The always-entertaining Freakonomics podcast recently devoted a full episode to the emergence of management consulting firms in the U.S. The podcast got our attention right away when Stephen Dubner rattled off labor market statistics — something that always piques our interest — for management consultants.
DUBNER: Raise your hand if you know somebody who works as a consultant. Yeah, I thought so – pretty much everybody. There are more than 500,000 management consultants in the U.S. – more than 700,000 if you count the self-employed. And there are even more on the way. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the consulting field will grow another 22 percent over the next decade, which means there will be more new jobs for consultants than there will be for computer programmers or lawyers. Now, how does consulting pay? Quite well, thank you. A median salary of about $78,000. That’s more than architects, postsecondary teachers, and a lot of scientists and engineers.
What Dubner referred to as management consultants are actually known, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as management analysts (SOC 13-1111). In this post we’ll explore the growth of this field, especially among those who work as self-employed or contract consultants, and where it’s grown the most (hint: Washington, D.C. and state capitals with government-heavy workforces).
Overview of Management Analysts
Management consulting firms specialize in solving companies’ problems and providing outside advice. And judging by the uptick in employment, they’re providing more of this expertise. The number of management analysts — the wage-and-salary variety who work as employees for big or little firms — has grown 13% since 2001 (from just over 500,000 jobs to an estimated 566,282 in 2012). Approximately 62% of these workers are men, and as Dubner points out, they tend to be young (55% are 25-44 years old). Their median salary is indeed about $79,000 per year ($37.74 per hour), and their wage curve steepens quickly for the top percentile of workers ($68.16 per hour, or nearly $142,000).
But would you guess that there are more self-employed and extended proprietors than salaried employees in this field? Check out EMSI’s class-of-worker breakdown for management analysts:
Salaried employees: 566,282 jobs, 13% growth since 2001
Self-employed: 155,801 jobs, 52% growth since 2001
Extended proprietors: 462,005, 77% growth since 2001
Taken together, there are nearly 1.2 million management analyst jobs in the workforce, and 617,807 of those are in the self-employed or extended proprietor category. And as you can see from our breakdown, those last two segments of workers have seen immense growth since 2001, almost all of which occurred before the recession.
Why So Many Self-Employed and Extended Proprietors?
What’s driving the huge number of self-employed and extended proprietors in management consulting? One possible explanation is that as business executives near retirement, they start working on their own — or on a contract basis with firms — as management analysts. Consider that 62% of the self-employed and extended proprietors in the field are at least 55 years or old (and 25% are 65 and above). That’s a drastic difference from the age breakdown of salaried workers, as illustrated in the following chart.
Note: What we refer to as “extended proprietors” are workers who are counted as proprietors, but classify the income as peripheral to their primary employment. Many industries (primarily oil & gas extraction, finance & insurance, and real estate) include people who are considered sole proprietors or part of a partnership, yet have little or no involvement or income in the venture. Read more here.
The Geography of Management Analysts
Two of the largest management consulting firms, Boston Consulting Group and Bain, are headquartered in Boston. But the epicenter for management analysts is the Washington, D.C. metro. For salaried employees, the nation’s capital is 4.4 times more concentrated with management analysts than the national average. Overall, D.C. has an estimated 87,486 of these jobs — about the same number as the Boston and Los Angeles metro areas put together.
D.C. is also the most saturated with self-employed and extended proprietors, with more than twice the national average. But as the table below shows, San Francisco, San Jose, Boston, and Bridgeport, among others, have much larger percentages of independent management analysts as compared to the total workers in the field in each metro. And when it comes to proprietor growth, Atlanta — the second-most concentrated metro overall — has added a whopping 140% since 2001, compared a more tepid 7% among salaried employees.
Smaller metros also have significant shares of management analysts. Looking at just salaried employees, Madison, Wis., Richmond and Virginia Beach, Va., and Harrisburg, Pa. are among the 10 most concentrated metros.
The bottom line: Metros with a considerable presence of government workers — state capitals and D.C. — have higher saturations of these workers than metros of comparable size.
The following map is for all U.S. metros and shows the percentage job growth since 2001 (ranging from 306% growth to 73% decline). Notice the overwhelmingly widespread growth, with a few pockets of job loss.
