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COGNITIVE SERVICES

Management Consulting

Leader: McKinsey — 7.5% S1 · 13.9% CR3

S1
7.5%
leader
CR3
13.9%
top 3 combined
HHI
78
Unconcentrated
MARKET SIZE
$125B
US

How this is calculated

FORMULA
S1 = McKinsey revenue / total revenue = 7.5%
CR3 = McKinsey + BCG + Bain = 13.9%
HHI = Σ(share²) = 78 (Unconcentrated (HHI < 1,500))
DENOMINATOR
Revenue — $125B (US)
Total US management consulting market (strategy + operations + digital).
Size from: Source Global Research + Mordor Intelligence
TOP 3 PLAYERS
#1McKinsey7.5%
#2BCG4.0%
#3Bain2.4%
METHODOLOGY NOTE
McKinsey, BCG, and Bain are private partnerships with no audited disclosure but each publishes global revenue annually: McKinsey ~$16B, BCG ~$13.5B (FY24 release), Bain ~$7.0B. North America share ~45% per Source Global Research, giving US estimates: McKinsey ~$9.4B, BCG ~$6.1B, Bain ~$3.0B. Divided by $125B US management consulting denominator. Tracker-published numbers are inherently less precise than 10-K-grounded data but consistent across multiple independent sources.
SOURCES
Year: 2025
Geo: US
Firms: 30,000+

Historical S1 / CR3 trajectory

1990S1: 5%CR3: 12%Pre-Big 3 expansion
2000S1: 6%CR3: 14%Internet-era consulting boom
2010S1: 6.5%CR3: 15%Post-GFC rebuild
2020S1: 7%CR3: 16.5%Digital transformation wave
2025S1: 7.5%CR3: 13.9%MBB dominant, tail long

Labor economics

REV / EMPLOYEE (leader)
$0.5M
industry avg $0.3M
SG&A % (leader)
45%
of revenue

McKinsey (private partnership) — SG&A unverified; 45% is directional estimate

See full Labor & AI analysis →

Related markets

Legal Services
Kirkland & Ellis
2.2%
CR3 5.1%
Accounting / Audit
Deloitte
7.9%
CR3 18.7%
Insurance Brokerage
Marsh McLennan
22.0%
CR3 48.0%
Architecture & Engineering
Jacobs
2.5%
CR3 6.6%
Staffing / Recruiting
Allegis Group
5.0%
CR3 10.9%

Source Quality Hierarchy

Every market has a primary source plus 1–3 validation sources. Revenue numerators come from SEC 10-K filings; denominators validated against the Economic Census where available.

TIER 1Authoritative anchorsGovernment data + SEC filings
US Economic Census (data.census.gov) · SEC EDGAR / Company 10-Ks · BEA Industry Value-Added (FRED) · BLS QCEW · USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries · EIA Refinery Capacity Report · FDA device listings
TIER 2Leading commercial trackersIndustry-standard paid trackers
IDC Semiannual Software Tracker · Gartner Market Share & Magic Quadrant · IBISWorld NAICS reports · StatCounter Global Stats · eMarketer / Insider Intelligence · Synergy Research Group
TIER 3Category specialistsBest-in-class niche authorities
SIPRI (aerospace & defense) · IQVIA (pharma) · TrendForce (semiconductors) · CIMdata (CAD/PLM) · Nilson Report (payments) · Am Law 100 (legal) · ENR Top 500 (A&E) · AM Best (insurance) · SIA (staffing) · Ad Age (agencies) · Barron's / Cerulli (wealth) · Evaluate MedTech · Nielsen Gauge (streaming) · Gridwise (ride-hail) · Bloomberg Second Measure (delivery) · RC Top 100 (roofing) · SDM Top 100 (fire/safety) · Big 4 annual reports · ALM Intelligence (consulting)

Data vintage: Q2 2025 research compilation. Labels updated 2026-Q2. Tier 1 sources refreshed from FY2025 SEC filings where available. For full methodology see the Methodology page.