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The differences between staff engineers and senior principal engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a staff engineer and a senior principal engineer. Additionally, a senior principal engineer has an average salary of $130,642, which is higher than the $107,530 average annual salary of a staff engineer.
The top three skills for a staff engineer include java, python and architecture. The most important skills for a senior principal engineer are python, architecture, and java.
| Staff Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $107,530 | $130,642 |
| Hourly rate | $51.70 | $62.81 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 277,011 | 272,459 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Staff engineers are responsible for designing, developing, and inspecting various products, equipment, or structures. These professionals may perform varied duties depending on their specialization that includes overseeing the design and construction of buildings, bridges, sewer systems, and other infrastructure, estimating the financial costs of construction projects, and ensuring compliance with health and safety laws and regulations. Other duties include designing and developing machinery, tools, and engines, solving design problems, and building the manufacturing equipment needed to create their products.
A senior principal engineer is responsible for leading engineering tasks within an organization and reports project updates to senior management. Senior principal engineers develop strategic methods and principles to improve the technical stability and efficiency of the company's systems, creating business proposals according to clients' specifications, and negotiating contracts with suppliers and other service providers. They also train new staff and identify innovations and business opportunities that would generate more revenue resources for the company.
Staff engineers and senior principal engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Staff Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average salary | $107,530 | $130,642 |
| Salary range | Between $69,000 And $167,000 | Between $93,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Flexport | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Professional |
There are a few differences between a staff engineer and a senior principal engineer in terms of educational background:
| Staff Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between staff engineers' and senior principal engineers' demographics:
| Staff Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.9% Female, 12.1% | Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.2% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |