As of April 01, 2025, the average hourly pay of School Principal in the United States is $50. While Salary.com is seeing that the highest pay for School Principal in the US can go up to $61 and the lowest down to $37, but most earn between $43 and $56. Salary.com shows the average base salary (core compensation), as well as the average total cash compensation for the job of School Principal in the United States.
| Annual Salary |
Monthly Pay |
Weekly Pay |
Hourly Wage |
|
| 75th Percentile | $56 | $5 | $1 | $0 |
| Average | $50 | $4 | $1 | $0 |
| 25th Percentile | $43 | $4 | $1 | $0 |
As of April 01, 2025, Salary.com is seeing that an entry-level School Principal with under 1 year experience makes about $99,140. With less than 2 years of experience, a mid-level School Principal makes around $99,786. After 2-4 years, the School Principal pay rises to about $101,294. Those senior School Principal with 5-8 years of experience earn roughly $103,017, and those School Principal having 8 years or more experience is expected to earn about $105,736 on average.
| Levels | Salary |
|---|---|
| Entry Level School Principal | $99,140 |
| Intermediate Level School Principal | $99,786 |
| Senior Level School Principal | $101,294 |
| Specialist Level School Principal | $103,017 |
| Expert Level School Principal | $105,736 |
| Entry Level | 5% |
| Mid Level | 5% |
| Senior Level | 3% |
| Top Level | 1% |
| Experienced | 1% |
Salaries in the United States can vary significantly from state to state due to a multitude of factors, including cost of living, local economic conditions, and industry presence.
For example, as of April 01, 2025, the average yearly salary of School Principal is $115,291 in California and in Massachusetts, the average annual salary goes to $113,755. While in New Jersey, a School Principal earns $113,295 per year.
What Am I Worth?
Salaries in the United States can vary significantly from city to city due to a multitude of factors, including cost of living, local economic conditions, and industry presence.
For example, as of April 01, 2025, the average yearly salary of School Principal in San Francisco, CA is $130,541 and in New York, NY, the average annual salary goes to $121,134. While a School Principal earns $116,577 per year in Boston, MA.
For those exploring the changing dynamics of School Principal salaries, Salary.com offers detailed insights through our Job Trending in CA Labor Market analysis. As of April 01, 2025, our research highlights a notable shift in School Principal compensation over the past six years. For instance, the median salary has moved from $85,937 in 2023 to about $86,889 in 2024 (for a comprehensive analysis of School Principal salary trends, click here). It's crucial to consider several elements, including geographical location, experience level, industry demand, and economic development, as they play a significant role in influencing salary variations.
Salary.com job board provides millions of School Principal information for you to search for. Click on search button below to see School Principal job openings or enter a new job title here.
Here are companies hiring for School Principal and their salaries, click below for more details.
| Core Compensation | ||||
| Core Compensation | Median | % of Total | ||
| Base Salary | $104,525 | 72.9% | ||
| Bonus | $0 | 0.0% | ||
| Value of Benefits | ||||
| Core Compensation | Median | % of Total | ||
| Social Security | $7,996 | 5.6% | ||
| 401K/403B | $5,122 | 3.6% | ||
| Disability | $1,672 | 1.2% | ||
| Healthcare | $6,371 | 4.4% | ||
| Pension | $4,390 | 3.1% | ||
| Time Off | $13,267 | 9.3% | ||
| Total Compensation | $143,343 | 100% | ||
| Degree Level | % of user with this level of education |
|---|---|
| High School | 2.1% |
| Associates | 0.8% |
| Bachelors | 10.5% |
| Masters | 66.1% |
| Doctorate | 20.5% |
What Am I Worth?
Directs and oversees education and teaching programs for an assigned school. Responsibilities include developing the curriculum, staffing departments, reviewing faculty performance, and creating an atmosphere conducive to scholarly pursuits. Ensures all school activities are within budgetary guidelines. Requires a bachelor's degree. Typically reports to a superintendent. May require a master's degree. Typically manages through subordinate managers and professionals in larger groups of moderate complexity. Provides input to strategic decisions that affect the functional area of responsibility. May give input into developing the budget. Capable of resolving escalated issues arising from operations and requiring coordination with other departments. Typically requires 3+ years of managerial experience.
Specify the abilities and skills that a person needs in order to carry out the specified job duties. Each competency has five to ten behavioral assertions that can be observed, each with a corresponding performance level (from one to five) that is required for a particular job.
Leadership: Knowledge of and ability to employ effective strategies that motivate and guide other members within our business to achieve optimum results.
School Operations: Typically responsible for a dizzying array of non-instructional tasks, including but not limited to school finance, student transitions, human resources, student recruitment, and enrollment, transportation, food service, …
Client Relationship: Client relationship managemen is focused on building relationships with clients to ensure that their needs are met, they are satisfied with the services and/or products provided by the company.
