Median salary
$161,600
per year · annualized USD
Typical range
$129.5k – $219.8k
25th–75th percentile
Disclosing pay
77.2%
2,144 of 2,779 roles
Live roles
2,779
open right now
Salary trend
median · annualized USDSalary distribution
annualized USD · disclosed rolesHighest-paying jobs
Staff / Principal Data Engineer
Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Ads Delivery
Principal Engineer, Agentic AI Systems
Principal Research Engineer, Model Training & Post-Training
Distinguished Engineer - Servicing Tech
Principal Sales Systems Engineer
Principal Software Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Principal Security Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Northrop Grumman
|
$129,500 | 1,004 |
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
|
$260,500 | 48 |
Roblox
|
$320,145 | 46 |
| AL Astera Labs | $209,000 | 38 |
Blue Origin
|
$228,550 | 35 |
| ME Medtronic | $168,000 | 27 |
Cadence Design Systems
|
$220,000 | 24 |
Elastic
|
$206,300 | 18 |
See every Principal Engineer role
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How much do Principal Engineer roles in United States pay?
The median salary for Principal Engineer roles in United States is $161,600 per year. Most pay falls between $129,500 (25th percentile) and $219,831 (75th percentile), with the broader 10th–90th percentile band running from $111,800 to $281,800.
These figures are computed live from 2,779 active Principal Engineer roles in United States on JobsRadar, of which 2,144 (77.2%) publish a salary range. Pay is normalized to annualized USD so roles can be compared on equal terms; the highest-paying roles listed above show their original posted currency. Numbers refresh every few hours as new roles are posted and older ones close.
Employers currently hiring well-paid Principal Engineer roles in United States include AppGate Cybersecurity, Inc., Pinterest, Inflection AI and Rocket Companies.
Salary transparency varies by employer and region, so the disclosing share above reflects only roles that publish pay — not every open position. Use it as a directional benchmark rather than an exact offer.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the average Principal Engineer salary in United States?
- The median is $161,600 per year, with most pay between $129,500 and $219,831 (25th–75th percentile), based on 2,144 live listings that disclose pay on JobsRadar.
- What is the Principal Engineer salary range in United States?
- Pay ranges from about $111,800 to $281,800 per year (10th–90th percentile) around a median of $161,600. Figures are annualized USD from live listings, refreshed every few hours.