata Consultancy Services |
| 12 | 6.57 | Lockheed Martin Corporation (IT Consulting) |
| 13 | 5.96 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 14 | 5.40 | Bain & Company |
| 15 | 5.35 | KPMG LLP (Advisory) |
| 16 | 4.45 | General Dynamics Information Technology |
| 17 | 4.34 | Booz Allen Hamilton |
| 18 | 4.12 | HP Enterprise |
| 19 | 3.95 | Slalom Consulting |
| 20 | 3.73 | Northrop Grumman Corporation (IT Consulting) |
Best IT Consulting Firms (Strategy) (US 2020)
| Rank | % | Name |
| 1 | 44.89 | Accenture |
| 2 | 31.93 | Deloitte Consulting LLP |
| 3 | 27.92 | IBM Global Services |
| 4 | 19.51 | McKinsey & Company |
| 5 | 13.94 | PwC Advisory/Strategy& |
| 6 | 11.98 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 7 | 8.36 | Capgemini |
| 8 | 7.87 | Oracle Consulting |
| 9 | 7.82 | Bain & Company |
| 10 | 7.63 | Gartner, Inc. |
| 11 | 6.80 | SAP Services (IT Consulting) |
| 12 | 5.62 | Booz Allen Hamilton |
| 13 | 5.62 | Cognizant |
| 14 | 5.33 | Lockheed Martin Corporation (IT Consulting) |
| 15 | 4.74 | Tata Consultancy Services |
| 16 | 4.30 | KPMG LLP (Advisory) |
| 17 | 4.01 | Infosys Ltd. |
| 18 | 3.57 | SAIC (IT Consulting) |
| 19 | 3.52 | Northrop Grumman Corporation (IT Consulting) |
| 20 | 3.42 | Slalom Consulting |
Best Technology/Media/Telecommunications Consulting Firms (US 2020)
| Rank | % | Name |
| 1 | 34.41 | McKinsey & Company |
| 2 | 26.83 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 3 | 24.04 | Accenture |
| 4 | 23.98 | Deloitte Consulting LLP |
| 5 | 23.27 | Bain & Company |
| 6 | 15.81 | IBM Global Services |
| 7 | 15.29 | PwC Advisory/Strategy& |
| 8 | 6.22 | EY (Ernst & Young) LLP Consulting Practice |
| 9 | 6.03 | Oracle Consulting |
| 10 | 5.64 | Lockheed Martin Corporation (IT Consulting) |
| 11 | 5.31 | Capgemini |
| 12 | 5.18 | Booz Allen Hamilton |
| 13 | 5.12 | Gartner, Inc. |
| 14 | 4.80 | KPMG LLP (Advisory) |
| 15 | 4.41 | SAP Services (IT Consulting) |
| 16 | 3.69 | HP Enterprise |
| 17 | 3.63 | SAIC (IT Consulting) |
| 18 | 3.56 | BAE Systems North America |
| 19 | 3.43 | Cognizant |
| 20 | 3.18 | Kearney |
7. Largest Consulting Firms by Revenue
The following lists consist of the largest consulting firms in 2017, 2018 and 2019, measured by consulting revenue (revenue from other areas of business – such as auditing, accounting or other professional services is not counted).
Due to variations in methodology and definitions, data from different sources may yield different listings.
Largest Consulting Firms by Revenue (Global 2017-2018 – Gartner Inc.)
