Skip to Main Content
Vault Top Ranked shield

Home Consulting Rankings

Vault Consulting 50

The Vault Consulting 50 is our signature list of the best consulting firms to work for.
Survey Methodology

When it comes to choosing an employer, there is no question that prestige is important. However, our survey data indicates time and again that many other factors come into play when weighing a choice--and even more affect employee satisfaction in the months and years after the decision has been made.

Did you know that for more than 40% of consulting firm candidates, firm culture was the most important factor in selecting an employer? Other top factors include practice strength and work-life balance, in addition to prestige and compensation.

But choosing an employer is only part of the equation--staying there over a period of time is something else entirely. And while elements like compensation and work-life balance remain important as part of that picture, other factors such as satisfaction and the ability to make career progress also emerge as critical differentiators of top employers--and these factors change over time as generations shift.

We continually monitor responses from the consultants we survey to ensure that our ranking methodology accurately reflects the concerns of the people currently employed in the industry.

In order to properly reflect a company's status as an employer within the consulting industry, the Vault Consulting 50 for 2019 is based on the following weighted formula:

30 percent prestige
15 percent firm culture
15 percent satisfaction
10 percent compensation
10 percent work-life balance
10 percent ability to challenge
5 percent overall business outlook
5 percent promotion policies

As ever, our survey is only open to consultants who are currently employed at reputable firms in the industry. When rating quality of life issues, consultants are only permitted to rate their own firm. For prestige and practice area rankings, however, consultants are only allowed to rate competitors, and NOT their own firms.

2019 Vault Consulting 50

#1
SCORE 9.370
2018 Rank 1

McKinsey & Company

McKinsey & Company is a privately-owned management consulting firm. Roundly considered to be the most prestigious company of its kind, it has achieved a level of renown so great as to be known even to laymen, despite a decades-long...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews
#2
SCORE 9.247
2018 Rank 3

Bain & Company

Founded in 1973, Bain is one of the world's most prestigious consulting firms. Today Bain & Company is one of the world's most respected companies. It partners with clients in sectors representing 90% of the global economy with offices...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews
#3
SCORE 9.222
2018 Rank 2

The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.

The name may sound local, but The Boston Consulting Group's reach-and expertise-is anything but. With over 16,000 employees in over 90 offices in 50 countries, the firm ranks as one of America's Largest Private Companies, according to Forbes...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews
#4
SCORE 8.280
2018 Rank 4

Deloitte Consulting LLP

Deloitte provides industry-leading audit & assurance, consulting, tax, and risk and financial advisory services to many of the world’s most admired brands, including more than 85 percent of the Fortune 500 and more than 6,000 private and...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews
#5
SCORE 7.727
2018 Rank 5

Oliver Wyman

Oliver Wyman is part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), a global professional services network with brands and affiliates in more than 100 countries. The largest component of Oliver Wyman Group is Oliver Wyman, a management consulting...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews
#6
SCORE 7.711
2018 Rank 7

Putnam Associates

Over the last 30 years Putnam Associates has grown into a premier strategy consulting firm serving biopharmaceutical, biotechnology (cell, gene and tissue therapies), diagnostics, medical device, and related clients in the healthcare space. The...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews
#7
SCORE 7.684
2018 Rank 8

EY-Parthenon

EY-Parthenon is a strategy consulting outfit with 1,500+ members in 40+ office locations worldwide. The firm advises c-suite, business, and organizational leaders across multiple sectors, including consumer, diversified industrial products,...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews
#8
SCORE 7.662
2018 Rank 11

PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC (PwC Advisory Services)

PwC's (PricewaterhouseCoopers) Advisory practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC ("PwC Advisory Services"), provides a mix of industry and functional expertise to help its clients address their most interesting and complex business...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews
#9
SCORE 7.651
2018 Rank 6

The Bridgespan Group

The Bridgespan Group is a global consulting firm that serves nonprofit organizations, NGOs and philanthropy by collaborating with mission driven leaders to break cycles of poverty and dramatically improve the quality of life for those in need....

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews
#10
SCORE 7.630
2018 Rank 14

Accenture

A pioneer of information technology in the 1950s, to defining what success looks like in the 21st century and beyond, Accenture has been a disruptive innovator for more than half a century. Today, Accenture is helping the world's leading...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews
Newsletter
Subscribe to the Vault
Newsletter

Be the first to read new articles and get updates from the Vault team.