What Can You Do With an MBA? 13 MBA Careers, Ranked by Pay

What can you do with an MBA? Lead a business function, advise the people who lead one, or manage money for clients and companies. The 13 MBA careers the Handbook ties to the degree fall into three groups, and the group matters more than the title because it decides how soon you can get in.

• Management: computer and information systems managers, architectural and engineering managers, human resources managers, training and development managers, industrial production managers, and top executives. All six list five years or more of related experience.
• Analysis and advising: management analysts, the federal name for management consultants, and market research analysts. Management analysts list less than five years of experience, and market research analysts list none.
• Finance: financial analysts, personal financial advisors, financial examiners, accountants and auditors, and securities, commodities and financial services sales agents. None of the five lists prior work experience.

Every one of the 13 still lists a bachelor's degree as its typical entry education. The Handbook never makes the MBA the minimum for any of these MBA careers. What it says instead is narrower and more useful: some employers prefer it, some require it for certain jobs, and for several finance roles it improves your odds of moving up. That is the honest frame for reading every list of jobs for MBA graduates, including this one.

Here are the 13 MBA careers, sorted by the national median wage BLS reports in each Handbook profile. Related experience is the work history BLS lists as typical for entry. Openings are the average number of positions BLS expects to come open each year from 2025 to 2035, a count that includes jobs vacated by people who retire or change careers.

Read the experience column next to the pay column and the list sorts itself. The top six by pay are all management jobs that want five or more years of related work. Below them, every job except management analysts lists no experience at all. That split is the most important fact about MBA careers, and the next two sections take each side in turn.

Notice too where the volume is. Top executives alone account for about 304,100 openings a year, close to two in five of the total, because the category is enormous. Accountants and auditors (115,300), management analysts (94,100) and market research analysts (82,000) follow. The specialized management jobs open far fewer seats: about 4,100 a year for training and development managers and 14,900 for architectural and engineering managers.

A note on the top executives row. BLS reports that profile as one group covering chief executives and general and operations managers, with a combined $108,780 median. Split apart, chief executives earn a $213,990 median and general and operations managers $105,770, according to BLS OEWS, May 2025. The how to become an operations manager guide covers the larger of the two.

The highest-paying MBA jobs are management jobs, and the Handbook is direct about who gets them. Computer and information systems managers earn a $175,140 median, and BLS says most of these jobs require several years of experience in a related information technology job. Some organizations require or prefer a graduate degree in computer science, information technology or business administration. Architectural and engineering managers ($171,270) usually advance after years as an architect or engineer. The Handbook adds that managers who want general management skills tend to earn an MBA, while those who want to stay technical pursue a master's in engineering or technology management.

The same pattern holds down the list. Human resources managers ($149,280) need several years of related experience, and BLS says some jobs may require a master's in human resources, labor relations or business administration. Training and development managers ($133,000) and industrial production managers ($126,060) read the same way: experience first, with the MBA named as one graduate degree some employers prefer.

That is less of a barrier than it sounds, because full-time MBA programs are built for people who already have the years. Wharton's Class of 2026 arrived with 5 years of work experience on average, with a range of 1 to 17, according to the school's class profile. Harvard Business School's Class of 2027 averaged 4.9 years. A typical full-time student is already close to the five-year mark the Handbook lists. The word that matters is related. Five years in sales does not count toward an engineering manager job, which is why the best-paid MBA careers usually build on the work you did before the degree rather than starting fresh after it.

Top executives are the extreme case. The Handbook says top executives of large corporations may have an MBA, and it lists considerable work experience as typical. Pay inside that job spreads further than in any other on this list. Chief executives in the lowest tenth earn under $75,700, while the top tenth earn more than $507,730, a gap of nearly seven times, according to BLS OEWS, May 2025. The median CEO at a small firm and the median CEO at a large corporation are doing very different jobs under the same title.

