A survey report shows 61% of Principal Software Engineers prefer working at a public company. While 38% of Principal Software Engineers reflect their interest in private companies, the rare 1% work at educational institutions.
Keeping in view your job preference, we have formed a list of the 100 best companies to work for a Principal Software Engineer by total comp. In this list, you will find the company type, CEO name, headquarters location, global headcount, total compensation and its breakup, Blind rating, designation and level of every company. So, you can select and apply to one of your preferred companies.
Let’s get started with the list of the best places to work by total comp.
Methodology
The “100 best companies to work for a Principal Software Engineer” list determines the finest corporations to work for at the position of a Principal Software Engineer by total compensation.
To craft this list, our experts first sorted out companies from the publicly traded top 500 highest market cap US-based tech companies ranked at marketcap.com. Note that the focus was only on tech companies headquartered in the USA. A few exceptions are some healthcare companies with tech-heavy investments, though. ByteDance, Atlassian, and Shopify have been added as exceptions in honorable mentions as they aren’t headquartered in the USA.
After finalizing the list of good companies to work for in the USA per the above criteria, we collected Principal Software Engineer salaries from Glassdoor.com and Levels.fyi. Years of experience chosen for this purpose were 13-20 years. Although we considered it a standard experience for the designation, years of experience may vary from company to company and person to person.
We kept Microsoft’s levels 66 and 67 as standard to enlist the designation of Principal Software Engineers from other companies. Since Microsoft pioneered software as a business, it has a very well-defined career track for software engineers. Principal designation at Microsoft spans levels 65, 66 and 67 – but for this list, we focused on L66 and 67.
The data is current as of 28 October 2022. We have also drafted lists for junior software engineers, mid-level software engineers, and senior software engineers.
An important thing to note is that across different companies, the designation “Principal Software Engineer” refers to varying levels of experience and expectations. For example, Microsoft’s Principal Software Engineer matches the Senior Staff of VMWare and Tesla but is equivalent to Architect at Palo Alto Networks. Therefore, the list mentions the equivalent level/designation for Microsoft’s Principal Software Engineer at L66/67.
Another quirk in this effort is that some companies have very broad pay bands, covering a vast range of experience. For example, Apple’s E5 is a very broad pay band. For these cases, we simply went with levels.fyi’s weighted average compensation numbers.
For scenarios where pay bands overlap with our benchmark of Microsoft L66/67, we choose the higher pay band as long as it overlaps with L66/67 of Microsoft.
Another point to note is that since the source of data is the self-reported data on Levels.fyi and Glassdoor.com over a period of time, it may not fully reflect the realities of the current market correction. However, the authors believe that the list still gives a fairly accurate representation of the relative comp levels from various companies for the mentioned designation and experience levels.
While the list mentions the names of the companies, some companies have been acquired but still maintain an independent identity and payscale from their parent companies. For the purposes of this list, we have kept LinkedIn, Tinder, and VMWare as separate entities.Besides the top 100 tech companies by total comp, we also added 10 honorable mentions for firms that are well-known but did not make the cut for the top 100 companies to work for. Let us know if you would like a company to be added to the mix.
