Principal Software Engineer Salaries

2697 verified profiles
Last updated on October 9, 2025
Average Annual Total Compensation is $310k

Employees as Principal Software Engineer earn an average of $310k, mostly ranging from $211k to $918k based on 2697 profiles.

👨‍💻 Male $307k Male
Average Salary : $ 307 k
👩‍💻 Female $289k Female
Average Salary : $ 289 k
🧑 Non-binary $264k Non-binary
Average Salary : $ 264 k
For every $100 paid to men, women are paid $94
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Salary Profiles
Company
Title(Level)
Annual Salary
Experience
School
Degree
Location
Skills

Base: $249k

Stocks: $283k

(Today) (2.7%) $275k

Bonus: -

TC:$532k

(Today) (1.4%) $524k

15.4yrs
Bachelors in computer and systems engineering

Works in Seattle, Washington, United States

Backend engineer (Principal MTS)
Male

Base: $275k

Stocks: $74k

(Today) (10.2%) $66k

Bonus: $56k

TC:$405k

(Today) (1.9%) $397k

18yrs
NA
Bachelors

Works in Seattle, WA

Security Engineer (Principal SDE)

Base: $183k

Stocks: $146k

(Today) (15.3%) $168k

Bonus: $28k

TC:$357k

(Today) (6.3%) $379k

25yrs
NA
Bachelors

Works in Atlanta, GA

Data Engineer (Principal Software Engineer)
Male

Base: $162k

Stocks: $19k

(Today) (7.2%) $18k

Bonus: $19k

TC:$201k

(Today) (0.7%) $199k

16yrs
NA
Bachelors

Works in Parsippany, NJ

Backend engineer (Principal SDE)

Base: $216k

Stocks: $39k

(Today) (18.9%) $47k

Bonus: $34k

TC:$289k

(Today) (2.6%) $297k

14yrs
NA
Bachelors

Works in Seattle, WA

DevOps Engineer (Principal Engineer)
Male

Base: $185k

Stocks: $21k

(Today) (7.3%) $22k

Bonus: $83k

TC:$289k

(Today) (0.5%) $291k

10yrs
NA
Bachelors

Works in Cary, NC

Backend engineer (L6)
Female

Base: $211k

Stocks: $32k

(Today) (5.0%) $34k

Bonus: $47k

TC:$291k

(Today) (0.5%) $293k

6yrs
NA
Masters

Works in Bentonville, AR

Security Engineer (Principal Software Engineer)
Male

Base: $180k

Stocks: $16k

(Today) (6.3%) $15k

Bonus: $26k

TC:$222k

(Today) (0.5%) $221k

20yrs
NA
Masters

Works in Atlanta, GA

Director Engineering (Principal Engineer)
Male

Base: $255k

Stocks: $196k

(Today) (9.7%) $215k

Bonus: $64k

TC:$515k

(Today) (3.7%) $534k

21yrs
NA
Masters

Works in San Diego, CA

Full Stack Engineer (Principal Software Engineer)
Male

Base: $199k

Stocks: $46k

(Today) (21.5%) $56k

Bonus: $30k

TC:$275k

(Today) (3.6%) $285k

9yrs
NA
Masters

Works in Boston, MA

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Frequently asked questions
How much do Principal Software Engineer employees make?

Employees as Principal Software Engineer earn an average of $310k, mostly ranging from $211k per year to $918k per year based on 2697 profiles. The top 10% of employees earn more than $520k per year.

What is the average salary of Principal Software Engineer?

Average salary of an employee as Principal Software Engineer is $310k.

What is the highest salary offered as Principal Software Engineer?

Highest reported salary offered as Principal Software Engineer is $2032k. The top 10% of employees earn more than $520k per year. The top 1% earn more than a whopping $918k per year.

What are the most common skills required as Principal Software Engineer?

1% of employees have skills in engineering . 1% also know information systems . 1% also know mathematics .

What are the highest paying jobs as Principal Software Engineer?

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

  • hardware engineer - $370k per year

  • software engineer ii - $359k per year

  • software engineer - $316k per year

  • information technologist - $312k per year

  • software engineering manager - $310k per year

What are the new grad salaries as Principal Software Engineer?
  • software engineer - $141k per year

What is the median salary offered as Principal Software Engineer?

The median salary approximately calculated from salary profiles measured so far is $271k per year.

How is the age distributed among employees as Principal Software Engineer?

12% of employees lie between 31-36 yrs . 8% of the employees fall in the age group of 36-41 yrs .

What qualifications do employees have as Principal Software Engineer?

14% hold a Graduate degree. 14% hold a PostGraduate degree.

Which schools do employees working as Principal Software Engineer went to?

1% of employees studied at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University . 1% studied at University of Madras .

Frequently asked questions
How much do Principal Software Engineer employees make?

Employees as Principal Software Engineer earn an average of $310k, mostly ranging from $211k per year to $918k per year based on 2697 profiles. The top 10% of employees earn more than $520k per year.

What is the average salary of Principal Software Engineer?

Average salary of an employee as Principal Software Engineer is $310k.

What is the highest salary offered as Principal Software Engineer?

Highest reported salary offered as Principal Software Engineer is $2032k. The top 10% of employees earn more than $520k per year. The top 1% earn more than a whopping $918k per year.

What are the most common skills required as Principal Software Engineer?

1% of employees have skills in engineering . 1% also know information systems . 1% also know mathematics .

What are the highest paying jobs as Principal Software Engineer?

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

  • hardware engineer - $370k per year

  • software engineer ii - $359k per year

  • software engineer - $316k per year

  • information technologist - $312k per year

  • software engineering manager - $310k per year

What are the new grad salaries as Principal Software Engineer?
  • software engineer - $141k per year

What is the median salary offered as Principal Software Engineer?

The median salary approximately calculated from salary profiles measured so far is $271k per year.

How is the age distributed among employees as Principal Software Engineer?

12% of employees lie between 31-36 yrs . 8% of the employees fall in the age group of 36-41 yrs .

What qualifications do employees have as Principal Software Engineer?

14% hold a Graduate degree. 14% hold a PostGraduate degree.

Which schools do employees working as Principal Software Engineer went to?

1% of employees studied at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University . 1% studied at University of Madras .

Salary Brackets
Percentage
< 100 k < 100 k
Percentage : 0
100-200 k 100-200 k
Percentage : 23
200-300 k 200-300 k
Percentage : 20
300-400 k 300-400 k
Percentage : 16
400-500 k 400-500 k
Percentage : 7
> 500 k > 500 k
Percentage : 9
Age Brackets
Percentage
21-26 yrs 21-26 yrs
Percentage : 0
26-31 yrs 26-31 yrs
Percentage : 4
31-36 yrs 31-36 yrs
Percentage : 12
36-41 yrs 36-41 yrs
Percentage : 8
> 41 yrs > 41 yrs
Percentage : 3
Skills
Trending
engineering
1 %
information systems
1 %
mathematics
1 %
information technology
1 %
javascript
1 %
java
1 %
jquery
1 %
Schools
Top
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University
1 %
University of Madras
1 %
Visveswaraiah Technological University
1 %
Anna University
1 %
Bharathidasan University
1 %
University of Pune
1 %
Bharathiar University
0 %
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