Side-by-side distribution
Dentist
$260,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 54.8%
- Live roles
- 104
Principal Engineer
$223,544
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 45.9%
- Live roles
- 1,775
Highest-paying jobs
General Dentist
General Dentist
General Dentist
Dentist
General Dentist
Associate / Lead Dentist - $10k Sign-On Bonus
Associate / Lead Dentist
Associate / Lead Dentist - $10k Sign-On Bonus
Associate / Lead Dentist
Associate / Lead Dentist
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Software Engineer
Distinguished Engineer
Staff / Principal Data Engineer
Principal Engineer
Principal Engineer (Payments)
Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Ads Delivery
Principal Research Engineer, Model Training & Post-Training
Principal Engineer, Agentic AI Systems
Principal .NET Software Engineer- Cloud Payments Platform
Principal .NET Software Engineer - Cloud Payments Platform
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Elite Dental Partners
|
$270,000 | 21 |
Enable Dental
|
$273,000 | 12 |
|
Tend
|
$300,000 | 6 |
|
Dental365
|
$325,000 | 4 |
Greenlife Healthcare Staffing
|
$161,375 | 4 |
Dentalook
|
$100,000 | 4 |
United Dental Corporation
|
$234,000 | 2 |
Aizer Health
|
$228,800 | 1 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Roblox
|
$320,145 | 42 |
| AL Astera Labs | $207,500 | 21 |
Motional
|
$285,000 | 20 |
Elastic
|
$134,329 | 18 |
| SE Sezzle | $111,000 | 16 |
Anduril Industries
|
$256,000 | 13 |
Zscaler
|
$207,188 | 13 |
Snowflake
|
$321,750 | 12 |
Dentist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $325,000 | 5 |
Principal Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $282,500 | 70 |
| New York | $259,000 | 55 |
| Boston | $250,000 | 45 |
| Austin | $232,000 | 10 |
| Seattle | $231,500 | 33 |
| Chicago | $228,075 | 16 |
| Los Angeles | $225,000 | 31 |
| Toronto | $210,000 | 17 |
| London | $199,724 | 16 |
| Denver | $190,000 | 17 |
Dentist vs Principal Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Dentist is $260,000 per year (typically $182,350–$273,000), versus $223,544 for Principal Engineer ($187,500–$276,000). That puts Dentist about 16% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Dentist 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.