1. LinkedIn
Founded: 2002
Company Type: Public
CEO: Ryan Roslansky
Global Headcount: 18,000
Headquarters: Sunnyvale, CA, United States
Industry: Business
Designation: Principal Staff Software Engineer (Level – L7)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $948,125
- Base: $313,750
- Stock: $575,000
- Bonus: $59,375
Blind Rating: 4.2
2. Dropbox
Founded: 2007
Company Type: Public
CEO: Drew Houston
Global Headcount: 2,667
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, US
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet
Designation: Principal Engineer (Level – IC6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $937,000
- Base: $246,557
- Stock: $309,410
- Bonus: $63,525
Blind Rating: 3.7
3. Meta
Founded: 2004
Company Type: Public
CEO: Mark Zuckerberg
Global Headcount: 83,553
Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA, US
Industry: Software Development
Designation: E7
Per Annum Total Compensation: $914,339
- Base: $155,530
- Additional Pay (including stocks and bonus): $82,623
Blind Rating: 4.0
4. Splunk
Company Type: Public
CEO: Gary Steele
Global Headcount: 7000+
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, US
Industry: Software Development
Designation: Senior Principal SWE (Level – P6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $857,194
- Base: $283,000
- Stock: $494,444
- Bonus: $79,750
Blind Rating: 3.7
5. Lyft
Founded: 2012
Company Type: Public
CEO: Logan Green
Global Headcount: 4,453
Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Online Ridesharing
Designation: Senior Staff Engineer (Level – T7)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $847,500
- Base: $243,667
- Stock: $603,000
- Bonus: $833
Blind Rating: 3.7
6. Coinbase
Founded: 2012
Company Type: Public
CEO: Brian Armstrong
Global Headcount: 3,730
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, US
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet
Designation: Senior Staff Software Engineer (Level – IC7)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $825,527
- Base: $262,133
- Stock: $534,333
- Bonus: $29,061
Blind Rating: 3.8
7. Uber
Founded: 2009
Company Type: Public
CEO: Dara Khosrowshahi
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Senior Staff Software Engineer (Level – 6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $791,611
- Base: $257,271
- Stock: $479,933
- Bonus: $54,407
Blind Rating: 3.7
8. Twitter
Founded: 2006
Company Type: Public
CEO: Parag Agrawal
Global Headcount: 7,500
Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Internet
Designation: Senior Staff SWE
Per Annum Total Compensation: $769,500
- Base: $266,750
- Stock: $424,625
- Bonus: $78,125
Blind Rating: 3.9
9. Instacart
Founded: 2012
Company Type: Private
CEO: Fidji Simo
Global Headcount: 3000
Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Retail Services Grocery Delivery
Designation: Senior Staff Engineer (Level – L8)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $725,000
- Base: $225,000
- Stock: $500,000
- Bonus: $0
Blind Rating: 3.8
10. Netflix
Founded: 1997
Company Type: Public
CEO: Ted Sarandos and Reed Hastings
Global Headcount: 11,300
Headquarters: Los Gatos, CA, United States
Industry: Technology and Entertainment Industry
Designation: Staff Engineer (Level – E6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $722,105
- Base: $722,105
- Stock: $0
- Bonus: $0
Blind Rating: 4.2
11. DataBricks
Founded: 2013
Company Type: Public
CEO: Ali Ghodsi
Global Headcount: 4000+
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, United States
Industry: Computer Software
Designation: Senior Staff Engineer (Level – L7)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $700,000
- Base: $200,000
- Stock: $450,000
- Bonus: $50,000
Blind Rating: 4.1
12. Stripe
Founded: 2010
Company Type: Private
CEO: Patrick Collison
Global Headcount: 7,000
Headquarters: South San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Financial Services
Designation: Staff Engineer (Level – L4)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $653,706
- Base: $248,962
- Stock: $352,163
- Bonus: $52,581
Blind Rating: 3.8
13. Snapchat
Founded: 2011
Company Type: Public
CEO: Evan Spiegel
Global Headcount: 6,446
Headquarters: Santa Monica, CA, US
Industry: Software Development
Designation: (Level – L6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $653,584
- Base: $248,905
- Stock: $366,810
- Bonus: $37,869
Blind Rating: 4.1
14. Pinterest
Founded: 2010
Company Type: Public
CEO: Bill Ready
Global Headcount: 3,225
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, US
Industry: Internet
Designation: (Level – L6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $624,668
- Base: $237,692
- Stock: $376,515
- Bonus: $10,461
Blind Rating: 3.9
15. Airbnb
Founded: 2008
Company Type:Public
CEO: Brian Chesky
Global Headcount: 6,132
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, US
Industry: Lodging
Designation: Senior Staff Software Engineer (Level – G11)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $617,675
- Base: $263,500
- Stock: $303,750
- Bonus: $50,425
Blind Rating: 3.7
16. Workday Inc.
Founded: 2005
Company Type: Public
CEO: Aneel Bhusri
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Pleasanton, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Senior Principal SWE (Level – P6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $608,514
- Base: $239,857
- Stock: $357,143
- Bonus: $11,514
Blind Rating: 4.0
17. VMWare
Founded: 1998
Company Type: Public
CEO: Rangarajan Raghuram
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Palo Alto, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Senior Staff Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $601,100
- Base: $292,500
- Stock: $241,000
- Bonus: $67,600
Blind Rating: 3.7
18. Asana
Founded: 2008
Company Type: Public
CEO: Dustin Moskovitz
Global Headcount: 1000
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Software Engineer
Designation: (Level – L6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $596,312
- Base: $225,500
- Stock: $370,812
- Bonus: $0
Blind Rating: 4.4
19. Amazon
Founded: 1994
Company Type: Public
CEO: Andy Jassy
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Seattle, WA
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Principal SDE (Level – L7)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $591,916