If you are earlier in your career, the more useful question is what jobs can you get with an MBA before you have years of management behind you. These are the jobs for MBA graduates that do not ask for it. Seven of the 13 qualify, and they are where most graduates without a management background start.

• Management analysts ($101,860): the consulting job. BLS says some employers prefer candidates with an MBA, lists less than five years of related experience, and projects about 94,100 openings a year with 10 percent growth. Firms that specialize in an industry tend to hire people with experience in it. The how to become a business analyst guide covers this occupation in depth.
• Financial analysts ($103,570): no prior experience listed. The Handbook says a master's in finance or business administration may improve an analyst's chances of advancing to portfolio manager or fund manager. See how to become a financial analyst.
• Personal financial advisors ($105,070): no prior experience listed, though BLS lists long-term on-the-job training. A master's in finance or business administration may improve an advisor's chances of becoming a financial manager and of attracting new clients.
• Market research analysts ($78,760): some employers require or prefer a master's. BLS describes analysts who earn a bachelor's in a field like statistics and then an MBA, and says a master's is often required for leadership roles.
• Financial examiners ($94,160): employers often prefer a master's in accounting or business administration, or a CPA license.
• Accountants and auditors ($83,680): some employers prefer a master's in accounting or an MBA with an accounting concentration. The Handbook is clear that a master's is not required to meet the 150-hour education requirement for CPA licensure.
• Securities, commodities and financial services sales agents ($78,660): some employers require or prefer an MBA, and BLS says it may help with advancement. Most of these jobs also require licenses that need employer sponsorship.

For someone switching careers, these are the realistic first MBA jobs. Management consulting stands out because it pairs a six-figure median with a short experience requirement and a large number of openings. Financial analysis is the strongest track on the finance side. For the accounting roles, a CPA license usually matters more than which master's you hold.

The federal data describes whole occupations. School employment reports show where one class actually went. Wharton's 2025 Career Report is a useful example because it reports both industry and job function for the full-time Class of 2025.

Of 879 graduates, 608 looked for work. Among those, 90.5 percent reported at least one offer and 87.0 percent reported accepting one. The median base salary was $185,000. By industry, financial services took 38.2 percent of accepted offers, consulting 28.2 percent and technology 15.3 percent. Of the 271 graduates who were not seeking work or did not respond, 150 were returning to a company that sponsored them, and 46 were starting their own business or self-employed.

Two cautions before treating those numbers as typical. First, the gap between school and federal data is large. Wharton consulting hires reported a $183,976 median base, while BLS puts the median management analyst at $101,860. Both can be true: one figure is new hires from a single elite program, the other is every management analyst in the country, across every firm size and region. Second, Wharton is a heavily recruited program. Most MBA programs will not place a third of the class in consulting, and the public data in our MBA program rankings is a better guide to what a given school costs and how its students fare.

What the report does show clearly is the shape of MBA careers at the top: consulting and strategy, investment banking, and private equity and venture capital investing together account for more than half of accepted offers, and general management and product management follow.

Most lists of MBA careers lead with financial manager, marketing manager and sales manager. All three pay well, and an MBA can certainly help. But none of their Handbook profiles names the MBA, and the reason is worth understanding before you pay for one.

• Financial managers ($166,570, 10 percent growth, 65,600 openings a year): BLS lists a bachelor's degree and five years or more of experience in another business or financial occupation, such as accountant, securities sales agent or financial analyst. The profile does not mention a graduate degree. The route runs through those feeder jobs, which is why the financial manager salary sits so high.
• Advertising, promotions and marketing managers ($165,780, 6 percent growth, 36,300 openings): BLS says some employers prefer a master's degree, without naming a field, and that these managers typically need related experience in advertising, marketing, promotions or sales.
• Sales managers ($148,270, 4 percent growth, 47,300 openings): BLS lists a bachelor's and work experience as a sales representative. Employers usually prefer several years of sales experience.

