Side-by-side distribution
Embedded Engineer
$182,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 48.6%
- Live roles
- 473
Principal Engineer
$215,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44.1%
- Live roles
- 1,819
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Engineer, Embedded Vehicle Software
Principal Embedded Software Engineer
Staff Embedded Security Engineer
Embedded SW Engineer
Firmware/ Embedded Systems Engineer
Senior Embedded Linux Engineer - Connectivity
Embedded Software Engineer - Access Control
Embedded Systems Engineer, Autonomous Vehicles - Federal
Senior Embedded Systems Engineer
Embedded Security Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Engineer - Supply Chain Planning
Principal Software Engineer
Principal Sales Systems Engineer
Staff / Principal Data Engineer
Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Ads Delivery
Principal Research Engineer, Model Training & Post-Training
Principal Engineer, Agentic AI Systems
Principal Security Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Principal Software Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Staff / Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Serving - USA
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$201,250 | 22 |
SpaceX
|
$145,000 | 13 |
Silvus Technologies
|
$170,000 | 9 |
|
Verkada
|
$232,500 | 8 |
Applied Intuition
|
$196,000 | 7 |
TP-Link Systems Inc.
|
$152,500 | 6 |
Latitude AI
|
$200,000 | 5 |
| AX Axon | $183,300 | 5 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Elastic
|
$128,337 | 45 |
Roblox
|
$320,145 | 38 |
| AL Astera Labs | $210,750 | 36 |
Referral Board
|
$129,783 | 20 |
| CI Clarity Innovations | $215,000 | 16 |
Zscaler
|
$213,563 | 14 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$256,000 | 13 |
Rocket Lab Corporation
|
$281,000 | 12 |
Embedded Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $193,050 | 11 |
| San Francisco | $188,750 | 20 |
| Los Angeles | $181,500 | 16 |
| New York | $178,800 | 5 |
| Boston | $178,750 | 4 |
| Austin | $173,950 | 5 |
| Denver | $157,500 | 4 |
Principal Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $276,000 | 74 |
| New York | $263,250 | 50 |
| Austin | $245,250 | 12 |
| Boston | $237,500 | 43 |
| Seattle | $231,500 | 35 |
| Chicago | $230,000 | 7 |
| Los Angeles | $225,000 | 28 |
| Atlanta | $219,375 | 9 |
| Denver | $212,500 | 22 |
| London | $180,807 | 10 |
Embedded Engineer vs Principal Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Embedded Engineer is $182,500 per year (typically $152,500–$205,000), versus $215,000 for Principal Engineer ($180,625–$275,000). 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 Embedded Engineer 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.