- Base: $196,227
- Stock: $366,626
- Bonus: $29,658
Blind Rating: 3.1
20. Square Inc.
Founded: 2009
Company Type: Subsidiary or Business Segment
CEO: Jack Dorsey
Global Headcount: N/A
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: (Level 7)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $570,626
- Base: $252,520
- Stock: $313,481
- Bonus: $4,625
Blind Rating: 4.2
21. Adobe
Founded: 1982
Company Type: Public
CEO: Shantanu Narayen
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: San Jose, CA
Industry: Software Engineer
Designation: Principal scientist
Per Annum Total Compensation: $555,000
- Base: $250,000
- Stock: $225,000
- Bonus: $80,000
Blind Rating: 4.1
22. Broadcom
Founded: 1991
Company Type: Public
CEO: Hock E. Tan
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: San Jose, CA
Industry: Electronics Manufacturing
Designation: Distinguished Engineer (Level – ICB 7)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $538,800
- Base: $208,000
- Stock: $250,000
- Bonus: $80,800
Blind Rating: 3.1
23. Intel
Founded: 1968
Company Type: Santa Clara, CA
CEO: Patrick P. Gelsinger
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Engineer (Level – Grade 11)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $538,750
- Base: $280,000
- Stock: $139,500
- Bonus: $119,250
Blind Rating: 3.5
24. DoorDash
Founded: 2013
Company Type: Public
CEO: Tony Xu
Global Headcount: 6000+
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, US
Industry: Software Development
Designation: (Level – E6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $531,675
- Base: $233,500
- Stock: $294,425
- Bonus: $3,750
Blind Rating: 3.5
25. Roblox
Founded: 2004
Company Type: Public
CEO: David Baszucki
Global Headcount: 1,600
Headquarters: San Mateo, California, United States
Industry: Video Games
Designation: Principal Software Engineer (Level – IC5)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $531,523
- Base: $287,000
- Stock: $102,636
- Bonus: $952
Blind Rating: 4.2
26. MongoDB, Inc
Founded: 2007
Company Type: Public
CEO: Dev Ittycheria
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: New York, NY
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Staff Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $530,000
- Base: $230,000
- Stock: $300,000
- Bonus: $0
Blind Rating: 4.3
27. Microsoft
Founded: 1975
Company Type: Public
CEO: Satya Narayana Nadella
Global Headcount: 122,000
Headquarters: Redmond, WA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Engineer (Level – 67)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $516,111
- Base: $232,476
- Stock: $205,865
- Bonus: $77,770
Blind Rating: 4.1
28. Tesla Inc.
Founded: 2003
Company Type: Public
CEO: Elon Musk
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Austin, CA
Industry: Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
Designation: Senior Staff Engineer (Level – P5)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $515,800
- Base: $217,000
- Stock: $298,800
- Bonus: $0
Blind Rating: 3.4
29. PayPal
Founded: 1998
Company Type: Public
CEO: Dan Schulman
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: San Jose, CA
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Principal Software Engineer (Level – T28)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $514,500
- Base: $218,250
- Stock: $242,500
- Bonus: $53,750
Blind Rating: 3.6
30. AMD
Founded: 1969
Company Type: Public
CEO: Lisa Su
Global Headcount: 5001 to 10000
Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Fellow (Level – L10)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $510,000
- Base: $270,000
- Stock: $100,000
- Bonus: $140,000
Blind Rating: 3.9
31. Box
Founded: 2005
Company Type: Public
CEO: Aaron Levie
Global Headcount: 2,172
Headquarters: Redwood, California, United States
Industry: Technology
Designation: Senior Staff Software Engineer (Level – L9)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $510,000
- Base: $270,000
- Stock: $200,000
- Bonus: $40,000
Blind Rating: 3.9
32. Google
Founded: 1998
Company Type: Public
CEO: Sundar Pichai
Global Headcount: 139,995
Headquarters: Mountain View, CA, US
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet
Designation: Staff SWE (Level – L6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $496,154
- Base: $226,696
- Stock: $215,621
- Bonus: $53,837
Blind Rating: 4.3
33. NVidia
Founded: 1993
Company Type: Public
CEO: Jensen Huang
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Engineer (Level – IC6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $493,500
- Base: $284,143
- Stock: $205,714
- Bonus: $3,643
Blind Rating: 4.4
34. Indeed
Founded: 2007
Company Type: Private
CEO: Chris Hyams
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Austin, TX
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Principal Software Engineer (Level – L4)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $473,478
- Base: $246,273
- Stock: $193,273
- Bonus: $33,932
Blind Rating: 4.0
35. Cisco Systems
Founded: 1984
Company Type: Public
CEO: Chuck Robbins
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: San Jose, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Engineer (Level – Grade 13)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $473,308
