As it happens, I got my annual raise today and finally broke $100k. I gather that I’m a few thousand below mid-scale for a Principal Engineer at a “big defense company” (that starts with an R). That’s three years in my current job and five years post-PhD; total experience is either 6 or 12 years depending whether you count grad research. I gather that folks with lower degrees but the same rank made similar or slightly higher salaries…
Given that I’m doing semiconductor work, I’m sure I could make a lot more in Si Valley or at a startup, but it’s not worth the extra hours to me.