The pattern is the same as at the top of the main list. These jobs reward a record in the function. An MBA with a marketing or finance concentration can speed that record up, add the strategy and finance coursework a manager needs, and open recruiting pipelines. It cannot stand in for the record itself, and the federal profiles say so by leaving the degree out. The how to become a marketing manager guide walks through that path.

One more MBA career deserves a mention because it is growing faster than anything on this page. Medical and health services managers earn a $123,860 median and are projected to grow 24 percent, with about 62,300 openings a year. BLS says some employers prefer a master's degree and that top executive roles may require one, without naming the MBA specifically. In that field, the competing degree is the master of health administration, and MHA vs MBA compares the two.

Measured against the 3.5 percent BLS projects for all occupations from 2025 to 2035, the 13 MBA careers split into four groups.

• Much faster than average: computer and information systems managers (16 percent), management analysts (10 percent), financial examiners (9 percent), financial analysts (7 percent) and market research analysts (7 percent).
• Faster than average: human resources managers, training and development managers and architectural and engineering managers (6 percent each), top executives (5 percent) and accountants and auditors (5 percent).
• About as fast as average: industrial production managers (3 percent).
• Slower than average: personal financial advisors (1 percent) and securities, commodities and financial services sales agents (1 percent).

The standout is computer and information systems managers. BLS projects the occupation to add about 108,100 jobs over the decade, growth of 16 percent, and it is also the best-paid of the 13 MBA careers. That combination is why a technology or analytics concentration has become a common MBA choice for people with an IT background. The second standout is management analysts, which pairs 10 percent growth with about 109,200 new jobs, a numeric gain second only to top executives (190,600) on this list.

Slow growth does not mean few jobs. Personal financial advisors and securities sales agents are both projected to grow 1 percent, yet together they open about 52,200 positions a year as people leave those jobs. Openings tell you how many seats come free. Growth tells you whether the field is expanding.

Your concentration does not lock you into a career, but it is the clearest signal to recruiters about which MBA careers you are aiming for. Here is how the common concentrations line up with the 13 occupations the Handbook ties to the degree.

• Finance: financial analysts, personal financial advisors, securities sales agents and financial examiners, plus financial manager later on.
• Accounting: accountants and auditors, whose profile names an MBA with an accounting concentration, and financial examiners.
• Strategy or management consulting: management analysts.
• Marketing: market research analysts now, and marketing manager after several years of related work.
• Human resources or organizational behavior: human resources managers and training and development managers.
• Operations or supply chain: industrial production managers. The supply chain manager salary guide covers the logistics side.
• Information systems or analytics: computer and information systems managers, usually on top of an IT background.
• General management: top executives, and architectural and engineering managers who want general rather than technical management skills.

If you already know the function, a specialized master's can be a cheaper alternative. The Handbook names a master's in finance for financial analysts, a master's in accounting for accountants and examiners, and engineering or technology management for engineering managers. The MBA earns its premium when you want to switch functions, move into general management, or keep several MBA careers open at once.

Once you have answered what can you do with an MBA for yourself, and know which MBA careers you are aiming for, the program decision gets simpler. Our best MBA programs ranking analyzes 978 programs on published cost, graduation rate and outcomes data, and two companion lists narrow it further: online MBA programs for working professionals who want to keep building experience while they study, and cheapest MBA programs for anyone whose target career does not depend on campus recruiting.

That last point is the real dividing line. If you want consulting, investment banking or private equity, on-campus recruiting at a heavily recruited full-time program matters a great deal, as Wharton's numbers show. If you want to move from specialist to manager inside your current field, which is the route most of the 13 MBA careers follow, a part-time or online MBA lets you keep adding the related experience BLS lists while you earn the degree.

Three more guides help you size the decision. How much does an MBA cost breaks down tuition, how long does it take to get an MBA compares formats, and is an MBA worth it runs the return. For pay by role, see MBA salary.