MANAGEMENT ANALYSTS - LARGEST 100 METROS
Salaried Employees
Self-Employed and Ext. Proprietors
MSA Name
2001 Jobs
2012 Jobs
Job Change
% Job Growth
2012 Conc.
Median Hourly Earnings
2001 Jobs
2012 Jobs
Job Change
% Job Growth
Median Hourly Earnings
2012 Conc.
Proportion of Total Workforce
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
40,607
56,751
16,144
40%
4.44
$45.37
14,538
27,124
12,586
87%
$33.49
2.25
32%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
21,430
23,013
1,583
7%
2.43
$41.06
6,206
14,913
8,707
140%
$29.67
1.16
39%
Madison, WI
2,367
2,938
571
24%
2.07
$32.72
1,000
1,753
753
75%
$21.05
1.4
37%
Richmond, VA
4,468
5,151
683
15%
2
$38.93
1,229
2,478
1,249
102%
$24.01
1.1
32%
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
4,963
5,986
1,023
21%
1.76
$36.96
1,390
2,674
1,284
92%
$25.60
1.08
31%
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
16,997
17,469
472
3%
1.7
$45.44
11,925
17,955
6,030
51%
$32.90
1.86
51%
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA
2,106
2,210
104
5%
1.68
$30.40
601
937
336
56%
$28.38
1.05
30%
Baltimore-Towson, MD
7,504
8,876
1,372
18%
1.63
$42.86
4,041
7,403
3,362
83%
$26.70
1.4
45%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
12,255
13,547
1,292
11%
1.6
$45.77
12,990
20,311
7,321
56%
$34.46
1.87
60%
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
1,954
2,185
231
12%
1.6
$30.50
643
1,139
496
77%
$31.60
0.99
34%
Columbus, OH
5,459
5,904
445
8%
1.52
$35.68
2,179
4,047
1,868
86%
$26.43
1.11
41%
Columbia, SC
1,764
2,251
487
28%
1.52
$29.89
565
1,223
658
116%
$25.74
0.79
35%
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT
2,792
2,523
-269
-10%
1.47
$43.97
2,541
4,188
1,647
65%
$37.38
1.5
62%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
5,957
5,619
-338
-6%
1.45
$49.58
5,313
8,241
2,928
55%
$36.07
2.18
59%
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI
24,843
25,364
521
2%
1.43
$40.02
11,001
18,566
7,565
69%
$30.13
1.04
42%
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
3,883
3,554
-329
-8%
1.42
$35.62
1,675
2,754
1,079
64%
$23.68
1.13
44%
Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA
4,219
5,096
877
21%
1.4
$34.80
3,090
4,806
1,716
56%
$24.93
1.16
49%
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
932
1,054
122
13%
1.3
$38.08
571
1,024
453
79%
$21.81
1.08
49%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
5,340
6,075
735
14%
1.29
$31.06
2,496
4,946
2,450
98%
$23.22
0.96
45%
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
8,023
9,266
1,243
15%
1.25
$41.54
5,669
10,546
4,877
86%
$31.69
1.6
53%
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
8,461
9,228
767
9%
1.25
$38.97
4,905
8,771
3,866
79%
$27.07
1.33
49%
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
5,932
7,085
1,153
19%
1.21
$35.99
6,157
9,098
2,941
48%
$28.58
1.4
56%
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL
979
1,201
222
23%
1.18
$28.50
1,018
2,152
1,134
111%
$29.83
1.11
64%
Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
3,680
4,292
612
17%
1.17
$31.81
1,927
3,726
1,799
93%
$31.06
1.16
46%
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
12,418
12,873
455
4%
1.16
$42.35
7,766
14,334
6,568
85%
$33.44
1.4
53%
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
38,299
40,317
2,018
5%
1.16
$44.99
23,811
42,734
18,923
79%
$30.64
1.06
51%
Jacksonville, FL
2,329
2,889
560
24%
1.16
$33.43
1,310
2,624
1,314
100%
$23.78
0.92
48%
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
1,905
2,040
135
7%
1.15
$33.13
1,309
2,049
740
57%
$24.65
1.32
50%
Kansas City, MO-KS
4,248
4,656
408
10%
1.14
$34.10
2,350
3,949
1,599
68%
$30.75
1.01
46%
Dayton, OH
1,814
1,771
-43
-2%
1.14
$35.69
961
1,286
