Principal Engineer salary in California
A real-employer view of Principal Engineer pay, clustered from DOL OFLC certified filings. Variants like Senior, Lead, and II/III titles fold into this cluster — the wage range below reflects all of them.
Principal Engineer in California: actual employer-disclosed pay
Public records from 50 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $196,021. Every figure below is an actual offered salary an employer attested to under federal law.
By DOL wage level
DOL classifies every offer into one of four wage levels based on the role's experience and skill requirements.
| Level | Filings | Median offer |
|---|---|---|
| Level I — entry | 7 | $141,981 |
| Level II — qualified | 7 | $148,762 |
| Level III — experienced | 5 | $203,133 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 20 | $229,590 |
Top employers filing for this role
Companies with the most certified filings for Principal Engineer in California. Median offer is across all of that employer's filings. Click a company for its full H-1B salary breakdown.
| Employer | Most-filed title | Filings | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenstorrent USA Inc. | Staff Engineer | 10 | $205,504 |
| Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. | Senior Staff Engineer, DRAM | 9 | $197,683 |
| Sandisk Technologies, Inc. | Senior Engineer, VLSI Design Engineering | 4 | $126,313 |
| MediaTek USA Inc. | Principal Engineer | 3 | $216,000 |
| Celestial AI Inc. | Engineer, Design Verification | 2 | $232,700 |
| CEREBRAS SYSTEMS INC. | Principal Engineer | 2 | $222,600 |
| Palo Alto Networks, Inc. | Principal Engineer, ASIC DV | 2 | $164,606 |
| SAMSUNG AUSTIN SEMICONDUCTOR,LLC | Senior Engineer | 2 | $189,914 |
| Western Digital Technologies, Inc. | Senior Engineer, ASIC Development Engineering | 2 | $136,000 |
| Achronix Semiconductor Corporation | Principal Engineer | 1 | $271,349 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Senior Engineer, VLSI Design Engineering at Sandisk Technologies, Inc.$137,372MilpitasDecided Mar 31, 2026I-200-26083-727052
- Senior Engineer at SAMSUNG AUSTIN SEMICONDUCTOR,LLC$150,238San JoseWage Level IDecided Mar 27, 2026I-200-26079-718578
- Senior Engineer at Arm, Inc.$148,762San DiegoWage Level IIDecided Mar 25, 2026I-200-26077-712417
- Senior Engineer, ASIC Development Engineering at Western Digital Technologies, Inc.$136,000RosevilleWage Level IDecided Mar 23, 2026I-200-26075-705838
- Senior Engineer, ASIC Development Engineering at Western Digital Technologies, Inc.$136,000RosevilleWage Level IDecided Mar 23, 2026I-200-26075-705837
- Principal Engineer at Baya Systems, Inc.$235,000Santa ClaraWage Level IVDecided Mar 20, 2026I-200-26072-703340
- Staff Engineer at Tenstorrent USA Inc.$203,133Santa ClaraWage Level IIIDecided Mar 13, 2026I-200-26065-686075
- Senior Engineer at Tenstorrent USA Inc.$162,437Santa ClaraDecided Mar 9, 2026I-200-26062-674890
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification. Disclosed wages reflect what employers attested to pay; actual paid wages may differ. Only certified filings are shown — denied and withdrawn cases are excluded.