Sometimes, you just need a wake-up call.
That’s what happened to Bain & Company last year. From 2021-2024, the firm had reigned as North America’s top consulting firm according to Vault, whose Consulting 50 survey is viewed as the ‘gold standard’ for measuring the prestige and employee-friendliness of management consulting firms. Year-after-year, Bain notched the highest scores for its training and culture among the consultants surveyed by Vault. And the firm always found a way to edge out the Boston Consulting Group for top honors.
That was, until the 2025 Vault Consulting 50 ranking, when BCG outmaneuvered its MBB rival. Looking ahead, it was natural to wonder if this was a changing of the guard. Could BCG build on high scores in pay, benefits, and mobility? Could it set the pace as the consulting firm with the greatest influence and employee satisfaction? After all, McKinsey & Company was the Consulting 50’s darling from 2018-2020 before Bain made its four-year run. Was this BCG’s turn now?
BAIN DOMINATES ACROSS THE BOARD
Afraid not. In the 2026 Consulting 50 ranking, released on February 11, Bain returned as the #1 consulting firm to work for in North America. On a 10-point index score, Bain hit a 9.273, beating out last year’s score by .052 of a point. Quite the opposite, BCG dipped from 9.379 to 9.204 to again serve as Bain’s runner-up. The Analysis Group, a Boston-based firm focused on economics, law, and healthcare, jumped from 8th to 3rd in 2026. That’s a far cry from the firm ranking 21st just four years ago. For the third consecutive year, McKinsey declined to participate in the Consulting 50.
How dominant was Bain in 2026? The firm earned the highest scores in 6 out of 20 Quality of Work and Life dimensions, including Compensation, Culture, Formal Training, Informal Training, Promotion Policies, and Selectivity. The firm also posted the second-best scores across another 6 dimensions, including Job Satisfaction, Benefits, and Long-Term Outlook. In comparison, BCG finished 1st in 5 dimensions: Benefits, Health & Wellness, Innovation, Interactions with Clients, and Relationships with Supervisors. In the end, BCG produced lower survey scores in 17 out of 20 dimensions against the previous year. All the while, the firm fell behind Bain in a separate Prestige ranking originating from competitors, further dooming its 2026 prospects.
In a February, P&Q met with Keith Bevans, a Bain EVP and partner who oversees talent acquisition and has spent nearly 30 years at the firm. While he celebrates Bain’s move into the top spot, it reflects more of a daily commitment than the culmination of some initiative. In his experience, the ranking provides a snapshot of how employees – and the industry at large – view how successfully Bain has been supporting staff and fulfilling its mission: “Helping our clients and setting new standards for excellence in our industry and their industry.”
In other words, it is a “by-product” of the firm’s day-to-day efforts. “We don’t come in every day thinking, ‘How can we close the gap with this award or recognition,’” Bevans continues. “We come in every day focused on our mission. We know that if we do that well, and continue to grow in the areas where we can improve, good things will come from that.”
CONSULTANTS GIVE HIGHEST MARKS TO BAIN AND MCKINSEY
North America wasn’t the only spot where Bain dominated. The Vault Consulting 50 also includes separate rankings for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions. In both areas, Bain comes out on top. In the aforementioned Prestige ranking, McKinsey continued to outpoint all comers across North America, EMEA, and APAC. Among boutique consulting firms, ghSMART & Co. replaced Aminad Consulting in 1st place, with Cirque Analytics trailing closely behind.
“It’s clear from Vault’s survey that both generalist and boutique consulting firms continue to attract many motivated professionals who graduated from top undergraduate and graduate programs,” observes Eric Stutzke, Vault’s SVP & General Manager. “Among these professionals, those that are most satisfied with their jobs tend to work for firms that foster positive cultures, provide ample mentorship and learning opportunities, and offer challenging work.”
While Vault doesn’t include its Practice Area scores in the larger Consulting 50 ranking, McKinsey continued to set the bar. It accrued 1st place finishes in North America across 10 areas, including Financial, Management, Strategy, and Technology consulting. Equally impressive, McKinsey ranked among the Top 5 in the remaining 7 areas.
Vault also collects scores on Diversity-related measures. Here, Bain returned to the forefront, achieving the top average score in 3 out of 6 dimensions, including LGBTQ+, Military Veterans, and Overall Inclusion.
THE METHODOLOGY
As a whole, the Vault Consulting 50 provides a wealth of rankings and data in the following areas:
- North American Area Ranking
- EMEA Consulting Area Ranking
- APAC Area Ranking
- Boutique Consulting Firms Ranking
- Most Prestigious Firms Ranking (North America, EMEA)
- Quality of Work and Life Rankings (North America, EMEA, APAC)
- Practice Area Rankings (North America, EMEA, APAC)
- Best Firms For Inclusion (North America, EMEA, APAC)
In many ways, the Vault Consulting 50 is an annual checkup on the health of the top consulting firms in the world. The consulting survey was conducted by Vault, an intelligence platform that provides verified employer reviews, data-driven rankings, and in-depth industry guides and company profiles across industries like banking, consulting, and law. This year, 10,000 verified consulting professionals participated in the survey, scoring their employers on various Work and Life dimensions. Flipping the script, these same respondents evaluate competing firms in both their perceived prestige and their performance in various practice areas where they’ve worked. In the end, these survey results provide a look inside where consulting firms excel where they fall short. At the same time, the scores enable readers to compare consulting firms side-by-side in the areas that matter most to them.
To produce the ranking, survey-takers apply a scale ranging from 1 to 10, where 10 is the highest possible score. Here, they score their own firm across 20 Quality of Work and Life Measures (Compensation, Leadership, Relationships with Supervisors, etc.). Using the same scale, these same respondents also rated competing firms for their Prestige.
Like previous years, Vault provides the following weights to various dimensions across North America, Europe, and Asia:
30% Prestige
15% Firm Culture
15% Overall Satisfaction
10% Compensation
10% Work-Life Balance
10% Level of Challenge
5% Overall Business Outlook
5% Promotion Policies
The Boutique Firm Ranking uses a variation of this methodology, that removes Prestige and places greater emphasis on Firm Culture, Work-Life Balance, and Overall Satisfaction. As a whole, Vault ranks 50 firms in North America and 25 firms each in Europe and Asia.
Wondering how your favorite firms are perceived by their employees and the marketplace alike? Click on the links below for in-depth analysis and ranking tables for each area of the Vault Consulting 50.
Page 2: WHY BAIN RANKED #1 AND BCG RANKED #2
Page 3: VAULT CONSULTING 50 NORTH AMERICAN RANKING (Plus Analysis)
Page 4: FIRM PRESTIGE NORTH AMERICAN RANKING (Plus Analysis)
Page 5: BOUTIQUE FIRM RANKING (Plus Analysis)
Page 6: BAIN-BCG-MCKINSEY HISORY COMPARISON (Compensation, Leaders, Work-Life Balance, etc.)
Page 7: QUALIFY OF EMPLOYMENT AND LIFE RANKINGS (Benefits, Promotion Track, Training, etc.)
Page 8: PRACTICE AREA RANKINGS (Energy, Finance Management, Strategy, etc.)
Page 9: INCLUSION (Women, LGBTQ+, Military)
Page 10: HISTORICAL VAULT CONSULTING RANKINGS AND SCORES