CFA Salary in India 2027: Level 1, Fresher, Per Month | BootcampGuide
By Deepak Sharma, Marketing Manager at BootcampGuide and Content Lead at TestMu AI.
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Topics: CFA, Salary, Finance and Accounting, India, Original Research
By Deepak Sharma, BootcampGuide. Every salary figure below was read from the source's own page or report on 13 November 2026, with the sample size and update date it shows. We quote each source separately and do not blend them, because they measure different things: PayScale reports medians of base pay, Indeed and CFA Institute report averages, and Levels.fyi reports total pay including bonus. Take-home pay is our own arithmetic under the new tax regime for FY 2026-27, with the assumptions shown. See sources.
The median salary of a CFA holder in India is about ₹10.2 lakh a year in base pay, according to PayScale (₹10,19,590 from 394 profiles, updated 31 March 2026), or ₹11.5 lakh including bonus. That is about ₹75,000 a month in hand. Freshers with the CFA on their CV start lower, at a median of ₹6.1 lakh in their first year. Pay then climbs steeply with experience: ₹18.3 lakh at 5 to 9 years and ₹30.3 lakh at 10 to 19 years.
CFA Institute's own 2026 India study, run by Kantar with 2,770 respondents, gives higher figures because it reports averages and covers people further into their careers. Recently awarded charterholders average ₹32.4 lakh with 6.1 years of experience, and all charterholders average ₹66.6 lakh with 9.8 years. Level I candidates in work average ₹14.6 lakh.
Key takeaway: the CFA does not set a starting salary the way a campus placement does. Your first job, employer and years of experience decide most of your pay. The charter raises your ceiling in investment roles, where charterholders with eight or more years of experience mostly earn above ₹40 lakh.
CFA salary in India at a glance
| Stage or measure | Salary per year | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CFA on CV, under 1 year of experience | ₹6,14,451 median base | PayScale, 52 profiles |
| CFA on CV, 1 to 4 years | ₹8,04,640 median base | PayScale, 171 profiles |
| CFA on CV, all levels | ₹10,19,590 median base, ₹11,46,287 with bonus | PayScale, 394 profiles |
| Level I candidate in employment | ₹14.6 lakh average | CFA Institute and Kantar, 2026 |
| Passed Level III, not yet chartered | ₹19.4 lakh average | CFA Institute and Kantar, 2026 |
| Charterholder, awarded 2024 or 2025 | ₹32.4 lakh average (6.1 years' experience) | CFA Institute and Kantar, 148 respondents |
| All charterholders | ₹66.6 lakh average (9.8 years' experience) | CFA Institute and Kantar, 348 respondents |
Why CFA salary figures online range from ₹6 lakh to ₹66 lakh
Most CFA salary pages quote one number without saying what it measures. Three differences explain nearly all of the spread:
- Median vs average. PayScale reports the median, the person in the middle. CFA Institute's study reports the average, which a few high earners pull up. In salary data the average is usually well above the median.
- Who is counted. PayScale's CFA page includes anyone who lists the CFA, candidates and charterholders alike, many early in their careers. CFA Institute's charterholder figures cover people who have passed all three levels and completed the 4,000 hours of work the charter requires, so they average 6 to 10 years of experience.
- Base vs total pay. Banks and global firms pay a large share as bonus. Levels.fyi counts it, PayScale's headline figure does not.
One common error: several CFA coaching sites quote "₹28.6 lakh" as the average charterholder salary. That is CFA Institute's 2022 figure for recently awarded charterholders. The 2026 study puts it at ₹32.4 lakh.
CFA Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 salary in India
The only India data that separates candidates by CFA level is CFA Institute's 2026 study. It asked 1,300 working respondents for their current pay and compared it with its 2022 survey:
| Stage | Average pay, 2026 | Average pay, 2022 | Average experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level I candidate | ₹14.6 lakh | ₹10.1 lakh | 3.7 years |
| Level II candidate | ₹15.5 lakh | ₹13.5 lakh | 3.8 years |
| Level III candidate | ₹17.1 lakh | ₹17.5 lakh | 4.1 years |
| Passed Level III, no charter yet | ₹19.4 lakh | ₹20.7 lakh | 4.6 years |
| Charterholder, recently awarded | ₹32.4 lakh | ₹28.6 lakh | 6.1 years |
| All charterholders | ₹66.6 lakh | ₹44.4 lakh | 9.8 years |
Read this table with two cautions. First, experience rises alongside the level, so the table cannot show how much of the rise comes from the CFA itself; the study says so too, noting that "compensation continues to grow significantly with increasing work experience". Second, the study was commissioned by CFA Institute, which sells the programme, and the figures are self-reported averages.
CFA Level 1 salary for freshers is a different question, because most people taking Level I are students or in their first job. There is no reliable India data on a "Level 1 premium". In practice, passing Level I helps you get shortlisted for analyst roles, and your pay is set by the role: see the fresher figures below.