- Base: $224,769
- Stock: $166,077
- Bonus: $82,462
Blind Rating: 3.7
36. Apple Inc.
Founded: 1976
Company Type: Public
CEO: Tim Cook
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Cupertino, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: (Level – ICT5)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $454,086
- Base: $221,587
- Stock: $194,814
- Bonus: $37,685
Blind Rating: 4.0
37. ServiceNow
Founded: 2004
Company Type: Public
CEO: William R. McDermott
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Software Engineer (Level – IC6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $450,000
- Base: $250,000
- Stock: $150,000
- Bonus: $50,000
Blind Rating: 3.9
38. Palo Alto Networks
Company Type: Public
CEO: Nikesh Arora
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Sr Principal Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $447,750
- Base: $248,750
- Stock: $148,750
- Bonus: $50,250
Blind Rating: 3.6
39. Snowflake Inc.
Founded: 2012
Company Type: Public
CEO: Frank Slootman
Global Headcount: 5000
Headquarters: Bozeman, MT
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Senior Software Engineer II (Level – IC4)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $441,667
- Base: $235,833
- Stock: $176,167
- Bonus: $29,667
Blind Rating: 4.3
40. Okta Inc.
Founded: 2009
Company Type: Public
CEO: Todd McKinnon
Global Headcount: 5,030
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, US
Industry: Software Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $435,563
- Base: $243,750
- Stock: $156,125
- Bonus: $35,688
Blind Rating: 3.8
41. Qualcomm
Founded: 1985
Company Type: Public
CEO: Cristiano Amon
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: San Diego, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $421,916
- Base: $227,833
- Stock: $137,083
- Bonus: $57,000
Blind Rating: 3.7
42. Nutanix Inc.
Founded: 2009
Company Type: Public
CEO: Rajiv Ramaswami
Global Headcount: 5001 to 10000
Headquarters: San Jose, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Senior Staff Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $415,833
- Base: $279,333
- Stock: $133,333
- Bonus: $3,167
Blind Rating: 3.6
43. Synopsys, Inc.
Founded: 1986
Company Type: Public
CEO: Art de Geus
Global Headcount: 16,361
Headquarters: Mountain View, CA, US
Industry: Software Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer (Level – 100)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $398,600
- Base: $233,600
- Stock: $92,000
- Bonus: $73,000
Blind Rating: 3.5
44. Twilio
Founded: 2008
Company Type: Public
CEO: Jeff Lawson
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Principal Engineer (Level – IC5)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $395,579
- Base: $217,789
- Stock: $174,895
- Bonus: $2,895
Blind Rating: N/A
45. eBay
Founded: 1995
Company Type: Public
CEO: Jamie Iannone
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: San Jose, CA
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Principal MTS
Per Annum Total Compensation: $393,750
- Base: $222,500
- Stock: $113,750
- Bonus: $57,500
Blind Rating: 3.8
46. DocuSign
Founded: 2003
Company Type: Public
CEO: Allan Thygesen
Global Headcount: 5001 to 10000
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Information Technology Support Services
Designation: Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $392,712
- Base: $207,231
- Stock: $157,962
- Bonus: $27,519
Blind Rating: 3.7
47. Intuit
Founded: 1983
Company Type: Public
CEO: Sasan Goodarzi
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Mountain View, CA
Industry: Software Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $385,435
- Base: $213,435
- Stock: $117,957
- Bonus: $54,043
Blind Rating: 3.8
48. Salesforce
Founded: 1993
Company Type: Public
CEO: Marc Benioff
Global Headcount: 73542
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, US
Industry: Software Development
Designation: Principal MTS
Per Annum Total Compensation: $383,914
- Base: $238,091
- Stock: $97,794
- Bonus: $48,029
Blind Rating: 4.1
49. Rivian
