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Senior Principal Engineer Salary in the United States

How much does a Senior Principal Engineer make in the United States? The salary range for a Senior Principal Engineer job is from $160,020 to $194,575 per year in the United States. Click on the filter to check out Senior Principal Engineer job salaries by hourly, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, and yearly.

Average base salary
updated at April 01, 2025
$177,601
Per Year
The average salary for a Senior Principal Engineer is $177,601
per Year in the United States.
Individually reported data submitted by users of our website

HOW SHOULD YOU USE THIS DATA?

Employees: Use this as a guide for salary expectations, but be aware that responsibilities can change across companies for the same job title, so there may be differences between this data, other free site and our subscription products bought by employers.

Employers: This data could be used as reference point in your market pricing, but not the only source, due to differences across jobs locations, and sizes of companies.Consider additional sources like our Employer reported data.

Base Salary
$160,020
$177,601
Medium
$194,575

Highest Paying Cities for Senior Principal Engineer in the United States

Senior Principal Engineer salaries in the United States will pay differently by cities. Below following are the eight cities with the highest income for Senior Principal Engineer jobs in the United States. The city with the highest salary is San Jose. Click on the Senior Principal Engineer salary in cities you are interested in to view detailed job salary information.

States with Higher Salaries for Senior Principal Engineer

The five states where Senior Principal Engineer jobs get higher salaries in the United States are: District of Columbia, California, Massachusetts, Washington, and New Jersey. Compared with the average salary of a Senior Principal Engineer in the United States, the state of District of Columbia with the highest job income for this job. The second and third states are California and Massachusetts respectively. The high or low salary paid to Senior Principal Engineer by the US has a greater relationship with the demand for jobs and the cost of living.

How Much Do Similar Professions Get Paid in the United States?

There are some different titles for Senior Principal Engineer jobs, and the job title of Senior Principal Engineer will vary in different companies. The job title has a lot to do with the department and responsibilities, and the same job title will vary in different departments. The following list is the salary of jobs similar to Senior Principal Engineer, start to view Senior Principal Engineer-related jobs you are interested in.
Senior Principal Systems Engineer
Average salary
United States
$166,412
per Year
Senior Principal Software Engineer
Average salary
United States
$177,601
per Year
Senior Principal
Average salary
United States
$190,672
per Year
Principal Engineer
Average salary
United States
$168,870
per Year
Principal Algorithm Engineer
Average salary
United States
$157,500
per Year
Principal RF Engineer
Average salary
United States
$175,550
per Year

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What Does a Senior Principal Engineer Do?

Principal engineers use other leadership skills, such as strategizing, motivating and ensuring all teams receive the appropriate information and guidance.

December 21, 2021

On some job sites or in some companies, senior engineers may report directly to leadership within their department.

December 20, 2021

Senior engineers communicate complex technical issues to department management and negotiate with vendors.

December 15, 2021

Amazon's Principal Engineering Community created a set of tenets to articulate and perpetuate the guiding values and expectations of Principal Engineers at Amazon.

December 14, 2021

A Senior Engineer is typically someone with deep knowledge of a technology or product line and experience with multiple release cycles.

December 01, 2021

Most Common Benefits for Senior Principal Engineer

Social Security
Healthcare
401(k)
Pension
Disability
Time Off (days)

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about salaries for a Senior Principal Engineer
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Principal engineers use other leadership skills, such as strategizing, motivating and ensuring all teams receive the appropriate information and guidance.
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Explore our personal salary report to know the Senior Principal Engineer market value in the United States. And find out if any places are having a higher Senior Principal Engineer salary.
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The highest Senior Principal Engineer salary is $194,575, while the lowest is $160,020 in the United States.
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