CFA salary in India for freshers
PayScale's CFA page puts the median base for people with under a year of experience at ₹6,14,451 (52 profiles), with the 10th to 90th percentile running from ₹2.9 lakh to ₹19.4 lakh. That wide range reflects where freshers land. The typical first jobs, and their median base pay on PayScale's India job pages, are:
| First role | Median base, under 1 year | Median base, all levels | Profiles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research analyst | ₹3,50,101 | ₹5,52,954 | 254 |
| Financial analyst | ₹3,88,390 | ₹5,69,567 | 918 |
| Credit analyst | ₹4,13,591 | ₹8,64,173 | 98 |
| Investment banking analyst | ₹5,83,264 | ₹8,50,000 | 28 |
| Investment analyst | ₹7,12,155 | ₹7,16,380 | 52 |
| Quantitative analyst | ₹11,40,000 | ₹13,50,000 | 20 |
Many CFA freshers start in research and analytics teams at global banks' India centres, at rating agencies, in brokerage equity research or in Big Four valuation teams. CFA Institute's India article names State Street, Goldman Sachs and BlackRock among the global capability centres that have built large teams here, and says these centres "have been a key driver of demand for CFA charterholders".
CFA salary by experience
| Experience | Median base | 10th to 90th percentile | Profiles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year | ₹6,14,451 | ₹2.9 lakh to ₹19.4 lakh | 52 |
| 1 to 4 years | ₹8,04,640 | ₹3.1 lakh to ₹18.3 lakh | 171 |
| 5 to 9 years | ₹18,28,160 | ₹7.8 lakh to ₹42.9 lakh | 66 |
| 10 to 19 years | ₹30,28,666 | ₹8.0 lakh to ₹50.6 lakh | 60 |
| 20 years or more | ₹39,49,367 | ₹3.6 lakh to ₹90.0 lakh | 12 (small sample) |
Source: PayScale, CFA certification page for India, updated 31 March 2026.
The jump between the first five years and the next five is the steepest part of the curve: median pay more than doubles. That is also roughly when people complete the charter, since it needs 4,000 hours of relevant work over at least 36 months. CFA Institute's study adds that "over 70% of CFA charterholders with 8+ years of experience earn over INR 40 lakhs annually".
CFA salary per month: what you take home
Salary pages usually divide the annual figure by 12. What reaches your bank account is lower, after provident fund, income tax and professional tax. Here is the monthly in-hand pay for common CFA salary levels:
| CTC per year | CTC divided by 12 | Income tax and cess per year | In hand per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹6 lakh | ₹50,000 | ₹0 | ₹43,792 |
| ₹8 lakh | ₹66,667 | ₹0 | ₹58,458 |
| ₹10 lakh | ₹83,333 | ₹0 | ₹73,125 |
| ₹15 lakh | ₹1,25,000 | ₹83,460 | ₹1,02,837 |
| ₹20 lakh | ₹1,66,667 | ₹1,67,440 | ₹1,32,505 |
| ₹25 lakh | ₹2,08,333 | ₹2,79,500 | ₹1,59,833 |
| ₹40 lakh | ₹3,33,333 | ₹7,12,920 | ₹2,33,715 |
Our arithmetic. Assumes basic pay is 50% of CTC, employer and employee provident fund are each 12% of basic, professional tax of ₹2,500 a year, and the new tax regime: slabs from ₹4 lakh, ₹75,000 standard deduction, no tax up to ₹12 lakh of taxable income, and 4% cess. Budget 2026 left these slabs unchanged for FY 2026-27. A capped PF raises in-hand pay; a variable bonus paid once a year lowers the monthly figure.
CFA salary by job role
The CFA leads to several careers that pay very differently. These are the median base on PayScale and the average on Indeed for each role in India, for people with and without the CFA:
| Role | PayScale median base | Indeed average |
|---|---|---|
| Financial analyst | ₹5,69,567 (918) | ₹5,84,149 (115) |
| Research analyst | ₹5,52,954 (254) | ₹4,60,610 (72) |
| Investment analyst | ₹7,16,380 (52) | ₹14,05,323 (31) |
| Investment banking analyst | ₹8,50,000 (28) | ₹15,60,866 (17) |
| Credit analyst | ₹8,64,173 (98) | ₹8,26,072 (9) |
| Portfolio manager | ₹12,89,775 (56) | Too few reports |
| Quantitative analyst | ₹13,50,000 (20) | ₹15,20,244 (11) |
| Risk manager | ₹14,40,280 (60) | ₹10,88,426 (31) |
Number of profiles or reported salaries in brackets. Indeed's averages include job postings, which is why some run well above PayScale's medians.
