MBA Salary in California - Compensation and Bonus Guide for California's MBA Grads

Earning an MBA from a California business school imparts a great deal of power to shape your future career in almost any industry. Typically, it also comes with a jaw-dropping boost in compensation.

There are plenty of reasons to earn an MBA, and the money is certainly one of them. Earning that esteemed credential takes a substantial investment, so nailing down your expected return ahead of time is just a matter of course for any business student.

Other than big numbers and rumors of bigger numbers, it can be surprisingly difficult to figure out exactly what an MBA graduate in the Golden State can expect to make at different career stages. You’d be surprised Though the starting salary ROI during that critical first year after graduation is a big deal for any business student, an MBA is an investment in your entire career. So the trick is to find out what that salary will look like at the five, ten, and twenty-year mark or longer based on your MBA concentration and industry.

A Note on How We Sourced and Compiled Salary Data for MBA Graduates in California

You quickly run into limitations when you’re looking for hard data on MBA salaries.

For starters, the sheer diversity of different things you can do with an MBA degree leads to a wide range of industries, positions, and functions that each have their own influence on total compensation.

Next, as a rule, the level of that compensation quickly runs up against data constraints in the go-to source for American employment and salary data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

BLS doesn’t account for different types of college degrees in their salary surveys, so any given professional category, MBAs are lumbed in among people who hold different types of degrees.

The Bureau also has an upper limit on the level of salary they account for, pegging the top ten percent at and above $239,200 in base salary annually. Of course, most MBA graduates are going to wind up somewhere north of that number not very long after graduation.

Finally, while many business schools conduct surveys of their graduates to determine starting salaries in their first position after graduation, not all of them publish that information. As a result, you have different schools reporting different figures for different jobs, all influenced by both the school’s strengths and regional variability.

In building this guide, we looked at outcome reports from some of the big California business schools, including:

Stanford Graduate School of Business
UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
UCLA Anderson School of Management
USC Marshall School of Business
Pepperdine Graziado Business School
UC Irvine Merage School of Business

Although they break out their data in different ways, and reflect a relatively narrow slice of MBA graduates in the Golden State, there are plenty of reasons to think the numbers aren’t too far off what the average salary with an MBA would look like in California.

When you bring data together from all these schools, the BLS, and other reliable industry sources, it’s possible to get some fairly accurate figures. This is exactly what we did to provide the most reliable MBA salary data available for California.

Your MBA Salary is Only Part of Your Total Compensation Package

While base salaries are significant for MBA grads, it’s also not the only thing to consider when you are looking at total compensation. In fact, the further you get into your career, and the higher you climb, the less relevant your base salary is to what you really make.

Consider a tech industry veteran who decides to pursue an MBA in Business Analytics after five years of project management work in Big Data at a social media company. After graduation, they accept a position with an established Silicon Valley corporation that is eager to jump on the AI bandwagon.

Because they have familiarity with machine learning from their big data days, they have a skillset that is quickly transferable to AI projects. This nets them a big signing bonus on top of a hefty salary offer. The contract also has a structured set of stock grants built in over time, plus incentive bonuses. Because it’s tech, there are also plenty of high-value perks, such as on-site laundry service, free meals, a gym membership, and subsidized commuting.

The additional benefits and bonuses that are common in executive compensation are not reported as part of base salary numbers.

Someone coming from a marketing background, despite earning an MBA, probably wouldn’t get the same deal.

Those differences will compound over time, too.

The California Business School You Attend Can Impact Your MBA Degree Salary, But There’s More to the Equation than Just Reputation

There aren’t many fields of study where your choice of school impacts your long-term prospects as much as in business. Time and again, you’ll see studies that cite the outcomes of Magnificent 7 programs in getting students into high-paying positions in lucrative industries.

But the M7 isn’t the only place to look for positive influence in MBA base salary levels. The truth is, each business school in California has a different sort of impact in various industries or expertise.

Some of that comes through the concentrations that are available. Your expertise in a specific industry or job function can play a big role in what you are offered in compensation. There are a wide variety of concentrations available at business schools in California, but of course, not all of them are offered at every school. So you may find you end up doing better at a school with a specialized track in your career path even if it isn’t among the top ranked schools.

The MBA Salary You Can Expect Will Differ Considerably Based on Location

Finally, there are local factors that can influence MBA graduate salary levels.

On the surface, this seems obvious—the cost of living in the Bay Area means it simply isn’t practical to pay a marketing manager the same salary there that might be acceptable someplace like Bakersfield.