Founded: 2009
Company Type: Public
CEO: RJ Scaringe
Global Headcount: 5001 to 10000
Headquarters: Irvine, CA
Industry: Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
Designation: Senior Staff Software Engineer (Level – RIV-7)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $365,469
- Base: $205,875
- Stock: $137,500
- Bonus: $22,094
Blind Rating: 3.8
50. Tinder
Founded: 2012
Company Type: Public
CEO: Renate Nyborg
Global Headcount: 201 to 500
Headquarters: West Hollywood, CA
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Staff Senior Engineer (Level – IC5)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $360,000
- Base: $205,000
- Stock: $125,000
- Bonus: $30,000
Blind Rating: 3.7
51. Tanium
Founded: 2007
Company Type: Private
CEO: Orian Hindawi
Global Headcount: 2,000
Headquarters: Kirkland, WA, US
Industry: IT Services and IT Consulting
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $353,375
- Base: $183,940
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $169,434
Blind Rating: 4.0
52. Zoom
Founded: 2011
Company Type: Public
CEO: Eric Yuan
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: San Jose, California, United States
Industry: Software Engineer
Designation: Principal Software Engineer (Level – ZP5)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $353,100
- Base: $195,000
- Stock: $140,000
- Bonus: $18,100
Blind Rating: 3.6
53. Unity Technologies
Founded: 2005
Company Type: Public
CEO: John Riccitiello
Global Headcount: 5001 to 10000
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer (Level – Tech IC8)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $352,400
- Base: $192,400
- Stock: $150,000
- Bonus: $10,000
Blind Rating: 3.7
54. Walmart
Founded: 1962
Company Type: Public
CEO: Doug McMillon
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Bentonville, AR
Industry: General Merchandise & Superstores
Designation: Principal Software Engineer (Level – L6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $337,500
- Base: $200,000
- Stock: $87,500
- Bonus: $50,000
Blind Rating: 3.4
55. NetApp
Founded: 1992
Company Type: Public
CEO: George Kurian
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: San Jose, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Engineer (Level – MTS VI)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $320,000
- Base: $214,333
- Stock: $64,500
- Bonus: $41,167
Blind Rating: 3.6
56. LiveRamp Holdings Inc.
Founded: 2005
Company Type: Public
CEO: Scott Howe
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $317,779
- Base: $185,272
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $132,507
Blind Rating: 3.6
57. Arista Networks
Founded: 2004
Company Type: Public
CEO: Jayshree Ullal
Global Headcount: 2,993
Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA, US
Industry: Computer Networking
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $315,930
- Base: $180,130
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $135,800
Blind Rating: 4.0
58. Fastly
Founded: 2011
Company Type: Public
CEO: Todd Nightingale
Global Headcount: 501 to 1000
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $312,433
- Base: $179,551
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $132,882
Blind Rating: 4.2
59. Vimeo
Founded: 2004
Company Type: Public
CEO: Anjali Sud
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: New York, NY
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $311,301
- Base: $181,074
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $130,227
Blind Rating: 3.8
60. Hubspot
Founded: 2006
Company Type: Public
CEO: Yamini Rangan
Global Headcount: 5000
Headquarters: Cambridge, MA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Staff Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $308,760
- Base: $274,500
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $34,300
Blind Rating: 4.3
61. Ansys, Inc.
Founded: 1970
Company Type: Public
CEO: Ajei Gopal
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Canonsburg, PA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $302,124
