Investment Banking Salary Guide (2026)

First-year analysts at bulge bracket banks earn a base salary of $110,000, while elite boutiques pay $120,000-$135,000. With signing and year-end bonuses, total first-year compensation runs from about $160,000 at the lower bulge brackets to $275,000-$300,000 at the top-paying boutique in the 2025-26 cycle.

Qatalyst Partners tops verified 2025-26 first-year pay at $275K-$300K (a small San Francisco tech-M&A class), followed by Centerview at $250K-$265K and Evercore at $220K-$250K. Among bulge brackets, Goldman Sachs leads at roughly $180K-$210K all-in.

Some banks pay overtime to first-year and second-year analysts, which can add $20,000-$40,000 to total compensation. Notable overtime-paying banks include several bulge bracket firms. This varies by bank and may change year to year.

First-year associates typically earn a base salary of $175,000-$200,000 with year-end bonuses of $100,000-$200,000, bringing total compensation to $275,000-$400,000 depending on the firm and tier.

Recurring pay (base plus year-end bonus) runs at a median of $155,000-$185,000 in the first analyst year, $185,000-$220,000 in the second, and $205,000-$240,000 in the third. Promotion to associate is the largest single step, taking the median to $275,000-$325,000, then $320,000-$370,000 in the second associate year. Base rises on a fixed schedule at every level, so the bonus is what actually separates one analyst from another. First-year analysts and associates also receive a one-time signing bonus on top, a median of $10,000 and $50,000 respectively.

Vice presidents run a base of roughly $225,000-$300,000 depending on tier, with bonuses historically 30% to 150% of base, putting indicative all-in around $295,000-$750,000. Directors sit at a $275,000-$350,000 base with bonuses of 70% to 200%, or roughly $470,000 to $1,050,000 all-in. Managing director base runs $250,000-$450,000 and up, but the bonus is a share of the fees that banker generates rather than a fixed multiple, so two MDs at the same firm in the same year can land several times apart and no credible single range exists. A rising portion of the bonus is deferred into stock at these levels, roughly a fifth to a third at VP and up to half at MD.

First-year analyst cash beyond base has two pieces: a signing bonus of roughly $10,000-$15,000 ($50,000 at Centerview, tied to a three-year commitment) and a year-end bonus running from about $45,000-$85,000 at middle market firms to $125,000-$150,000 at the top-paying boutique. Where a bank's bonus cycle creates a partial "stub" year, that payout replaces the first full-year bonus in year-1 totals rather than stacking on top of it.

Analyst and associate ranges were re-baselined in July 2026 against 2025-26 bonus-cycle data: publicly reported bonus submissions, H1B salary filings, Levels.fyi, and Glassdoor, cross-checked per bank. Every bank page lists its sources and a last-verified date; figures for firms with limited public disclosures are directional estimates. Vice president and above are not verified per bank, and are shown as street-level bands drawn from a specialist finance recruiter's US placement data.