| Consulting | 2017 | 2018 | Revenue |
| Deloitte | 18,029 | 20,472 | 12.5 |
| PwC | 17,812 | 19,084 | 6.2 |
| EY | 15,813 | 17,519 | 10.1 |
| KPMG | 12,216 | 13,344 | 7.5 |
| Accenture | 9,119 | 10,430 | 13.3 |
| McKinsey | 8,595 | 9,234 | 6.8 |
| BCG | 5,415 | 6,413 | 17.5 |
| IBM | 3,321 | 3,560 | 6.5 |
| Bain | 3,247 | 3,523 | 8.5 |
| Booz Allen Hamilton | 2,631 | 2,926 | 11.2 |
| Average | 9,620 | 10,651 | 10.0 |
| Total | 96,198 | 106,505 | – |
Largest Consulting Firms by Revenue (Global 2019 – Consulting.com)
| Rank | Firm | Consulting Revenue |
| 1 | Accenture Consulting | $17,310,000,000 |
| 2 | Capgemini Consulting | $15,460,000,000 |
| 3 | Tata Consultancy Services | $14,930,000,000 |
| 4 | Cognizant Technology Solutions | $14,810,000,000 |
| 5 | Deloitte Consulting | $13,350,000,000 |
| 6 | PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory | $12,253,000,000 |
| 7 | Cisco Systems Consulting | $12,000,000,000 |
| 8 | Ernst & Young Advisory | $11,600,000,000 |
| 9 | Infosys Consulting | $10,210,000,000 |
| 10 | KPMG Advisory | $10,180,000,000 |
| 11 | McKinsey & Company | $8,800,000,000 |
| 12 | CGI Group | $8,500,000,000 |
| 13 | HP Enterprise Technology Services | $7,882,000,000 |
| 14 | The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. | $6,300,000,000 |
| 15 | Booz Allen Hamilton | $6,100,000,000 |
| 16 | Mercer LLC | $4,300,000,000 |
| 17 | IBM Global Services | $4,200,000,000 |
| 18 | Bain & Company | $3,870,000,000 |
| 19 | SAP Services Consulting | $3,566,000,000 |
| 20 | Oracle Consulting | $3,358,000,000 |
| 21 | Gartner, Inc. | $3,300,000,000 |
| 22 | Altran | $2,813,000,000 |
| 23 | Oliver Wyman | $2,000,000,000 |
| 24 | Aon Hewitt | $1,800,000,000 |
| 25 | FTI Consulting, Inc. | $1,800,000,000 |
| 26 | Grant Thornton | $1,700,000,000 |
| 27 | BDO Consulting | $1,410,000,000 |
| 28 | A.T. Kearney | $1,400,000,000 |
| 29 | Sapient Corporation | $1,305,000,000 |
| 30 | Strategy&, part of the PwC network | $1,300,000,000 |
| 31 | Hitachi Consulting | $1,300,000,000 |
| 32 | ICF International | $1,190,000,000 |
| 33 | Navigant Consulting, Inc. | $1,000,000,000 |
| 34 | AlixPartners, LLP | $1,000,000,000 |
| 35 | Slalom Consulting | $1,000,000,000 |
| 36 | Protiviti | $816,000,000 |
| 37 | Huron | $797,700,000 |
| 38 | The Advisory Board Company | $781,800,000 |
| 39 | Bearingpoint | $767,000,000 |
| 40 | Alvarez & Marsal | $600,000,000 |
| 41 | Berkeley Research Group, LLC | $600,000,000 |
| 42 | PA Consulting Group | $556,000,000 |
| 43 | ZS | $525,000,000 |
| 44 | L.E.K. Consulting | $500,000,000 |
| 45 | Perficient | $487,000,000 |
| 46 | Simon-Kucher & Partners | $311,000,000 |
| 47 | Arthur D. Little | $239,200,000 |
| 48 | Analysis Group, Inc. | $200,000,000 |
| 49 | Horváth & Partners | $162,000,000 |
| 50 | West Monroe Partners | $160,000,000 |
Where can I find consulting jobs?
If you live in the USA – the home of management consulting itself – you can find vacancies right here at our partner Jooble.org.
They are one of the largest employment website worldwide, with over 2,000,000 users daily, where you can find some 1,000,000 jobs from 21,000 sites. You can find many boutique and start-up consulting firms here – those with much less publicity than the MBB/Big 4 giants, those you won’t easily find elsewhere online.
8. Which firm should I choose?
The choice of firm should depend on what you want out of a consulting career. Most people approach a consulting career in two ways: the short-term “three-years-then-out” and the long-term consultant.
- In short terms, for building your professional portfolio and network, consulting is a no-brainer – that is, if you can get in. For this approach, MBB firms are undoubtedly the best options, firstly for the prestige, and secondly for the excellent learning and networking environment. Next down the line are Tier 2 and Big 4 groups, then the boutique firms.
- In long terms, however, it ultimately boils down to your skill set and preferences. Working at large firms such as MBB can be extremely stressful, but they offer better salaries and benefits. Smaller boutiques offer less, but allow you to preserve some work-life balance and sanity.
Either way, consulting firms are highly selective about their candidates; at MBB firms, the acceptance rate is even lower than 1%; even the small boutiques need to keep their standards up to maintain their work quality and reputation.
You can start your prep process and enhance your chance at these top firms by subscribing to our newsletter, our Youtube channel, and read other articles on this website on specific consulting firms, resume writing, test preperation, and case interviews.
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