PwC

Data sourced from Big 4 Transparency crowdsourced salary database. All figures are median base salaries unless noted. Market benchmarks include all submissions across the database for the same country and level/stream. Service line groupings: Assurance & Tax includes Audit and Tax streams; Advisory & Consulting includes Advisory, Consulting, and Risk.

Geographic wage normalization: All comparisons use an accounting-market wage index derived from the Big 4 Transparency database itself — not a general cost-of-living index. For each major US city, the index averages the salary premium across multiple seniority levels and both service line groups, relative to the national median. Results: New York ≈ 109, San Francisco ≈ 112, Chicago ≈ 101, Dallas ≈ 99.

† Compensation by Level: Jan 2024–present submissions only, normalized to 2026 equivalents (2024 salaries ×1.087, 2025 ×1.032) using market-derived growth rates.