Median salary
$227,500
per year · annualized USD
Typical range
$200k – $294.5k
25th–75th percentile
Disclosing pay
59.5%
472 of 793 roles
Live roles
793
open right now
Salary trend
median · annualized USDSalary distribution
annualized USD · disclosed rolesHighest-paying jobs
Senior / Principal Demo Engineer
Principal Sales Systems Engineer
Staff / Principal Data Engineer
Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Ads Delivery
Principal Engineer, Agentic AI Systems
Principal Research Engineer, Model Training & Post-Training
Staff / Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Serving - USA
Principal Software Engineer, Enterprise Technology Vertical
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Roblox
|
$320,145 | 41 |
| AL Astera Labs | $212,500 | 31 |
| AX Axon | $226,350 | 12 |
Anduril Industries
|
$256,000 | 11 |
CHAOS Industries
|
$207,500 | 10 |
Elastic
|
$206,300 | 10 |
Riot Games
|
$274,350 | 9 |
Zscaler
|
$213,563 | 9 |
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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 $227,500 per year. Most pay falls between $200,000 (25th percentile) and $294,500 (75th percentile), with the broader 10th–90th percentile band running from $172,700 to $334,580.
These figures are computed live from 793 active Principal Engineer roles in United States on JobsRadar, of which 472 (59.5%) 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 Intercom, Veeam Software, AppGate Cybersecurity, Inc. and Pinterest.
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 $227,500 per year, with most pay between $200,000 and $294,500 (25th–75th percentile), based on 472 live listings that disclose pay on JobsRadar.
- What is the Principal Engineer salary range in United States?
- Pay ranges from about $172,700 to $334,580 per year (10th–90th percentile) around a median of $227,500. Figures are annualized USD from live listings, refreshed every few hours.