California State Controller's Office and Los Angeles County, CA · 2025 pay · 221 people
How much does a principal engineer make in California State Controller's Office and Los Angeles County, CA?
$197,143typical pay for a principal engineer in 2025
$171,237 – $220,730what most people earned
Includes everyone paid during 2025, including part-year workers. Typical pay rose 5.8% from 2024.
✓ Official data from 4 agencies · Matches each agency's latest release · Show sourcesHide sources
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
- LA County Auditor-Controller · lacounty.gov ↗
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
Where principal engineers work
Typical pay at each employer, 2025 (everyone paid).
- Los Angeles County45 people$217,880
- Metropolitan Water District of Southern California21 people$248,438
- City of Riverside10 people$197,612
- City of Pasadena9 people$189,720
- San Diego Association of Governments7 people$197,143
- San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District6 people$192,544
- City of Ontario5 people$182,515
- Eastern Municipal Water District5 people$225,570
- City of Simi Valley5 people$167,869
- City of Santa Clara5 people$229,442
- City of Roseville4 people$174,898
- City of Carlsbad4 people$155,623
- Rancho California Water District4 people$168,554
- Moulton-Niguel Water District3 people$196,212
- Contra Costa Water District3 people$225,681
- City of Tustin3 people$162,895
- City of Watsonville3 people$77,308
- Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency3 people$225,584
- City of Encinitas3 people$184,811
- Orange County Water District3 people$204,547
- San Diego County Water Authority3 people$213,880
- Jurupa Community Services District3 people$184,600
- Southern California Regional Rail Authority3 people$174,069
- City of Moreno Valley3 people$224,036
- Imperial County3 people$118,481
- Inland Empire Utilities Agency3 people$215,009
- Yuba County2 people$140,712
- City of West Sacramento2 people$182,234
- City of Beaumont2 people$146,422
- Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency2 people$155,743
- City of Eastvale2 people$186,543
- San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District2 people$21,226
- Shasta County2 people$178,526
- Western Municipal Water District2 people$219,587
- City of Del Mar2 people$191,269
- City of Rancho Cucamonga2 people$138,342
- Santa Margarita Water District2 people$229,011
- City of Buena Park2 people$142,628
- City of Escondido1 person$71,053
- City of Rancho Santa Margarita1 person$145,028
- Ventura County1 person$169,379
- Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District1 person$208,437
- San Francisco County Transportation Authority1 person$185,585
- Monterey One Water1 person$230,262
- Las Virgenes Municipal Water District1 person$215,604
- City of San Bernardino1 person$186,812
- City of Chino Hills1 person$177,818
- Municipal Water District of Orange County1 person$191,494
- Yorba Linda Water District1 person$200,277
- City of Vista1 person$183,708
- Pebble Beach Community Services District1 person$156,732
- Mesa Water District (Orange)1 person$204,690
- City of San Carlos1 person$204,758
- Trabuco Canyon Water District1 person$47,292
- City of Hemet1 person$132,947
- Carmel Area Wastewater Agency (Monterey)1 person$214,948
- City of Downey1 person$165,249
- City of Calistoga1 person$150,500
- Three Valleys Municipal Water District1 person$177,394
- City of Upland1 person$165,792
- Sutter County1 person$169,689
- City of El Centro1 person$114,304
- City of Palm Springs1 person$179,795
- City of Wildomar1 person$43,667
- City of Menifee1 person$171,554
- City of Coronado1 person$179,242
No employers match.
Related jobs and the next step up
Same line of work at a different rank, by typical pay (full-year employees where we can tell).
- Engineer Intern$11,387 (everyone)
- Engineer Assistant$104,905 (everyone)
- Chief Engineer$110,751 (everyone)
- Assistant Engineer$112,280 (everyone)
- Associate Engineer$145,254 (everyone)
- Engineer Associate$148,358 (everyone)
- Senior Associate Engineer$161,833 (everyone)
- Engineer Principal$162,241 (everyone)
- Supervising Engineer$166,258 (everyone)
- Senior Engineer$171,470 (everyone)
- Engineer Senior$175,722 (everyone)
- Assistant Chief Engineer$192,111 (everyone)
- Principal Engineer (this page)$197,143 (everyone)
Highest-paid principal engineers, 2025
- 1Julian GarciaPrincipal Engineer · Los Angeles County$448,513
- 2David ChanPrincipal Engineer · Los Angeles County$332,185
- 3Richard GomezPrincipal Engineer · Los Angeles County$326,820
- 4Iraj NasseriPrincipal Engineer · Los Angeles County$303,083
- 5James H ChonPrincipal Engineer · Los Angeles County$237,545
Common questions
How much does a principal engineer make in California State Controller's Office and Los Angeles County, CA?
The typical principal engineer was paid $197,143 in 2025; most earned between $171,237 and $220,730. This counts all 221 people paid, including part-year workers.
How much of the pay is overtime?
Overtime made up 0.4% of all pay for principal engineers in 2025.
Which job titles are included?
Everyone whose payroll title is Principal Engineer, at any level (for example "Principal Engineer"). Part-time-schedule titles (such as "20 hours") are left out. Senior, supervising and trainee titles have their own pages.
Job titles are written out in full from the payroll's abbreviations (for example "SR CRRECTNL POLC OFCR" → "Senior Correctional Police Officer"). "Typical pay" is the median; "most earned" is the middle half. How we calculate this