- Base: $174,681
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $127,443
Blind Rating: 3.8
62. Sumo Logic
Founded: 2010
Company Type: Public
CEO: Ramin Sayar
Global Headcount: 800
Headquarters: Redwood, CA, United States
Industry: IT/Software
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $295,308
- Base: $175,232
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $120,076
Blind Rating: 3.3
63. Proofpoint Inc.
Founded: 2002
Company Type: Private
CEO: Ashan Willy
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Sunnyvale, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $293,803
- Basic: $178,857
- Additional Pay (including stocks and bonus): $114,946
Blind Rating: 3.8
64. Veeva Systems
Founded: 2007
Company Type: Public
CEO: Peter Gassner
Global Headcount: 5,482
Headquarters: Pleasanton, CA, US
Industry: Software Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $292,715
- Basic: $174,129
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $118,586
Blind Rating: 3.9
65. Snap-on
Founded: 1920
Company Type: Public
CEO: Nicholas T. Pinchuk
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Kenosha, WI
Industry: Consumer Product Manufacturing
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $291,349
- Base: $170,069
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $121,280
Blind Rating: 3.2
66. Akamai Technologies Inc
Founded: 1998
Company Type: Public
CEO: Frank Thomson Leighton
Global Headcount: 88,000
Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts, US
Industry: Internet
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $289,000
- Base: $204,000
- Stock: $40,000
- Bonus: $45,000
Blind Rating: 3.8
67. Elastic NV
Founded: 2012
Company Type: Public
CEO: Ashutosh Kulkarni
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Mountain View, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $284,844
- Base: $176,886
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $107,958
Blind Rating: 4.4
68. Tenable
Founded: 2002
Company Type: Public
CEO: Amit Yoran
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Columbia, MD
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $282,759
- Base: $169,589
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $113,170
Blind Rating: 3.8
69. New Relic
Founded: 2008
Company Type: Public
CEO: Bill Staples
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $282,182
- Base: $171,510
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $110,673
Blind Rating: 3.4
70. HashiCorp
Founded: 2012
Company Type: Public
CEO: David McJannet
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $280,338
- Base: $178,396
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $101,942
Blind Rating: 4.1
71. UiPath
Founded: 2005
Company Type: Public
CEO: Daniel Dines
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: New York, NY
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Software Engineer (Level – L6)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $280,000
- Base: $205,000
- Stock: $50,000
- Bonus: $25,000
Blind Rating: 3.8
72. Pure Storage
Founded: 2009
Company Type: Public
CEO: Charles H. Giancarlo
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Mountain View, CA
Industry: Information Technology Support Services
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $279,008
- Base: $169,154
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $109,854
Blind Rating: 3.9
73. Rapid7
Founded: 2000
Company Type: Public
CEO: Corey Thomas
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $278,153
- Base: $169,072
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $109,081
Blind Rating: 4.1
74. ZoomInfo Technologies
Founded: 2007
Company Type: Public
CEO: Henry Schuck
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Vancouver, WA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $277,911
- Base: $169,023
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $108,888
Blind Rating: 3.6
75. CCC Intelligent Solutions Inc.
Founded: 1980
Company Type: Private
CEO: Githesh Ramamurthy
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Sr Manager Software Engineering
Per Annum Total Compensation: $277,876
- Base: $175,913
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $101,963
Blind Rating: 2.5
76. Verisign Inc.
Founded: 1995
Company Type: Public
CEO: D. James Bidzos
Global Headcount: 904
Headquarters: Reston, Virginia, US
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $275,648
- Base: $172,857
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $102,791
Blind Rating: 3.9
77. NETSCOUT Systems
Founded: 1984
Company Type: Public
CEO: Anil K. Singhal
Global Headcount: 2,331
Headquarters: Westford, Massachusetts, US
Industry: Computer Networking Products
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $275,111
- Base: $170,901
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $104,210
Blind Rating: 3.7
78. RingCentral
Founded: 2003
Company Type: Public
CEO: Vlad Shmunis
Global Headcount: 5001 to 10000
Headquarters: Belmont, CA
Industry: Information Technology Support Services
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $272,827
- Base: $165,423
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $107,404
Blind Rating: 3.1
79. Blackbaud
Founded: 1981
Company Type: Public
CEO: Mike Gianoni
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Charleston, SC
Industry: Software Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $271,734
- Base: $168,040
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $103,694
Blind Rating: 3.6
80. Equinix
Founded: 1998
Company Type: Public
CEO: Charles J. Meyers
Global Headcount: 10,944
Headquarters: Redwood City, CA, US
Industry: Internet
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $268,156
- Base: $166,436
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $101,720
Blind Rating: 3.4
81. Overstock.com
Founded: 1999
Company Type: Public
CEO: Jonathan E. Johnson
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Midvale, UT
Industry: Home Furniture & Housewares Stores
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $267,882
- Base: $172,123
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $95,758
Blind Rating: 3.4
82. Informatica
Founded: 1993
Company Type: Public
CEO: Amit Walia
Global Headcount: 5001 to 10000
Headquarters: Redwood City, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $266,639
