Principal security engineer salary

The median posted base pay for principal security engineering jobs is $230K a year, from 70 open jobs at 55 companies. The middle half of the jobs is from $200K to $275K. One job in ten has posted pay above $345K.

Data of Nov 9, 2026. This is posted base pay, not total pay. It does not include stock or a bonus.

Median posted base pay: $230K
Middle half of the jobs: $200K to $275K
10th to 90th percentile: $172K to $345K
Open jobs with posted pay: 70
Companies: 55

Security engineer pay by level

Posted base pay for security engineering jobs, by the level in the job title. This page is about the principal level. A level needs 20 or more jobs with posted pay.

Level not stated697 jobs$181K$143K to $225K
Senior550 jobs$190K$164K to $216K
Staff194 jobs$231K$204K to $262K
Principal70 jobs$230K$200K to $275K
Director+26 jobs$256K$227K to $285K

Each band goes from the 10th to the 90th percentile. The darker part is the middle half of the jobs. The line is the median. This is posted base pay, not total pay.

Pay bands by level, security engineering. Posted base pay in US dollars for each year.
Level	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Jobs with pay
Level not stated	$115K	$143K	$181K	$225K	$269K	697
Senior	$140K	$164K	$190K	$216K	$248K	550
Staff	$178K	$204K	$231K	$262K	$312K	194
Principal	$172K	$200K	$230K	$275K	$345K	70
Director+	$183K	$227K	$256K	$285K	$334K	26

Principal security engineer pay by US region

The median posted base pay for principal security engineering jobs in each US region, compared with the median of all US jobs.

US remote23 jobs+9%$255K
Other US cities29 jobs−6%$219K

The median posted base pay for principal security engineering in each US region, compared with the median of all US jobs ($233K). A job that lists two regions counts in each region. A region needs 20 or more jobs. This is posted base pay, not total pay.

Pay by region, principal security engineering. Posted base pay in US dollars for each year.
Region	Median posted base pay	Against the US median	Jobs with pay
US remote	$255K	+9%	23
Other US cities	$219K	−6%	29
All US jobs	$233K	0%	64

Open jobs

Other levels

By place

Principal security engineer salary for remote jobs in the US

Other job types

How we compute these numbers

We read each job from the job board of the company and check it every day. We use only open jobs that state a yearly pay range in US dollars. One job counts with the middle point of its posted range. The median is the middle value of these amounts: half of the jobs are above it and half are below it.

We do not use a range with a bottom below $15,000, a top above $1,000,000, or a top that is more than four times the bottom. A role page needs 20 or more open jobs with posted pay. In the bar chart, a company needs 5 or more jobs with posted pay.

The numbers are base pay as the company posted it. They are not the pay of a person, and they do not include stock, a bonus or benefits. For the stock and the bonus that people reported, see Reported pay.