But it also can be influenced by the supply and demand of the local job market. Certain parts of California are dominated by particular industries that demand specialized MBA expertise… technology in Silicon Valley, entertainment in Hollywood, agriculture in the Central Valley. A lack of MBA graduates with those skills in those areas can drive salaries up quickly.

On the other hand, an area where a great number of business schools are concentrated and constantly pumping out new MBAs may have businesses offering a little less while they enjoy a surplus of candidates.

A Look at Local and Regional MBA Degree Salaries in California

Even within a state, particularly one as large as California, you can find real differences in compensation from region to region. Influenced by cost-of-living, supply and demand, and prevailing industries in each area, you can find real arbitrage opportunities if you are willing to shift your MBA job hunt to various parts of the state.

BLS provides a detailed breakdown of regional salary differences, dividing each state into metro and non-metro reporting areas. In the category for top executives, general and operations managers show the median to 90^th percentile range in various parts of the state:

Area	Median	Top 10%
Bakersfield	$ 99,780	$207,290 or more
Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region nonmetropolitan area	$99,510	$206,490 or more
El Centro	$101,290	$212,840 or more
Fresno	$99,940	$210,810 or more
Hanford-Corcoran	$96,870	$187,330 or more
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim	$118,920	Beyond the BLS reporting threshold of $239,200
Madera	$97,510	$203,250 or more
Merced	$99,750	$204,580 or more
Modesto	$103,210	$218,980 or more
Napa	$113,620	Beyond the BLS reporting threshold of $239,200
North Coast Region nonmetropolitan area	$99,770	$199,660 or more
North Valley-Northern Mountains Region nonmetropolitan area	$97,650	$197,820 or more
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura	$109,650	Beyond the BLS reporting threshold of $239,200
Redding	$96,790	$203,510 or more
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario	$104,400	$217,450 or more
Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade	$115,860	$227,410 or more
Salinas	$108,580	$227,440 or more
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward	$143,250	Beyond the BLS reporting threshold of $239,200
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara	$166,660	Beyond the BLS reporting threshold of $239,200
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande	$102,420	$213,870 or more
Santa Cruz-Watsonville	$108,570	$226,300 or more
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara	$110,670	$235,260 or more
Santa Rosa	$109,130	$223,760 or more
Stockton-Lodi	$106,080	$220,890 or more
Vallejo-Fairfield	$114,310	$236,090 or more
Visalia-Porterville	$96,890	$202,650 or more
Yuba City	$97,690	$198,160 or more

Clearly, you can also dive into any of the individual specialty categories for this information for any of these areas. BLS can be a useful resource for casing potential work locations, even if it doesn’t deliver specifics on MBA salary levels.

A number of business schools offer regional data snapshots for their graduates, as well. While most go big, looking at regional and national breakdowns, some offer a look at the picture within California itself, as well.

UCLA shows a split between northern and southern California; despite placing more of their graduates in SoCal, average wages there are only $155,000 versus $160,000 in the north. Marshall shows the same breakdown, and similar results, with $150,879 in the south and $156,479 for NorCal.

Haas takes it even further, showing the averages for specific localities around California:

Of course, all of these are very limited datasets, but they do show some trends that may help inform your decision on where to seek employment.

How MBA Career Paths and Salaries Differ From Industry to Industry

While concentrations and school expertise can play a role in what industry you wind up working in, it’s not a lock. In many ways, the magic of an MBA comes through the general analysis and business problem-solving skills it gives you. Those can be applied to any scenario in any industry at any time.

So although you may pick up a concentration in finance, it could just as easily lead you to a career in consulting, or hospital administration, or agribusiness.

California is blessed with a wide range of industries across the spectrum of American commerce. An MBA can be your ticket to a job and career in any of these fields.

MBA Healthcare Management Salary

According to the California Health Care Foundation, personal health care is a $400 billion-plus industry in the state, employing nearly 2 million people. With almost 40 million residents to take care of, and a biotech industry coming up with new ways to deliver that care all the time, it’s a good bet that MBA in Healthcare Management salary levels are going to stay healthy for a good long time.

According to BLS, the median pay for medical and hospital administrators in 2023 was $110,680. The top ten percent, where MBA grads are more likely to be found, was more than $216,750.

Among self-reported salaries from California business schools, health administration MBA salaries generally landed between $126,000 and $160,000. Signing bonuses weren’t common except in biotech, where they landed around the $30,000 mark.