325
34%
$25.49
0.99
42%
Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ
7,608
8,340
732
10%
1.13
$32.40
4,639
9,169
4,530
98%
$33.22
1.14
52%
Albuquerque, NM
1,616
1,689
73
5%
1.11
$32.90
1,194
1,863
669
56%
$22.58
1.22
52%
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
2,798
3,465
667
24%
1.09
$35.65
1,974
3,693
1,719
87%
$30.35
0.98
52%
Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC
835
1,372
537
64%
1.09
$33.58
553
1,384
831
150%
$35.79
0.84
50%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
8,493
9,935
1,442
17%
1.08
$32.23
5,861
11,662
5,801
99%
$25.00
0.78
54%
Worcester, MA
1,460
1,449
-11
-1%
1.07
$38.83
1,226
1,823
597
49%
$25.44
1.32
56%
Ogden-Clearfield, UT
693
889
196
28%
1.06
$35.29
516
1,053
537
104%
$21.40
0.92
54%
Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO
5,020
5,475
455
9%
1.05
$35.87
4,363
8,222
3,859
88%
$31.82
1.28
60%
Salt Lake City, UT
2,228
2,820
592
27%
1.04
$29.72
1,487
2,495
1,008
68%
$28.77
0.98
47%
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
1,174
1,311
137
12%
1.02
$35.60
1,381
1,783
402
29%
$28.25
1.1
58%
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
3,268
4,289
1,021
31%
1.02
$32.16
1,652
3,374
1,722
104%
$21.70
0.84
44%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
21,063
22,906
1,843
9%
1.01
$40.18
20,890
27,397
6,507
31%
$28.44
0.95
54%
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
3,035
3,228
193
6%
0.97
$34.75
1,363
2,343
980
72%
$24.85
1.05
42%
Colorado Springs, CO
1,116
1,144
28
3%
0.95
$39.33
895
1,456
561
63%
$24.09
1.11
56%
Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA
2,463
2,628
165
7%
0.95
$36.02
1,986
2,511
525
26%
$23.94
0.97
49%
Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN
3,590
3,925
335
9%
0.94
$37.23
2,287
4,179
1,892
83%
$29.33
1.13
52%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
9,432
11,664
2,232
24%
0.93
$39.31
7,543
16,252
8,709
115%
$32.06
1.03
58%
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
3,823
3,779
-44
-1%
0.92
$34.77
2,527
4,022
1,495
59%
$27.45
1.07
52%
Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA
1,548
1,782
234
15%
0.91
$35.49
809
1,336
527
65%
$21.03
0.87
43%
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
2,318
3,106
788
34%
0.9
$38.24
2,768
6,827
4,059
147%
$30.82
1.52
69%
Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC
2,525
3,126
601
24%
0.89
$37.00
1,535
3,500
1,965
128%
$26.99
1
53%
Boise City-Nampa, ID
860
973
113
13%
0.88
$25.77
701
1,371
670
96%
$26.39
0.97
58%
Springfield, MA
1,100
1,068
-32
-3%
0.87
$38.83
905
1,341
436
48%
$21.14
1.14
56%
Syracuse, NY
1,033
1,094
61
6%
0.86
$33.49
750
1,084
334
45%
$23.92
1.07
50%
Greensboro-High Point, NC
1,074
1,239
165
15%
0.86
$33.31
583
1,120
537
92%
$21.04
0.93
47%
Oklahoma City, OK
1,832
2,113
281
15%
0.85
$32.65
1,261
2,116
855
68%
$21.18
0.76
50%
New Haven-Milford, CT
1,388
1,259
-129
-9%
0.84
$35.65
1,203
2,018
815
68%
$24.78
1.19
62%
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
642
738
96
15%
0.81
$31.58
326
793
467
143%
$25.98
0.7
52%
Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, SC
941
955
14
1%
0.79
$30.95
475
964
489
103%
$29.36
0.79
50%
Rochester, NY
1,536
1,612
76
5%
0.78
$42.31
1,509
2,093
584
39%
$24.08
1.18
56%
Honolulu, HI
1,414
1,638
224
16%
0.78
$38.00
1,119
1,713
594
53%
$23.04
1.03
51%
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
418
650
232
56%
0.78
$29.02
623
1,192
569
91%
$34.26
0.9
65%
Chattanooga, TN-GA
746
758
12
2%
0.78
$30.21
452
769
317
70%
$32.13
0.8
50%
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
2,182
2,798
616
28%
0.74
$36.56
1,898
3,762
1,864
98%
$25.26
0.84
57%
Raleigh-Cary, NC
1,327
1,563
236
