Side-by-side distribution
Data Scientist
$190,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 42.8%
- Live roles
- 1,661
Principal Engineer
$223,544
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 45.9%
- Live roles
- 1,775
Highest-paying jobs
Data Scientist
Senior Data Scientist (Credit)
Senior Data Scientist (Credit)
Senior Data Scientist (Credit)
Data Scientist, Identity
Data Scientist
Applied Scientist, Experimentation
Data Scientist, Supply
Data Scientist, Developer Productivity
Machine Learning Scientist
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Software Engineer
Distinguished Engineer
Staff / Principal Data Engineer
Principal Engineer (Payments)
Principal Engineer
Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Ads Delivery
Principal Research Engineer, Model Training & Post-Training
Principal Engineer, Agentic AI Systems
Staff / Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Serving - USA
Principal Engineer, AI Platform
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Launch Potato
|
$187,500 | 24 |
| GR GRVTY | $170,000 | 17 |
Lyft
|
$153,200 | 15 |
|
Pinterest
|
$213,757 | 13 |
Roblox
|
$293,245 | 11 |
Reddit
|
$260,450 | 10 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$157,675 | 10 |
|
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 9 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Roblox
|
$320,145 | 42 |
| AL Astera Labs | $207,500 | 21 |
Motional
|
$285,000 | 19 |
Elastic
|
$134,329 | 18 |
| SE Sezzle | $111,000 | 16 |
Zscaler
|
$210,375 | 14 |
Anduril Industries
|
$256,000 | 13 |
Snowflake
|
$321,750 | 12 |
Data Scientist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $212,500 | 161 |
| Seattle | $191,500 | 46 |
| New York | $190,000 | 139 |
| Los Angeles | $187,500 | 17 |
| Austin | $187,500 | 9 |
| Denver | $187,500 | 6 |
| Boston | $181,250 | 30 |
| London | $160,895 | 21 |
| Chicago | $153,300 | 21 |
| Toronto | $151,200 | 29 |
Principal Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $282,500 | 70 |
| New York | $259,000 | 57 |
| Boston | $250,000 | 45 |
| Austin | $232,000 | 10 |
| Seattle | $231,500 | 33 |
| Chicago | $228,075 | 16 |
| Los Angeles | $225,000 | 31 |
| Toronto | $210,000 | 16 |
| London | $199,724 | 16 |
| Denver | $190,000 | 17 |
Data Scientist vs Principal Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Data Scientist is $190,000 per year (typically $149,750–$230,000), versus $223,544 for Principal Engineer ($187,500–$276,000). That puts Principal Engineer about 18% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Data Scientist and Principal Engineer are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.