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The differences between lead enterprise architects and principal architects can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a principal architect has an average salary of $133,276, which is higher than the $132,965 average annual salary of a lead enterprise architect.
The top three skills for a lead enterprise architect include infrastructure, governance and cloud. The most important skills for a principal architect are cloud, infrastructure, and emerging technologies.
| Lead Enterprise Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Yearly salary | $132,965 | $133,276 |
| Hourly rate | $63.93 | $64.08 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 90,008 | 118,908 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
The lead enterprise architect designs and develops systems and networks that will enhance the capabilities of a company. An enterprise architect creates technological architecture that is fit or fine-tuned to the specific characteristics of the company. The lead enterprise architect's goal is to continually update the company's systems and synchronize with the fast-paced nature of technology. Employing a good enterprise architect may mean an advantage over competitors. Aside from this, the lead architect needs to provide support and leadership for the entire designing team.
Principal Architects manage all design work at an architecture firm. They ensure that all work is of high professional quality and manage the activity of other design professionals.
Lead enterprise architects and principal architects have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Enterprise Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Average salary | $132,965 | $133,276 |
| Salary range | Between $97,000 And $180,000 | Between $97,000 And $181,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Technology |
There are a few differences between a lead enterprise architect and a principal architect in terms of educational background:
| Lead Enterprise Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Architecture |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between lead enterprise architects' and principal architects' demographics:
| Lead Enterprise Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.1% Female, 19.9% | Male, 89.3% Female, 10.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |