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Principal software engineer salary
Average principal software engineer salary
$134,230
Average Principal Software Engineer Salary
The average salary for a Principal Software Engineer in the United States is approximately $134,230 per year, translating to around $65 per hour. Salaries can vary considerably based on factors such as geographic location, industry, and years of experience. For instance, professionals in tech-centric states often report higher salaries due to demand.
Where Can a Principal Software Engineer Earn More?
States like California, Washington, and New York tend to offer some of the highest salaries. For example, in California, the average salary can exceed $150,000, reflecting the high cost of living and competitive job market. Additionally, industries such as finance and technology typically offer the most lucrative positions, often accompanied by benefits like stock options and bonuses.
Highest Paying Principal Software Engineer Jobs
Roles in specialized sectors, such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence, command premium salaries, emphasizing the need for ongoing education and skill development. With the right experience and continued learning, Principal Software Engineers can significantly increase their earning potential.
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Where can a Principal Software Engineer earn more?
Principal software engineer salary estimates from across the web
Average principal software engineer salary by state
The highest-paying states for principal software engineers are Hawaii, Alaska, and Washington. The lowest average principal software engineer salary states are South Carolina, Louisiana, and Kansas.
- State view
- County view
Highest paying states for principal software engineers
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | $173,680 | $83.50 |
| 2 | Oregon | $157,990 | $75.96 |
| 3 | California | $163,134 | $78.43 |
| 4 | Idaho | $134,309 | $64.57 |
| 5 | Hawaii | $191,424 | $92.03 |
| 6 | Nevada | $139,113 | $66.88 |
| 7 | Alaska | $182,325 | $87.66 |
| 8 | Arizona | $127,980 | $61.53 |
| 9 | Delaware | $125,866 | $60.51 |
| 10 | Wyoming | $123,883 | $59.56 |
| 11 | New Mexico | $127,267 | $61.19 |
| 12 | New York | $127,303 | $61.20 |
| 13 | Utah | $116,639 | $56.08 |
| 14 | Pennsylvania | $117,419 | $56.45 |
| 15 | Virginia | $118,546 | $56.99 |
| 16 | Montana | $116,746 | $56.13 |
| 17 | District of Columbia | $120,118 | $57.75 |
| 18 | Massachusetts | $119,020 | $57.22 |
| 19 | Texas | $115,396 | $55.48 |
| 20 | Connecticut | $120,751 | $58.05 |
| 21 | New Hampshire | $114,214 | $54.91 |
| 22 | Maryland | $117,625 | $56.55 |
| 23 | North Dakota | $114,467 | $55.03 |
| 24 | New Jersey | $118,099 | $56.78 |
| 25 | Rhode Island | $111,501 | $53.61 |
| 26 | Arkansas | $112,295 | $53.99 |
| 27 | South Dakota | $113,490 | $54.56 |
| 28 | Michigan | $113,386 | $54.51 |
| 29 | Florida | $114,835 | $55.21 |
| 30 | Minnesota | $112,977 | $54.32 |
| 31 | Illinois | $111,733 | $53.72 |
| 32 | Ohio | $110,197 | $52.98 |
| 33 | West Virginia | $110,714 | $53.23 |
| 34 | Vermont | $108,799 | $52.31 |
| 35 | Colorado | $108,768 | $52.29 |
| 36 | Tennessee | $109,164 | $52.48 |
| 37 | Nebraska | $107,138 | $51.51 |
| 38 | North Carolina | $107,269 | $51.57 |
| 39 | Georgia | $108,659 | $52.24 |
| 40 | Iowa | $108,412 | $52.12 |
| 41 | Mississippi | $109,832 | $52.80 |
| 42 | Wisconsin | $107,866 | $51.86 |
| 43 | Maine | $105,801 | $50.87 |
| 44 | Kentucky | $104,744 | $50.36 |
| 45 | Indiana | $100,946 | $48.53 |
| 46 | Kansas | $101,774 | $48.93 |
| 47 | Alabama | $101,234 | $48.67 |
| 48 | Missouri | $105,371 | $50.66 |
| 49 | South Carolina | $103,780 | $49.89 |
| 50 | Louisiana | $103,418 | $49.72 |
| 51 | Oklahoma | $97,936 | $47.08 |
Highest paying cities for principal software engineers
The highest-paying cities for principal software engineers are Seattle, WA, San Francisco, CA, and Phoenix, AZ.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle, WA | $178,152 | $85.65 |
| 2 | San Francisco, CA | $174,720 | $84.00 |
| 3 | Phoenix, AZ | $128,278 | $61.67 |
| 4 | New York, NY | $127,430 | $61.26 |
| 5 | Washington, DC | $120,172 | $57.77 |
| 6 | Reston, VA | $119,230 | $57.32 |
| 7 | Framingham, MA | $119,072 | $57.25 |
| 8 | Jersey City, NJ | $118,127 | $56.79 |
| 9 | Annapolis, MD | $117,704 | $56.59 |
| 10 | Philadelphia, PA | $117,652 | $56.56 |
| 11 | Austin, TX | $116,489 | $56.00 |
| 12 | Salt Lake City, UT | $115,996 | $55.77 |
| 13 | Merrimack, NH | $114,344 | $54.97 |
| 14 | Washington, MI | $113,680 | $54.65 |
| 15 | Chicago, IL | $112,061 | $53.88 |
| 16 | Englewood, CO | $108,696 | $52.26 |
| 17 | Burlington, VT | $108,579 | $52.20 |
| 18 | Atlanta, GA | $108,341 | $52.09 |
| 19 | Raleigh, NC | $108,262 | $52.05 |
| 20 | Bellevue, NE | $107,299 | $51.59 |
Principal Software Engineers are the most in-demand in these five cities:
Principal software engineer salary details
A principal software engineer's salary ranges from $98,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $182,000 at the 90th percentile.
