Side-by-side distribution
Embedded Engineer
$185,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 52.9%
- Live roles
- 450
Principal Engineer
$223,250
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 46.2%
- Live roles
- 1,771
Highest-paying jobs
Helix AI Engineer, Embedded Android Systems
Principal Embedded Security Engineer
Sr. Software Engineer, Embedded Agentic AI
Staff Embedded Firmware Engineer
Principal Embedded Software Engineer
Embedded Software Test Engineer, Onboard Test Automation
Embedded SW Engineer
Staff Embedded Linux Engineer
Embedded Systems Engineer-Federal
Senior Embedded Systems Engineer
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 |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$199,500 | 25 |
Silvus Technologies
|
$170,000 | 10 |
SpaceX
|
$142,500 | 9 |
| AX Axon | $183,300 | 7 |
Verkada
|
$245,000 | 6 |
Applied Intuition
|
$202,000 | 6 |
TP-Link Systems Inc.
|
$140,000 | 6 |
STR
|
$130,500 | 6 |
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 |
Zscaler
|
$219,375 | 15 |
Snowflake
|
$321,750 | 12 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$256,000 | 12 |
Embedded Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | $195,500 | 4 |
| Seattle | $193,000 | 13 |
| San Francisco | $187,500 | 18 |
| Austin | $186,975 | 6 |
| Boston | $183,300 | 11 |
| Los Angeles | $180,000 | 15 |
| Denver | $177,500 | 3 |
| New York | $167,500 | 6 |
Principal Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $278,000 | 70 |
| New York | $260,000 | 60 |
| Boston | $250,000 | 45 |
| Seattle | $232,175 | 34 |
| Austin | $232,000 | 10 |
| Chicago | $228,075 | 16 |
| Los Angeles | $225,000 | 31 |
| Toronto | $205,850 | 18 |
| London | $199,724 | 16 |
| Denver | $190,000 | 17 |
Embedded Engineer vs Principal Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Embedded Engineer is $185,000 per year (typically $155,000–$208,938), versus $223,250 for Principal Engineer ($187,500–$275,639). That puts Principal Engineer about 21% 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.