You can expect MBA in hospital management salary offers to beat the offers on the table for MHA (Master of Health Administration) graduates.

MBA in Finance Salary Levels in California

The finance sector is known for massive salaries and incredible bonuses. MBA finance salary levels are consistently some of the highest shown among California business school outcome reports, ranging from $103,750 to an eye-popping $200,000.

Signing bonuses with an MBA in Finance are high, too, running around $50,000 on average. With the kind of cash that big VC and investment management firms are reeling in around the Bay Area, the potential is huge.

That’s to say nothing of fintech, where cryptocurrencies and consumer investment and banking technologies are changing the way money flows around the world. This is going to remain a hot area for MBA grads in California and beyond.

Consulting MBA Salary Levels in California

The Big Three MBB firms – McKinsey, BCG, and Bain – with global client bases remain a destination for many California MBA students, and they consistently offer salaries that are in the top two slots for schools reporting first-year salary data on graduates in the field.

In 2023-24, that ran anywhere from $169,559 to over $190,000 in base salary, with an average signing bonus of $30,000.

On top of the significant salaries, however, much of the popularity of these jobs comes from the travel perks and the fast-paced introduction to many other industries. Frequently, MBA graduates working for top consulting firms are only passing through. The kind of intensive experience they get vastly increases their potential for high-paying roles in other industries.

Technology MBA Salary Levels in California

Graduates with STEM-designated MBAs have an automatic edge when it comes to applying for jobs in the world’s number one technology economy in California. They reap the rewards of that expertise, with business schools reporting base salary levels from $100,000 to $185,000 among recent graduates.

That actually comes in significantly lower than the BLS data for the state, which puts California computer and information system managers at the top of the heap for the nation, with an average annual salary of $217,030. An MBA can only push that number higher.

Signing bonuses are high as well, over $54,000 on average. This is also an industry that is well-known for on-the-job perks and incentives in the form of stock grants and options. So odds are good that total compensation in tech industry MBA positions is going to exceed the published data… as long as you pick a company that’s a winner.

Entertainment MBA Salary Levels in California

You can’t talk about California businesses hiring MBA graduates without at least mentioning Hollywood. Although the glitz of the film industry eclipses its actual contributions to the regional economy, it’s still an opportunity that most other states can’t really offer.

Naturally, entertainment is more than just film and TV production. A thriving music industry as well as new media startups like Wayfarer and Haystack TV are also options in this space. And Disney dabbles in pretty much every kind of entertainment known to man, creating plenty of options to manage theme parks, toys, or experiential vacations. California has also got some of the most popular franchises in professional sports, from the Lakers to the 49ers.

One thing about the entertainment business, though, is that it seems like everyone wants to work in it. So starting MBA salaries are relatively modest as reported by California business schools, ranging from around $120,000 to just over $132,000 per year.

Real Estate MBA Salary Levels in California

Together with finance and insurance, real estate represents just about one-fifth of the California economy. It’s under the radar, but if you’re looking for solid salary returns on your MBA, it’s not an industry you want to sleep on. And an MBA with a concentration in real estate offers the best shot at top-paying positions in the field.

According to BLS, California has the highest level of employment in the country for property, real estate, and community associate managers. Though mean wages are just under $85,000 for the role, at the 90^th percentile, where MBA grads are likely to land, it comes in at $158,330 or higher.

The starting salary offers as reported by California business schools are solid too, showing a range of between $117,000 and $130,000 per year for recent graduates in the real estate industry.

Job Function Will Also Influence the Salary Your MBA Helps You Bring In

While different industries may have higher or lower salary bands based on their demand, margins, and other factors, it’s also true that individual management roles can see similar differences. And for many types of executive roles, you can find roughly comparable jobs from industry to industry. A San Diego military contractor needs an accounting manager just as much as a chain of dispensaries based out of Redding.

So there are also ways of looking at MBA salaries based on particular job categories, not just in particular industries. In some cases, you’ll notice that concentration options can lead you into either an industry or a role related to that specialty, or even both. For example, an MBA concentration in information technology can point you toward the technology industry, or toward a technology management role in any industry.

Of course, people often stay within a particular industry once they have developed some expertise and learned how it differs from what the basic functions would be in other industries. But it’s also entirely possible to pick up from your business analytics job in oil and gas and make the move to Hollywood using the same skills.

MBA in Accounting Salary Levels in California

Accounting and finance managers often come from Master of Accounting or Master of Finance programs. But the benefits that come with earning an MBA in Accounting make graduates well-suited to seeing the bigger picture, and moving higher and faster up the corporate ladder.