What is a principal software engineer's salary?
| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $182,000 | $15,167 | $88 |
| 75th Percentile | $157,000 | $13,083 | $75 |
| Average | $134,230 | $11,186 | $65 |
| 25th Percentile | $114,000 | $9,500 | $55 |
| 10th Percentile | $98,000 | $8,167 | $47 |
Highest paying principal software engineer jobs
The highest paying types of principal software engineers are software engineering manager, staff software engineer, and principal engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Architect | $114,406 | $9,534 | $55.00 | 319,594 |
| Lead Engineer | $84,927 | $7,077 | $40.83 | 301,777 |
| Software Development Engineer | $109,147 | $9,096 | $52.47 | 356,971 |
| Software Engineer-Consultant | $113,987 | $9,499 | $54.80 | 317,033 |
| Software Engineering Manager | $140,929 | $11,744 | $67.75 | 262,296 |
| Software Systems Engineer | $107,102 | $8,925 | $51.49 | 370,518 |
Top companies hiring principal software engineers now:
Which companies pay principal software engineers the most?
Principal software engineer salaries at Google and Upstart Network are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average principal software engineer salary at companies like eBay and Twitter are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $211,543 | $101.70 | |
| 2 | Upstart Network | $207,890 | $99.95 |
| 3 | eBay | $206,405 | $99.23 |
| 4 | $204,548 | $98.34 | |
| 5 | LendUp | $204,043 | $98.10 |
| 6 | Eventbrite | $203,562 | $97.87 |
| 7 | Grubhub | $203,445 | $97.81 |
| 8 | Pure Storage | $202,512 | $97.36 |
| 9 | Discovery | $201,862 | $97.05 |
| 10 | Penske Media | $199,112 | $95.73 |
| 11 | Sharecare | $197,694 | $95.05 |
| 12 | Zocdoc | $197,652 | $95.03 |
| 13 | Atlassian | $195,754 | $94.11 |
| 14 | The Walt Disney Company | $195,492 | $93.99 |
| 15 | Houzz | $195,008 | $93.75 |
| 16 | Walmart | $194,894 | $93.70 |
| 17 | Move | $194,336 | $93.43 |
| 18 | Sony Interactive Entertainment America | $193,100 | $92.84 |
| 19 | Quantifind | $190,616 | $91.64 |
| 20 | Turo | $190,571 | $91.62 |
Wage gap by gender, race and education
Principal Software Engineer salary by industry
The average principal software engineer salary varies across industries:
- The average principal software engineer salary in the retail industry is $154,293, the highest of any industry.
- The average principal software engineer salary in the finance industry is $147,451.
- Principal software engineers in the finance industry earn an average salary of $126,559, the lowest of any industry.
Highest paying industries for principal software engineers
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Retail | $154,293 | $74.18 |
| 2 | Internet | $147,451 | $70.89 |
| 3 | Start-up | $144,154 | $69.30 |
| 4 | Telecommunication | $139,578 | $67.10 |
| 5 | Technology | $131,183 | $63.07 |
| 6 | Manufacturing | $128,764 | $61.91 |
| 7 | Health Care | $127,789 | $61.44 |
| 8 | Finance | $126,559 | $60.85 |
High paying principal software engineer jobs
Principal software engineer salary trends
The average principal software engineer salary has risen by $24,919 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average principal software engineer earned $109,311 annually, but today, they earn $134,230 a year. That works out to a 10% change in pay for principal software engineers over the last decade.
Compare principal software engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Average principal software engineer salary over time
Compare principal software engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Principal software engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $134,000 | $64.53 | +3.3% |
| 2024 | $130,000 | $62.41 | +2.3% |
| 2023 | $127,000 | $60.99 | +1.8% |
| 2022 | $125,000 | $59.92 | +1.7% |
| 2021 | $123,000 | $58.91 | +1.8% |
Recently added principal software engineer salaries
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F5 Networks | Senior Principal Software Engineer-L3 Routing Control Plane | San Jose, CA | 06/30/2025 | $207,279 |
| WEX | Principal Software Engineer, Benefits Engineering | Ione, CA | 06/30/2025 | $195,000 |
| Carrier | Principal Engineer-Embedded Software | East Syracuse, NY | 06/30/2025 | $109,456 |
| Blue Origin | Principal Software Engineer | Seattle, WA | 06/30/2025 | $207,453 |
| Esimplicity | Principal Software Engineer | Maryland | 06/30/2025 | $164,700 |
| Chicago Board Options Exchange | Principal Back-End Software Engineer-Real-Time Portfolio Risk Analytics C#/.Net | Lenexa, KS | 06/30/2025 | $165,750 |
| T-Mobile Usa | Principal Engineer, Software Full Stack | Frisco, TX | 06/29/2025 | $129,400 |
| Home Depot u | Principal Software Engineer (Remote) | Nome, AK | 06/29/2025 | $140,000 |
| Home Depot u | Principal Software Engineer-Contact Centers (Remote) | Nunez, GA | 06/29/2025 | $140,000 |
| Veeva Systems | Principal Software Engineer | Rowe, MA | 06/29/2025 | $150,000 |
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