18%
0.72
$35.67
1,181
3,057
1,876
159%
$28.88
1.4
66%
Pittsburgh, PA
3,462
3,407
-55
-2%
0.72
$39.85
3,022
4,724
1,702
56%
$29.95
1.22
58%
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
6,450
8,067
1,617
25%
0.72
$45.88
7,166
14,480
7,314
102%
$34.85
1.06
64%
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
2,571
3,029
458
18%
0.71
$35.49
3,198
5,632
2,434
76%
$29.72
1.22
65%
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
2,264
3,586
1,322
58%
0.71
$33.82
3,241
4,991
1,750
54%
$21.48
0.73
58%
Knoxville, TN
914
964
50
5%
0.7
$36.29
986
1,579
593
60%
$30.40
1.06
62%
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
869
980
111
13%
0.69
$25.44
614
1,056
442
72%
$25.47
0.9
52%
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
1,472
1,758
286
19%
0.69
$32.21
1,090
1,905
815
75%
$29.22
0.87
52%
Provo-Orem, UT
403
543
140
35%
0.67
$27.33
569
1,394
825
145%
$25.34
1.14
72%
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
6,388
4,878
-1,510
-24%
0.67
$38.72
3,847
7,756
3,909
102%
$25.81
0.99
61%
Tucson, AZ
901
997
96
11%
0.66
$26.22
1,322
2,098
776
59%
$23.63
1.22
68%
Akron, OH
752
872
120
16%
0.65
$32.30
790
1,243
453
57%
$28.09
1.07
59%
St. Louis, MO-IL
3,908
3,529
-379
-10%
0.65
$36.83
2,717
4,619
1,902
70%
$29.33
0.95
57%
Tulsa, OK
1,141
1,096
-45
-4%
0.63
$32.87
1,045
1,634
589
56%
$21.73
0.78
60%
Bakersfield-Delano, CA
592
760
168
28%
0.63
$41.27
539
809
270
50%
$26.87
0.68
52%
Memphis, TN-MS-AR
1,499
1,505
6
0%
0.61
$36.09
1,115
1,860
745
67%
$28.32
0.68
55%
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
759
828
69
9%
0.59
$37.07
795
1,219
424
53%
$27.54
0.98
60%
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
1,175
1,266
91
8%
0.57
$35.82
1,106
1,634
528
48%
$21.49
1.04
56%
Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
1,580
1,954
374
24%
0.57
$34.80
1,832
3,555
1,723
94%
$30.50
0.96
65%
Wichita, KS
769
688
-81
-11%
0.57
$36.40
583
785
202
35%
$25.83
0.67
53%
Birmingham-Hoover, AL
1,123
1,083
-40
-4%
0.54
$39.70
904
1,893
989
109%
$29.65
0.81
64%
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA
1,347
1,176
-171
-13%
0.53
$34.93
1,322
2,094
772
58%
$34.33
0.74
64%
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY
559
522
-37
-7%
0.5
$34.21
669
1,182
513
77%
$26.26
1.04
69%
Jackson, MS
468
499
31
7%
0.49
$25.35
507
1,011
504
99%
$25.58
0.82
67%
Baton Rouge, LA
686
760
74
11%
0.49
$31.81
705
1,518
813
115%
$25.83
0.81
67%
Stockton, CA
432
437
5
1%
0.49
$33.90
419
606
187
45%
$23.69
0.65
58%
Modesto, CA
330
336
6
2%
0.49
$35.82
279
394
115
41%
$21.03
0.58
54%
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
745
740
-5
-1%
0.48
$31.45
620
1,239
619
100%
$21.66
0.88
63%
Toledo, OH
649
580
-69
-11%
0.47
$38.54
622
935
313
50%
$25.12
0.9
62%
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
347
367
20
6%
0.45
$30.15
303
534
231
76%
$21.03
0.61
59%
Fresno, CA
515
590
75
15%
0.41
$33.26
610
851
241
40%
$23.13
0.61
59%
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA
424
419
-5
-1%
0.4
$34.74
362
588
226
62%
$23.07
0.73
58%
Lancaster, PA
330
355
25
8%
0.37
$39.37
484
765
281
58%
$27.27
0.76
68%
El Paso, TX
355
411
56
16%
0.32
$31.72
374
775
401
107%
$21.03
0.6
65%
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA
246
186
-60
-24%
0.2
$28.78
382
571
189
49%
$24.92
0.67
75%
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
158
195
37
23%
0.2
$35.50
222
555
333
150%
$21.03
0.43
74%
Data and analysis for this infographic came from Analyst, EMSI’s web-based labor market tool. Follow us on Twitter @desktopecon. Email Josh Wright if you have any questions or comments, or would like to see further data.
Young woman in a field photo by BigStock.