- Base: $167,612
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $99,026
Blind Rating: 3.4
83. Juniper Networks
Founded: 1996
Company Type: Public
CEO: René Kofod-Olsen
Global Headcount: 5001 to 10000
Headquarters: Sunnyvale, CA
Industry: Telecommunications Services
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $265,000
- Base: $215,000
- Stock: $20,000
- Bonus: $30,000
Blind Rating: 3.5
84. Pegasystems Inc.
Founded: 1983
Company Type: Public
CEO: Alan Trefler
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Cambridge, MA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $263,520
- Base: $165,607
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $97,913
Blind Rating: 3.4
85. Harmonic Inc.
Founded: 1988
Company Type: Public
CEO: Patrick Harshman
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: San Jose, CA
Industry: Electronics Manufacturing
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $262,903
- Base: $171,075
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $91,828
Blind Rating: 2.5
86. Rackspace Technology
Founded: 1998
Company Type: Public
CEO: Amar Maletira
Global Headcount: 5001 to 10000
Headquarters: San Antonio, TX
Industry: Information Technology Support Services
Designation: Principal Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $262,554
- Base: $163,192
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $99,362
Blind Rating: 2.6
87. IBM
Founded: 1911
Company Type: Public
CEO: Arvind Krishna
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Armonk, NY
Industry: Information Technology Support Services
Designation: Senior Technical Staff Member (Level – Band 10)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $261,917
- Base: $228,771
- Stock: $23,104
- Bonus: $10,042
Blind Rating: 3.3
88. Oracle
Founded: 1977
Company Type: Public
CEO: Larry Ellison
Global Headcount: 143,000
Headquarters: Austin, Texas, US
Industry: IT Services and IT Consulting
Designation: Principal MTS (Level – IC-4)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $261,657
- Base: $167,198
- Stock: $90,491
- Bonus: $3,968
Blind Rating: 3.3
89. CrowdStrike
Founded: 2011
Company Type: Public
CEO: George Kurtz
Global Headcount: 6,000
Headquarters: Austin,TX, US
Industry: Computer and Network Security
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $261,533
- Base: $163,261
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $98,272
Blind Rating: 4.1
90. Confluent
Founded: 2014
Company Type: Public
CEO: Jay Kreps
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Mountain View, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Staff Software Engineer II
Per Annum Total Compensation: $260,543
- Base: $160,645
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $99,898
Blind Rating: 4.2
91. Anaplan
Founded: 2006
Company Type: Private
CEO: Frank Calderoni
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $258,215
- Base: $171,841
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $86,373
Blind Rating: 3.6
92. SolarWinds
Founded: 1999
Company Type: Public
CEO: Sudhakar Ramakrishna
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Austin, TX
Industry: Enterprise Software & Network Solutions
Designation: Principal Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $257,801
- Base: $162,701
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $95,100
Blind Rating: 3.4
93. Fortinet
Founded: 2000
Company Type: Public
CEO: Ken Xie
Global Headcount: 10,195
Headquarters: Sunnyvale, CA, US
Industry: Computer and Network Security
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $257,393
- Base: $162,297
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $95,097
Blind Rating: 3.7
94. Teradata
Founded: 1979
Company Type: Public
CEO: Steve McMillan
Global Headcount:
Headquarters: San Diego, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $257,262
- Base: $171,048
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $86,214
Blind Rating: 3.3
95. Qualys
Founded: 1999
Company Type: Public
CEO: Sumedh Thakar
Global Headcount: 501 to 1000
Headquarters: Foster City, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $253,907
- Base: $160,390
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $93,517
Blind Rating: 2.7
96. LifeOmic
Founded: 1992
Company Type: Public
CEO: Donald Brown
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA
Industry: Health Care Services & Hospitals
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $253,641
- Base: $159,309
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $94,332
Blind Rating: 5.0
97. Datto
Founded: 2007
Company Type: Public
CEO: Tim Weller
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Norwalk, CT
Industry: Information Technology Support Services
