Principal Scientist Salaries

588 verified profiles
Last updated on March 21, 2026
Average Annual Total Compensation is $278k

Employees as Principal Scientist earn an average of $278k, mostly ranging from $194k to $869k based on 588 profiles.

👨‍💻 Male $271k Male
Average Salary : $ 271 k
👩‍💻 Female $223k Female
Average Salary : $ 223 k
🧑 Non-binary $188k Non-binary
Average Salary : $ 188 k
For every $100 paid to men, women are paid $82
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Salary Profiles
Company
Title(Level)
Annual Salary
Experience
School
Degree
Location
Skills
Research Scientist (Principal SDE)
Male

Base: $206k

Stocks: $78k

(Today) (19.8%) $63k

Bonus: $59k

TC:$343k

(Today) (4.5%) $328k

9yrs
NA
Masters

Works in Redmond, WA

Data Scientist (Principal DS)
Male

Base: $200k

Stocks: $323k

(Today) (12.2%) $284k

Bonus: -

TC:$523k

(Today) (7.5%) $484k

10yrs
NA
Masters

Works in Washington, DC

Data Scientist (L6)
Female

Base: $158k

Stocks: $20k

Bonus: $39k

TC:$217k

5yrs
NA
Phd

Works in Boston, MA

Backend engineer (Principal Scientist)
Male

Base: $330k

Stocks: $194k

(Today) (26.8%) $142k

Bonus: $107k

TC:$631k

(Today) (8.2%) $579k

15yrs
NA
Phd

Works in San Jose, CA

Base: $210k

Stocks: $52k

Bonus: $47k

TC:$309k

4yrs
NA
Phd

Works in South San Francisco, CA

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Principal Data Scientist (Principal Data Scientist)
Female

Base: $220k

Stocks: $63k

(Today) (25.0%) $47k

Bonus: $39k

TC:$321k

(Today) (4.9%) $306k

10yrs
NA
Masters

Works in Seattle, WA

Base: $245k

Stocks: $88k

(Today) (82.9%) $161k

Bonus: $49k

TC:$382k

(Today) (19.1%) $455k

20yrs
NA
Phd

Works in Hillsboro, OR

Base: $291k

Stocks: $364k

(Today) (24.7%) $274k

Bonus: $209k

TC:$863k

(Today) (10.4%) $774k

9yrs
NA
Phd

Works in San Francisco, CA

Research Scientist (Principal SDE)

Base: $294k

Stocks: $358k

(Today) (10.3%) $321k

Bonus: $341k

TC:$992k

(Today) (3.7%) $955k

12yrs
NA
Phd

Works in San Francisco, CA

Machine Learning Engineer (Principal Scientist)
Male

Base: $225k

Stocks: $8k

Bonus: $33k

TC:$267k

7yrs
NA
Phd

Works in Boston, MA

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Frequently asked questions
How much do Principal Scientist employees make?

Employees as Principal Scientist earn an average of $278k, mostly ranging from $194k per year to $869k per year based on 588 profiles. The top 10% of employees earn more than $430k per year.

What is the average salary of Principal Scientist?

Average salary of an employee as Principal Scientist is $278k.

What is the highest salary offered as Principal Scientist?

Highest reported salary offered as Principal Scientist is $2000k. The top 10% of employees earn more than $430k per year. The top 1% earn more than a whopping $869k per year.

What are the most common skills required as Principal Scientist?

1% of employees have skills in python . 1% also know machine learning . 1% also know matlab .

What are the highest paying jobs as Principal Scientist?

The top 5 highest paying jobs as Principal Scientist with reported salaries are:

  • principal data scientist - $742k per year

  • software engineer - $495k per year

  • research scientist - $443k per year

  • data science manager - $277k per year

  • data scientist - $268k per year

What are the new grad salaries as Principal Scientist?
  • data scientist - $166k per year

What is the median salary offered as Principal Scientist?

The median salary approximately calculated from salary profiles measured so far is $218k per year.

How is the age distributed among employees as Principal Scientist?

2% of employees lie between 26-31 yrs . 2% of the employees fall in the age group of 31-36 yrs .

What qualifications do employees have as Principal Scientist?

4% hold a PostGraduate degree. 3% hold a PhD degree.

Which schools do employees working as Principal Scientist went to?

1% of employees studied at Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne . 0% studied at California Institute of Technology .

Frequently asked questions
How much do Principal Scientist employees make?

Employees as Principal Scientist earn an average of $278k, mostly ranging from $194k per year to $869k per year based on 588 profiles. The top 10% of employees earn more than $430k per year.

What is the average salary of Principal Scientist?

Average salary of an employee as Principal Scientist is $278k.

What is the highest salary offered as Principal Scientist?

Highest reported salary offered as Principal Scientist is $2000k. The top 10% of employees earn more than $430k per year. The top 1% earn more than a whopping $869k per year.

What are the most common skills required as Principal Scientist?

1% of employees have skills in python . 1% also know machine learning . 1% also know matlab .

What are the highest paying jobs as Principal Scientist?

The top 5 highest paying jobs as Principal Scientist with reported salaries are:

  • principal data scientist - $742k per year

  • software engineer - $495k per year

  • research scientist - $443k per year

  • data science manager - $277k per year

  • data scientist - $268k per year

What are the new grad salaries as Principal Scientist?
  • data scientist - $166k per year

What is the median salary offered as Principal Scientist?

The median salary approximately calculated from salary profiles measured so far is $218k per year.

How is the age distributed among employees as Principal Scientist?

2% of employees lie between 26-31 yrs . 2% of the employees fall in the age group of 31-36 yrs .

What qualifications do employees have as Principal Scientist?

4% hold a PostGraduate degree. 3% hold a PhD degree.

Which schools do employees working as Principal Scientist went to?

1% of employees studied at Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne . 0% studied at California Institute of Technology .

Salary Brackets
Percentage
< 100 k < 100 k
Percentage : 1
100-200 k 100-200 k
Percentage : 36
200-300 k 200-300 k
Percentage : 29
300-400 k 300-400 k
Percentage : 14
400-500 k 400-500 k
Percentage : 5
> 500 k > 500 k
Percentage : 8
Age Brackets
Percentage
26-31 yrs 26-31 yrs
Percentage : 2
31-36 yrs 31-36 yrs
Percentage : 2
36-41 yrs 36-41 yrs
Percentage : 1
> 41 yrs > 41 yrs
Percentage : 0
Skills
Trending
python
1 %
machine learning
1 %
matlab
1 %
research
1 %
bioinformatics
1 %
computer science
1 %
data analysis
1 %
Schools
Top
Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne
1 %
California Institute of Technology
0 %
Indiana University Bloomington
0 %
North Carolina State University
0 %
Northeastern University
0 %
The University of Guelph
0 %
The University of Göttingen
0 %
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