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The differences between senior infrastructure 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 $119,989 average annual salary of a senior infrastructure architect.
The top three skills for a senior infrastructure architect include amazon web services, AWS and cloud. The most important skills for a principal architect are cloud, infrastructure, and emerging technologies.
| Senior Infrastructure Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Yearly salary | $119,989 | $133,276 |
| Hourly rate | $57.69 | $64.08 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 98,072 | 118,908 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
Senior infrastructure architects primarily develop and implement the information systems supporting enterprise infrastructure. These professionals are in charge of business engagement in organizations. The architects translate the requirements of businesses into technical solution designs. They offer solutions and technical ownership from design up to production. A university degree in network management or computer engineering is one of the requirements to land this job. Getting an infrastructure architecture certificate is also beneficial to be considered for the position.
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.
Senior infrastructure architects and principal architects have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Infrastructure Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Average salary | $119,989 | $133,276 |
| Salary range | Between $96,000 And $148,000 | Between $97,000 And $181,000 |
| Highest paying City | Mountain View, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | ByteDance | |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior infrastructure architect and a principal architect in terms of educational background:
| Senior Infrastructure Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Architecture |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between senior infrastructure architects' and principal architects' demographics:
| Senior Infrastructure Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 95.2% Female, 4.8% | 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% |