12 of 25
BACKNEXT
12. Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group
Average total pay: $141,111
For: Consultant*

Best Companies rank: 3
Headquarters: Boston, MA

Employees at all levels are well-paid at this consulting firm. Executive assistants average nearly $65K, while consultants make more than $140K. And even employees who don't contribute to the profit-sharing retirement plan still get 15% of salary added each year, courtesy of the company.

But the rewards at Boston Consulting aren't purely financial. BCG considers itself an apprenticeship where senior consultants teach junior consultants and training is intensive at all levels. That's helpful, since the partnership track is well-defined: New consultants move to project leader in two-and-a-half years, to principal in two or three years, and to partner in three or four years. And if the firm's "up or out" practice leads a consultant to exit, he or she can always go back to school: 90% of BCG consultants who apply to MBA programs are accepted.

NEXT: Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
Last updated February 05 2009: 1:03 PM ET
*Most common salaried job

An earlier version listed an incorrect pay number for Chesapeake Energy. The correct amount is $120,576, not $178,108, which moves Chesapeake from #7 among top payers to #24. The rankings have been adjusted accordingly.
Top 100 There's a new no. 1 this year, as Google slips to no. 4. Which companies are going out of their way -- even in this economy -- to please employees? More
They're hiring! As many big companies are announcing mass layoffs, these 20 top employers have at least 350 openings each right now. Which Best Companies to Work For are doing the most recruiting and what kind of candidates are they looking for? More
Love your job? Then save it! If you're worried about getting laid off, now's the time to fight for your position. Follow these do's and don'ts to raise the odds that your job stays, well, yours. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.