Principal Engineer Salary in United States during 2025

💰 The median Principal Engineer Salary in United States during 2025 is USD 183,650

✏️ This salary info is based on 34 individual salaries reported during 2025

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Salary details

The average Principal Engineer salary lies between USD 132,000 and USD 268,000 in the United States. It represents the overall compensation/gross salary amount for the working year (before deductions like social security, taxes and other contributions), not including equity/stock options or similar benefits.

Job title
Principal Engineer
Experience
all levels
Region
United States
Salary year
2025
Sample size
34
Top 10%
$ 306,000
Top 25%
$ 268,000
Median
$ 183,650
Bottom 25%
$ 132,000
Bottom 10%
$ 113,250

Region represents the primary country of residence of an employee during the year (or residence for tax purposes). All data shown are full-time equivalent (FTE) salaries. Part-time salary information has been extrapolated to its FTE value.

Last updated:

Top 20 Job Tags for Principal Engineer roles

The three most common job tag items assiciated with Principal Engineer job listings are Engineering, Python and Machine Learning. Below you find a list of the 20 most occuring job tags in 2025 and the number of open jobs that where associated with them during that period:

Engineering | 329 jobs Python | 270 jobs Machine Learning | 237 jobs Architecture | 236 jobs Computer Science | 204 jobs Security | 170 jobs Pipelines | 141 jobs AWS | 138 jobs Testing | 115 jobs Azure | 113 jobs Java | 105 jobs Generative AI | 102 jobs GCP | 100 jobs SQL | 96 jobs APIs | 93 jobs LLMs | 90 jobs Research | 89 jobs Kubernetes | 88 jobs CI/CD | 82 jobs Agile | 78 jobs

Top 20 Job Perks/Benefits for Principal Engineer roles

The three most common job benefits and perks assiciated with Principal Engineer job listings are Career development, Health care and Salary bonus. Below you find a list of the 20 most occuring job perks or benefits in 2025 and the number of open jobs that where offering them during that period:

Career development | 264 jobs Health care | 146 jobs Salary bonus | 91 jobs Flex hours | 86 jobs Medical leave | 84 jobs Insurance | 83 jobs Equity / stock options | 80 jobs Startup environment | 69 jobs Competitive pay | 60 jobs Flex vacation | 50 jobs Team events | 50 jobs Parental leave | 47 jobs 401(k) matching | 37 jobs Wellness | 34 jobs Relocation support | 24 jobs Transparency | 23 jobs Conferences | 20 jobs Fitness / gym | 14 jobs Home office stipend | 11 jobs Fertility benefits | 11 jobs

Related salaries

Principal Engineer @ $ 171,050 (global) Details
Principal Engineer @ $ 165,800 (global) - Senior-level / Expert Details
Principal Engineer @ $ 173,050 (United States) - Senior-level / Expert Details
Principal Engineer @ $ 126,582 (United Kingdom) Details
Principal Engineer @ $ 126,582 (United Kingdom) - Senior-level / Expert Details

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