Although business schools are devoting more and more resources to it in recent years, real estate remains a secondary destination for MBA graduates from top business schools in the United States. According to data from American Newswhile 24 of 25 schools reported some 2,021 graduates entering the industry, only three schools had double-digit real estate MBAs, and five had only one real estate-related graduate in their entire class.

Salaries are another matter. Real estate is a lucrative field, as almost anyone can tell you, whether they have experience or not. Since American News we know that at the 13 schools that reported salary data for their 2021 Real Estate MBAs, the base salary range is just over $68,000 to $250,000 – in other words, online along with almost every other industry where an MBA can find work. And the numbers are rising: Two years ago, when we last looked at Real Estate MBA data, the salary range for graduates of major MBA programs was $58,000 to $180,000.

Harvard Business School led all schools with the highest average real estate MBA salary in 2021: $160,000. The lowest average salary was at NYU Stern School of Business: $92,482. Harvard also had the highest “low” salary, $130,000, and five other B schools reported lows above $100,000. And it’s Harvard again at the top of the list of highest “highs”: $250,000, followed by Columbia Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business at $190,000 and $180,000, respectively.

US NEWS REAL ESTATE RANKINGS AND TOP CENTERS IN MAJOR B-SCHOOLS

Real estate is an always lucrative avenue of MBA interest. Who Gets an MBA in Real Estate? Primarily real estate and community developers, although anyone interested in real estate finance, real estate law, real estate investing, asset and property management, sustainability, and a host of related multidisciplinary pursuits can find an MBA a

So many B-school students and applicants find real estate appealing – an area worth at least learning about – than a few years ago American News added Real Estate to its specialization ranking. Topping this year’s list for best real estate school is the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, which earned nine MBAs that reported salaries in real estate, averaging $127,778. An MBA from Wharton reported a salary of $175,000. See the chart below for the rest of the top 5 numbers.

Regardless of the volume of MBA graduates, real estate centers proliferate at American News‘ top-ranked real estate schools and elsewhere. No. 1 Wharton is home to the Samuel Zell & Robert Lurie Estate Center. No. 3 Berkeley Haas School of Business is home to the Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics. No. 4 Columbia is home to the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate and No. 5 Wisconsin School of Business is where you will find the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate. UCLA Anderson School of Management, ranked No. 7, contains the Ziman Center for Real Estate, and as of early 2020, No. 12 Michigan Ross School of Business houses the Weiser Center for Real Estate.

This goes beyond research centers. UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, ranked No. 10, not only has the Leonard Wood Center for Real Estate, but also the Kenan-Flagler Foundation Real Estate Fund, a student-led fund that has raised millions through dozens of donations. investments since 2007. And Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management offers the Baker Program in Real Estate, in which MBA students can choose from electives in real estate or combine their degree with a Master of Professional Studies in Real Estate.

See the full list of major business school real estate centers here.

HIGHS AND LOWS — COMPARISON WITH TOP INDUSTRIES

How do real estate salaries compare to salaries in the top three MBA fields of consulting, finance, and technology? They are inferior in general, of course, but not weak. To Poets&Quants‘ five top schools – Stanford, Wharton, Chicago Booth School of Business, Northwestern Kellogg School of Management and Harvard – the average salary in 2021 for consulting was $159,622, for finance $162,147 and for technology $144 $480. The average real estate salary, meanwhile, at the top 10 six schools that reported data is $135,752 and at the top 25 schools with data, $122,381.

We can also look at the ups and downs, and find the real estate that holds up. The low average of the top five counseling schools is $73,599; in finance $81,000; and in technology $78,808. Real estate tops them all: among the top 10 schools, the lowest real estate salaries average $101,667 and among the top 25, $95,159.

And what about high salaries? No industry will argue with some of the astronomical numbers we regularly see coming out of top B-schools, but real estate certainly brings in salaries no one can scoff at:

• Top 5 Highest Average Tips: $190,200
• Top 5 highest average funding: $280,000
• Average of the top 5 technologies: $225,600
• Top 10 High Medium Real Estate: $178,333 (6 schools)
• Top 25 High Average Real Estate: $155,808 (13 schools)

See the next page for real estate MBA starting salaries at the top 25 US business schools.