Principal hardware engineer vs engineer

The differences between principal hardware engineers and engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a principal hardware engineer, becoming an engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a principal hardware engineer has an average salary of $131,734, which is higher than the $92,077 average annual salary of an engineer.

The top three skills for a principal hardware engineer include RF, architecture and C++. The most important skills for an engineer are python, cloud, and C++.

Principal hardware engineer vs engineer overview

	Principal Hardware Engineer	Engineer
Yearly salary	$131,734	$92,077
Hourly rate	$63.33	$44.27
Growth rate	5%	2%
Number of jobs	88,049	618,207
Job satisfaction	-	4.33
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age	44	41
Years of experience	2	6

Principal hardware engineer vs engineer salary

Principal hardware engineers and engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Principal Hardware Engineer	Engineer
Average salary	$131,734	$92,077
Salary range	Between $98,000 And $176,000	Between $65,000 And $130,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Huntsville, AL
Highest paying state	Washington	New Hampshire
Best paying company	Microsoft	Fort Bend County
Best paying industry	Telecommunication	Automotive

Differences between principal hardware engineer and engineer education

There are a few differences between a principal hardware engineer and an engineer in terms of educational background:

	Principal Hardware Engineer	Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	Northeastern University	Michigan Technological University

Principal hardware engineer vs engineer demographics

Here are the differences between principal hardware engineers' and engineers' demographics:

	Principal Hardware Engineer	Engineer
Average age	44	41
Gender ratio	Male, 95.0% Female, 5.0%	Male, 86.3% Female, 13.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.0% Unknown, 2.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 51.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 15.0% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	4%	5%

Differences between principal hardware engineer and engineer duties and responsibilities

Principal hardware engineer example responsibilities.

Design activity lead to performing PCB layout using an outside vendor and then debugging the initial prototypes.
Supervise and manage compliance testing and debugging of emissions.
Generate synthesis reports and automate simulation using Perl scripts.
Train senior and principal engineers in signal integrity, microwave, and RF design methodology.
Interface with analogue and digital sensors using ADC and serial communications (RS232, SPI, I2C, RS485 )
Work as liaison for EMC at NTS.

Engineer example responsibilities.

Manage startup, trouble shooting and testing of PLC control equipment.
Lead project team to design and FDA validate 10-up extreme accuracy vial dosing system and CIP/SIP automate cleaning equipment.
Automate the creation of a WebLogic Admin and manage server deployment scheme within an installer for secure application deployment.
Install and test PLC in client own equipment on site - solve some logical and hardware issues to accomplish goal
Implement and manage continuous delivery systems and methodologies on AWS.
Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.

Principal hardware engineer vs engineer skills

Common principal hardware engineer skills

RF, 12%
Architecture, 9%
C++, 5%
FPGA, 5%
GPS, 4%
Design Reviews, 4%

Common engineer skills

Python, 8%
Cloud, 6%
C++, 5%
C #, 5%
AWS, 5%
Java, 4%