Is Charles River Associates a good company to work for?

Charles River Associates has an overall rating of 4.0 out of 5, based on over 670 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has increased by 10% over the last 12 months. 74% of employees would recommend working at Charles River Associates to a friend and 70% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about Charles River Associates have been left by employees working as Analyst Intern , Senior Associate and Associate Principal .

Does Charles River Associates pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Charles River Associates employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.5 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Charles River Associates. This rating has improved by 6% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Charles River Associates?

74% of Charles River Associates employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Charles River Associates 3.3 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.8 for culture and values and 3.6 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Charles River Associates?

Associate (140) , Analyst (93) , Consulting Associate (65) , Senior Associate (39) , Associate Principal (25) , Principal (18) , Analyst Intern (12) , Consultant (12) , Intern (12) , Executive Assistant (4) , Manager (4) , Vice President (4) , Forensic Analyst (3) , Life Sciences Analyst (3) , (2)

What are the pros of working at Charles River Associates according to real employee reviews?

"Great people and exposure to high profile experts and cases." ((in 93 reviews)); "intellectually compelling and smart colleagues" ((in 69 reviews)); "They have really great benefits" ((in 32 reviews)); "good work life balance" ((in 24 reviews)); "Good pay and annual bonus" ((in 19 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Charles River Associates according to real employee reviews?

"Long hours occasionally but this is consulting" ((in 29 reviews)); "(1) Lack of formal training, (2) Rigid work hours (9 to 6, not counting overtime), (3) Unprofessional management (significant decisions made based on personal conflicts, grudges, etc.), (4) Low salary for high cost" ((in 17 reviews)); "The major con at CRA is the unpredictable and long hours." ((in 15 reviews)); "Nothing much unless you end up with a bad manager." ((in 13 reviews)); "The senior management is incompetent and at times dishonest towards staff" ((in 8 reviews))

What are employees saying about Charles River Associates layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Charles River Associates layoffs and their outlook for job security at Charles River Associates in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Charles River Associates locations?

Boston , New York , Chicago , Washington , Oakland , San Francisco , Tallahassee , Los Angeles , Summit , College Station , Dallas , Marlborough , Princeton , Salt Lake City , Oklahoma City , Houston , Pasadena , Philadelphia , Beverly , Northborough , Venetian Village

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Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates reviews

4.0

74% would recommend to a friend

(603 total reviews)

Paul Maleh

71% approve of CEO

70% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.8

Culture & values

3.8

Diversity & inclusion

3.6

Career opportunities

3.5

Compensation and benefits

3.3

Work/Life balance

3.2

Senior management

Charles River Associates has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 603 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Charles River Associates employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Management & Consulting industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

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Reviews by job title

603 reviews

5.0

Apr 22, 2011

Personable people, dedicated to your professional growth!

Summer internship - finance economics

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

-Good work/life balance -Great office dynamics between employees and upper staff -Colleagues and bosses care about you succeeding in your work

Cons

As a 3-month intern, I can't give much insight on the downsides of the company itself, however it seems that because CRA is a reatively smaller player in consulting there is less project diversity.

3.0

Apr 3, 2011

Good learning experience, yet difficult to get promoted.

Associate

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Very smart Co-Workers that help you to learn a lot about programming, quantitative and qualitative research. good place to go to grad school after.

Cons

less than industry average pay, no distinction between hard working and less hard working employees with respect to promotions and pay raises

2.0

Mar 7, 2011

Probably fine if you are American and based in the USA; pretty awful if not

Principal

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

HIgh quality work - they only employ very smart people meaning that while the organisation sucked for employees, it did great work for clients so I was proud of that. Some great people - as above. Interesting projects - as above.

Cons

Admin was terrible. Head office (Boston) never told anyone what was going on. We were all "let go" two weeks after being told we were meeting all our targets and that we were "not at all at risk". They just straight out lie about some stuff. Pay and benefits were ok, but not given the stress involved in the job. The goalposts were moved all the time. The severance offered was zero - local legal minimums only which is peanuts here. Promotions were promised by local staff but then Boston vetoed them - making morale a real problem. That goodness that part of my life is over!

Viewing 592 - 594 of 603 Reviews

Jobs at Charles River Associates

Administrative Coordinator (Labor & Employment practice)

Executive Assistant (Antitrust & Competition Economics)

Full Stack Agentic Developer

Consulting Associate/Full Stack Developer (Forensic Services practice)

Full Stack Agentic Developer

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Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates reviews

Ratings by category

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Personable people, dedicated to your professional growth!

Good learning experience, yet difficult to get promoted.

Probably fine if you are American and based in the USA; pretty awful if not

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