Raphael Bohne
Research expert covering professional services
Consulting industry in the United States - statistics & facts
The consulting industry provides professional advice to organizations in a variety of specialized fields and has grown exponentially over the last decade. The management consulting market size in the United States, for instance, grew by roughly 100 billion U.S. dollars between 2013 and 2023. Furthermore, the number of management consultants in the United States has also grown significantly since 2012, and reached a workforce of almost 840,000 in 2023. These figures demonstrate an industry that has shown no signs of slowing down despite difficult global economic circumstances.
Home of the big players
The United States has been home to the largest consulting services market worldwide. It is unsurprising, therefore, that the United States is home to the most prestigious and successful consulting companies worldwide. According to those working within the industry, the leading consulting firms in the United States in 2024 by prestige rating were McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company. Other consulting firms in the ranking included the so-called Big Four accountancy and auditing firms - Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young (EY), and KPMG, with Deloitte ranking the highest out of the four. Headquartered in New York, Deloitte is a professional services company with several service lines specializing in auditing, tax, consulting, enterprise risk, and financial advisory. In 2024, the revenue of Deloitte worldwide reached 67.2 billion U.S. dollars – with over a third of this coming from consulting services.A competitive market
The majority of the larger consulting and auditing firms operate on a global scale and have workforces the size of small cities, with offices located in dozens of countries worldwide. In 2022, for example, PwC had almost 120,000 employees in the Asia Pacific region alone. Despite this, other markets often bring in a smaller revenue than in the United States. Regardless of the market sizes, the consulting services industry is expected to grow steadily in the near future, with many companies already thinking about future business challenges that include the need for new skills, an apparent lack of top talent, and increased competition in the sector.