CFA salary at investment banks and global firms
Pay at global banks' India offices is far above these medians once bonus is counted. On Levels.fyi, which records total pay including bonus and stock, the median financial analyst in India earns ₹14,46,712 (198 reports). At individual firms the medians shown on 13 November 2026 were ₹38.9 lakh at Goldman Sachs, ₹30.7 lakh at Morgan Stanley, ₹25.5 lakh at BlackRock and ₹21.3 lakh at JPMorgan Chase for financial analysts, and ₹58.1 lakh at Goldman Sachs for investment bankers. Levels.fyi skews towards front-office and technology roles at large firms, so treat these as the top of the market, not the typical CFA salary.
CFA salary by city
| City | Median base, CFA holders | Profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Bengaluru | ₹16 lakh | 41 |
| Hyderabad | ₹13 lakh | 18 |
| Mumbai | ₹11.08 lakh | 153 |
| New Delhi | ₹10.11 lakh | small sample |
| Gurgaon | ₹10 lakh | small sample |
| Pune | ₹8.06 lakh | small sample |
| Kolkata | ₹7 lakh | small sample |
Mumbai has by far the most CFA jobs, and at the top end it pays the most: CFA Institute's study found "nearly 40%" of charterholders in Mumbai earn ₹50 lakh or more, against 28% in Bengaluru and Delhi NCR. Bengaluru's higher median reflects its global capability centres, which hire analysts in larger numbers at steadier mid-level pay.
Highest CFA salary in India
PayScale's 90th percentile for CFA holders is ₹36 lakh in base pay and ₹45 lakh with bonus, and its small sample of people with 20 or more years reaches ₹90 lakh at the 90th percentile. Fund managers, chief investment officers and senior bankers earn well into crores through bonus and carried interest, but no public data source measures those roles reliably in India, so be wary of any page that puts a number on "highest CFA salary".
CFA salary vs CA, CMA and ACCA
| Qualification | Typical pay figure | Fees to the awarding body | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| CFA | ₹10.2 lakh median base (PayScale); ₹32.4 lakh average for recent charterholders | ₹3.96 lakh to ₹5.14 lakh | Investment research, asset management, banking |
| CA | ₹13.3 lakh average at ICAI's April-May 2026 campus placement | ₹84,500 | Audit, tax, corporate finance, controllership |
| CMA India | ₹12 lakh average at ICMAI campus placements, 2022-24 | ₹64,100 | Cost accounting, management accounting, cost audit |
| ACCA | Varies widely with exemptions and employer | ₹2.7 lakh to ₹3.5 lakh | Global accounting, multinationals |
These figures are not directly comparable: CA and CMA campus averages describe newly qualified people who were placed, while the CFA figures cover people at every stage. For a fuller picture of CA pay, see our CA salary in India guide. Many investment professionals combine the two: a CA with a CFA is a common profile in equity research and corporate finance.
Is CFA worth it for salary?
The full CFA costs about ₹3.96 lakh to ₹5.14 lakh in CFA Institute fees with GST, plus ₹87,000 to ₹2.27 lakh if you buy coaching, as our CFA fees guide works out. Pass rates in 2026 ranged from 39% to 45% at Level I, 43% to 45% at Level II and 47% to 50% at Level III, so many candidates pay for at least one retake.
Against that, the payoff is real but slow. On PayScale's figures, median pay rises from about ₹8 lakh in the first five years to ₹18 lakh at five to nine years. If the CFA helps you into an investment role rather than a general finance one, the difference in a single year's pay can exceed the whole cost of the programme. If you plan to stay in accounting, tax or audit, a CA or CMA is the cheaper and more direct route.
- Worth it if you want equity research, portfolio management, credit or investment banking, and you are prepared for three to four years of exams alongside work.
- Less worth it if you expect the charter alone to lift a fresher's salary. Employers pay for the role, and the CFA mainly helps you get into it.
If you decide to go ahead, compare coaching in our guide to the best CFA coaching in India, or browse CFA courses by city and mode.
CFA salary abroad
CFA Institute's study found that 66% of respondents plan to move abroad within a year of earning the charter, with Europe, Singapore and the United States as the preferred destinations. The charter is recognised in all of them, which is the main advantage it has over India-only qualifications. Pay abroad depends on the local market and visa route rather than on the CFA, so compare offers on the destination country's own salary data.
Sources and how we checked
- PayScale, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) salary in India, updated 31 March 2026, 394 profiles.
- CFA Institute and Kantar, CFA Program Impact Study on Compensation and Career (India), 2026, 2,770 respondents.
- CFA Institute, GCCs and GDP fuel India's investment growth, 2026.
- CFA Institute, CFA Program exam results and charterholder requirements.
- PayScale India job pages: financial analyst, research analyst, investment analyst, investment banking analyst, credit analyst, portfolio manager, quantitative analyst, risk manager.
- Indeed India: financial analyst, investment analyst, investment banking analyst, risk manager.
- Levels.fyi: financial analyst, India and investment banker, India, as shown on 13 November 2026.
- Moneylife, Budget 2026-27: no change in income-tax slabs; slabs from the Income Tax Department.
- Not used: AmbitionBox, Glassdoor and Naukri block automated reading, so we did not quote them, including through other websites.