Average Principal Electrical Engineer Salary

The top respondents for the job title Principal Electrical Engineer are from the companies Northrop Grumman Corporation, Raytheon Co. and BAE Systems Inc.. Reported salaries are highest at Raytheon Missile Systems where the average pay is $142,285. Other companies that offer high salaries for this role include Raytheon Co. and Medtronic, Inc., earning around $134,845 and $128,531, respectively. Autosplice pays the lowest at around $107,197. Northrop Grumman Corporation and Dell, Inc. also pay on the lower end of the scale, paying $109,970 and $112,678, respectively.

Skills in Engineering Design, Board Design / Debug and Design are correlated to pay that is above average. Skills that pay less than market rate include Project Management and Systems Engineering.

An early career Principal Electrical Engineer with 1-4 years of experience earns an average total compensation (includes tips, bonus, and overtime pay) of $108,157 based on 21 salaries. A mid-career Principal Electrical Engineer with 5-9 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $122,088 based on 74 salaries. An experienced Principal Electrical Engineer with 10-19 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $125,496 based on 424 salaries. In their late career (20 years and higher), employees earn an average total compensation of $133,805.

Employees with Principal Electrical Engineer in their job title in San Jose, California earn an average of 18.8% more than the national average. These job titles also find higher than average salaries in Houston, Texas (12.9% more) and Los Angeles, California (12.8% more). The lowest salaries can be found in Minneapolis, Minnesota (1.6% less), Huntsville, Alabama (0.7% less) and San Diego, California (0.0% less).