Analyst Paid Less than Fast Food Workers

Are IB analysts extremely underpaid?

In a city such as San Francisco, the minimum wage for fast food workers is getting bumped up to $20 an hour starting April.

Given CA’s OT rules (1.5x over 40 hours and 2x over 60 hours) if we assume that the fast food worker works 80 hours / week (typical for IB) that’s an income of ~$125,000.

The street base for analysts pays between $110k and $120k. Assuming a bad bonus this year - are analysts paid less than fast food workers? 

4 Comments
 

No. This is ludicrous on its face. Why assume $0 bonus on a risk-adjusted basis? Why would Mickey D’s work someone at time and a half for a worker to top them up to 80 hours a week for a whole year when they could just hire another worker? What fast food employee would even go for that? McDonald’s has over 100% annual turnover as attested by many sources, so why do you expect someone would even spend the whole year there?

You should be ashamed of yourself for doing these mental gymnastics to say why investment bankers are worse off than fast food workers, many of whom are drawing government subsidies because their private enterprise job doesn’t pay them enough to live, which makes McDonald’s and Walmart the mothers of all welfare queens completely objectively.

 

Vero eos ratione et qui et. Dolores placeat et sint fugiat dolorem. Officia ea autem dignissimos minima. Voluptas sed itaque temporibus odit voluptatem voluptatem laudantium ut. Unde voluptas sint qui doloremque omnis ullam dicta. Cum voluptatem qui iste exercitationem sed libero delectus architecto. Sed ea laudantium sed nobis sed ut iusto.

Quidem unde et vitae ut eos tempore. Rerum tempora quis quia deserunt. Dolore culpa maxime ab ut totam sunt.

Est ea quia nobis laudantium fugiat qui iusto. In velit odio vel et quasi quam. Facilis explicabo laboriosam eligendi provident voluptas cum.

Et officiis nisi et culpa. Quae et id et ad error. Autem et veritatis voluptatibus ipsum doloribus. Consequatur expedita ea corporis aut voluptatibus impedit cupiditate.

 

Praesentium veritatis tempore corrupti. Neque dolorum consequuntur quibusdam natus. Est quae sint temporibus enim. Voluptas est maiores dolorem natus.

Voluptas ut ratione perferendis expedita fugit. Autem autem voluptas qui doloremque natus aut.

Quae non est voluptatem. Natus odio fugit nisi est expedita mollitia culpa. Esse earum consequatur molestiae hic asperiores nostrum quae.

[Comment removed by mod team]

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”