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Principal Engineer Salary

How much does a principal engineer make? Real compensation data updated December 2025.

$200,267
Average Min
$272,087
Average Max
$270,533
Median Salary
$514,500
Top Salary
Entry level: $212,662
Senior level: $320,000
Top earners: $364,550

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Related Principal Engineer Job Titles

Similar roles and their compensation ranges.

1

Principal AI/ML Engineer - AdTech

3 open positions

$300,000 - $400,000
salary range
2

Principal AI Engineer

3 open positions

$233,333 - $333,333
salary range
3

Principal Engineer, Managed Database Services

5 open positions

$207,936 - $311,904
salary range
4

Principal Engineer Motion Planning

2 open positions

$212,000 - $283,975
salary range
5

Principal Engineer, Team Lead- Motion Planning

2 open positions

$212,000 - $283,000
salary range
6

Principal Software Engineer

25 open positions

$193,848 - $265,114
salary range
7

Principal Security Engineer

3 open positions

$169,433 - $251,167
salary range
8

Principal C++ Embedded Software Engineer

2 open positions

$175,000 - $234,000
salary range
9

Senior Principal Software Engineer

2 open positions

$163,200 - $220,800
salary range
10

Principal Data Engineer

2 open positions

$151,270 - $198,875
salary range

Principal Engineer Salary by Experience Level

How principal engineer salaries vary based on seniority and experience.

Senior

$272,087
average max salary
Range: $200,267 - $272,087
Based on 192 jobs

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Top Paying Companies for Principal Engineers

Companies offering the highest principal engineer salaries based on their job listings.

1

Waymo

4 principal engineer jobs

$332,000 - $421,000
salary range
2

Pinterest

3 principal engineer jobs

$259,067 - $491,689
salary range
3

Zeta Global

3 principal engineer jobs

$300,000 - $400,000
salary range
4

Motion

2 principal engineer jobs

$285,000 - $375,000
salary range
5

Roblox

14 principal engineer jobs

$290,453 - $349,696
salary range
6

Databricks

2 principal engineer jobs

$268,250 - $350,413
salary range
7

Quizlet 2

4 principal engineer jobs

$236,960 - $322,325
salary range
8

DigitalOcean

10 principal engineer jobs

$222,029 - $303,528
salary range
9

CoreWeave

3 principal engineer jobs

$213,000 - $303,000
salary range
10

Elastic

6 principal engineer jobs

$199,700 - $315,900
salary range

Principal Engineer Salary by Region

Compare principal engineer compensation across different geographic regions.

North America

123 jobs

$208,098 - $283,025
salary range

Worldwide

68 jobs

$187,487 - $254,043
salary range

Principal Engineer Salary by Industry

How principal engineer salaries vary across different industries.

Engineering

161 jobs

$196,316 - $267,229
salary range

Data

23 jobs

$233,805 - $323,975
salary range

Sales

5 jobs

$192,661 - $218,039
salary range

Support

2 jobs

$161,800 - $230,606
salary range

Product

1 jobs

$180,000 - $214,000
salary range

Recent Principal Engineer Jobs with Salary

Latest principal engineer job postings with published compensation.

Principal Software Engineer (Remote)

8th Light • United States

$151,535 - $189,418

Principal Software Engineer – Tech Lead (.NET Core/Angular)

Unanet • Anywhere in the United States

$160,000 - $175,000

IT Software Engineer Principal

Pathward, N.A. • Remote

$104,000 - $174,000

Software Engineer Principal

Pathward, N.A. • Remote

$104,000 - $174,000

Staff / Principal Machine Learning Engineer - USA

Inworld Ai • Remote

$240,000 - $385,000

Principal Platform Site Reliability Engineer (SASE Central Cloud Platforms)

Palo Alto Networks • Santa Clara

$140,000 - $230,000
View all Principal Engineer jobs

Find Principal Engineer Jobs with Transparent Salaries

Browse principal engineer positions from companies that share compensation upfront.

Browse Principal Engineer Jobs View Salary Guide

Real Job Data

Salaries from actual principal engineer job postings.

Updated Regularly

Data refreshed as new jobs are posted.

USD Based

All figures in US Dollars, annual.