BLS pegs the average wage for this role in California at $196,670 for 2023. The data reported by individual schools is similarly lofty, with starting salaries peaking at $200,000 per year and hovering in the $150,000 to $160,000 range elsewhere. The median signing bonus for such jobs as $50,000, topping out the category.

MBA Business Analytics Salary Levels in California

Crunching numbers is all part of the game for MBA graduates of every sort, but those with an MBA in Business Analytics double down. Some of those numbers are for their own salaries, which have boomed in recent years as big data has come to almost every kind of industry and organization.

As pervasive as the business analytics story is, though, the closest BLS comes to this new category of professionals is management analysts, who earned an average of $119,370 in California in 2023. At the top of the scale where MBA grads are likely to be, the salary starts at $191,540.

MBA Consulting Salary Levels in California

Consulting is a role as well as an industry. In fact, some business school salary reports break down internal versus external consulting job salaries. Just as with the consulting industry, these are uniformly some of the highest numbers reported, ranging between $180,000 and $192,000.

External management consultants also tended to come on to the job with signing bonuses, around $30,000 on average.

In the BLS world, these positions tend to be lumped in with management analysts, at the same $191,540 baseline for MBAs as noted above.

MBA Project Management Salary Levels in California

Project management is not a skillset that demands an MBA, but an MBA can launch people in these roles to new heights. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the top ten percent of project management specialists nationally earn at least $163,040.

The top ten percent for those roles in California is a solid notch higher at $172,220.

MBA in Marketing Salary Levels in California

Marketing is one of the most common destinations for MBA graduates, making up anywhere from 8 percent to nearly 40 percent of the typical graduating class at California schools reporting employment outcomes. That makes the MBA in Marketing a very popular option here. Perhaps because it’s so common, it’s also one of the lower-ranking starting salaries in those reports, with offers coming in anywhere from $101,000 to $172,500.

But brand manager salary levels in California after earning an MBA also have plenty of room to grow. Marketing managers in California earn an average of $192,730 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while at the 90^th percentile they earn at least $228,560.

MBA Starting Salary With No Experience

The data provided from California business schools on MBA median salary levels is skewed in another way that means it won’t apply to some graduates: it’s primarily based on full-time MBA students.

That’s definitely the bulk of the annual crop of graduating MBA students, but it narrows the focus to early-career professionals with only two to five years of professional experience behind them.

Even among employers looking for new hires with an MBA, more experience is always preferred and almost always leads to higher salaries.

For graduates of MBA programs like part-time MBAs or Executive MBAs, who may have significantly more real-world experience to offer, you can see starting salaries that make those listed above look a little stingy. Many executives who have a decade of practical expertise behind them before adding on an MBA are out there negotiating seven-figure compensation packages.

At the middle or far end of your career path, it’s impossible to quantify exactly how much an MBA boosts your salary versus all the other qualifications you have stacked up. On the other hand, you wouldn’t see so many people lining up to get into EMBA programs if there wasn’t real value in that education.

What Does an MBA Do for Your Income When You’re an Entrepreneur?

One significant difference between California MBA programs and those in the rest of the country is the outsize number of graduates here who aren’t aiming at a regular salary at all. Entrepreneurship runs deep in the Golden State, going back to frontier days, where businesses like Levi Strauss and Company forged ahead with innovative concepts and created their own opportunities for success.

Thirteen percent of Stanford’s 2024 graduating class said they were starting their own company rather than relying on someone else to cut them a check.

Doing your own thing is a quintessentially Californian approach to both life and business. The confidence and skill that come with an MBA only reinforce your chances at taking a great idea and making it a success.

What that means to your total return is anyone’s guess. The startup world is one of boom and bust. You can be on your way to business jets and skiing at Vail as head of the next Silicon Valley unicorn, or you can be maxing out credit cards hoping to have enough for groceries next week.

But there’s value in leaving it all on the field.

California is definitely the best place to take that shot. Compared to a national environment where one in four new ventures die in the first year, California startups have an 80 percent survival rate. Even after five years, more than half are still going.

With an entrepreneurship MBA from a California business school, you can take your entrepreneurial moonshot knowing you have a better chance here than anywhere else on earth.

2023 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and employment figures for Top Executives, Medical and Health Services Managers, Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers, Management Analysts, Project Management Specialists, Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers, Computer and Information Systems Managers, and Financial Managers reflect national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed January 2025.