Side-by-side distribution
Mobile Engineer
$154,125
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 24.9%
- Live roles
- 1,089
Principal Engineer
$168,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 47.5%
- Live roles
- 6,465
Highest-paying jobs
Mobile / Full Stack Staff & Software Engineer, Consumer Monetization
Mobile Android Engineer
Mobile iOS Engineer
Senior Software Engineer, Rips (Mobile)
Mobile Engineer
Android Engineer, Plugin Developer Platform
Software Engineer, Mobile Web — Dots
Design Engineer, Mobile
Mobile Android Engineer
Mobile iOS Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Software Engineer
Staff / Principal Data Engineer
Principal Engineer, Agentic AI Systems
Principal Research Engineer, Model Training & Post-Training
Distinguished Engineer - Servicing Tech
Principal Sales Systems Engineer
Principal Security Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Principal Software Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Principal Engineer, Autonomy
Principal Field Application Engineer
Cushman & Wakefield
Compass
Air Apps
SpaceX
Coinbase
Esri
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Northrop Grumman
|
$129,500 | 1,024 |
Elastic
|
$123,105 | 60 |
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
|
$260,500 | 49 |
Roblox
|
$320,145 | 47 |
| AL Astera Labs | $209,000 | 41 |
Leidos
|
$184,325 | 39 |
Blue Origin
|
$219,831 | 38 |
Draper
|
$170,000 | 37 |
Mobile Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $211,250 | 28 |
| Seattle | $199,000 | 9 |
| New York | $191,500 | 32 |
| Los Angeles | $181,650 | 4 |
| Boston | $162,125 | 10 |
| Austin | $153,000 | 5 |
| Chicago | $151,538 | 4 |
| Paris | $143,151 | 3 |
| Atlanta | $138,075 | 3 |
| Toronto | $123,579 | 13 |
Principal Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $266,000 | 100 |
| Seattle | $244,000 | 97 |
| New York | $231,025 | 126 |
| Los Angeles | $230,750 | 50 |
| Atlanta | $228,000 | 23 |
| Boston | $222,000 | 75 |
| Denver | $203,549 | 44 |
| Chicago | $200,850 | 39 |
| Austin | $200,000 | 43 |
| Berlin | $159,275 | 3 |
Mobile Engineer vs Principal Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Mobile Engineer is $154,125 per year (typically $103,542–$199,125), versus $168,500 for Principal Engineer ($130,253–$216,066). That puts Principal Engineer about 9% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Mobile 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.