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $253,515
- Base: $166,557
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $86,957
Blind Rating: 3.5
98. Omnicell
Founded: 1992
Company Type: Public
CEO: Randall A. Lipps
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA
Industry: Health Care Services & Hospitals
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $253,071
- Base: $172,927
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $80,144
Blind Rating: 3.3
99. Cadence Design Systems
The logo of Cadence Design Systems is pictured outside the company’s offices in San Jose, California, U.S., January 31, 2020. Picture taken January 31, 2020. REUTERS/Stephen Nellis[/caption]
Founded: 1988
Company Type: Public
CEO: Anirudh Devgan
Global Headcount: 9,300
Headquarters: San Jose, CA, US
Industry: Computer Software
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $251,760
- Base: $161,442
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $90,318
Blind Rating: 3.8
100. The Trade Desk
Founded: 2009
Company Type: Public
CEO: Jeffrey Terry Green
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: Ventura, CA
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Principal Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $250,514
- Base: $161,806
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $88,709
Blind Rating: 4.1
10 Honorable Mentions to Work For Principal Software Engineer
ByteDance
Founded: 2012
Company Type: Private
CEO: Liang Rubo
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Beijing, China
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: (Level – 3-2)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $826,786
- Base: $277,143
- Stock: $500,714
- Bonus: $48,929
Blind Rating: 3.2
Atlassian
Founded: 2002
Company Type: Public
CEO: Scott Farquhar
Global Headcount: 5001 to 10000
Headquarters: Sydney, Australia
Industry: Software Development
Designation: Senior Principal Engineer (Level – P7)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $569,000
- Base: $266,250
- Stock: $254,500
- Bonus: $48,250
Blind Rating: 4.3
Zendesk
Founded: 2007
Company Type: Public
CEO: Mikkel Svane
Global Headcount: 5,860
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, US
Industry: Software Development
Designation: Staff Software Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $233,000
- Base: $180,000
- Stock: $35,000
- Bonus: $18,000
Blind Rating: 3.8
Autodesk
Founded: 1982
Company Type: Public
CEO: Andrew Anagnost
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: San Rafael, CA
Industry: Computer Hardware Development
Designation: Principal Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $232,832
- Base: $164,760
- Stock: $46,762
- Bonus: $21,310
Blind Rating: 3.8
Xperi
Founded: 1990
Company Type: Public
CEO: Jon Kirchner
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: San Jose, CA
Industry: Software Development
Designation: Principal Engineer
Per Annum Total Compensation: $230,637
- Base: $161,765
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $68,872
Blind Rating: 3.3
DigitalOcean
Founded: 2011
Company Type: Public
CEO: Yancey L. Spruill
Global Headcount: 581
Headquarters: New York City, US
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet
Designation: Senior Software Engineer II
Per Annum Total Compensation: $223,580
- Base: $152,131
- Additional Pay (Including Stocks and Bonus): $71,450
Blind Rating: 3.7
Squarespace
Founded: 2003
Company Type:Public
CEO: Anthony Casalena
Global Headcount: 1001 to 5000
Headquarters: New York, NY
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Staff Engineer 2 (Level – L7)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $203,431
- Base: $170,388
- Stock: $31,012
- Bonus: $2,031
Blind Rating: 3.9
Cloudflare, Inc.
Founded: 2010
Company Type: Public
CEO: Matthew Prince
Global Headcount: 501 to 1000
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Principal Software Engineer (Level – L4)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $201,375
- Base: $169,833
- Stock: $31,542
- Bonus: $0
Blind Rating: 3.9
Dell Technologies
Founded: 1984
Company Type: Public
CEO: Michael S. Dell
Global Headcount: 10000+
Headquarters: Round Rock, TX
Industry: Information Technology Support Services
Designation: Senior Principal Engineer (Level – L9)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $199,628
- Base: $166,553
- Stock: $12,698
- Bonus: $20,377
Blind Rating: 3.7
Shopify
Founded: 2006
Company Type: Public
CEO: Tobias Lütke
Global Headcount: 5001 to 10000
Headquarters: Ottawa, Canada
Industry: Internet & Web Services
Designation: Senior staff software developer (Level – L8)
Per Annum Total Compensation: $195,000
- Base: $160,000
- Stock: $35,000
- Bonus: $0
Blind Rating: 3.7
