Principal

Lead staff and operations — set priorities, allocate resources, and oversee program delivery.

2,362 people hold the Principal role across 179 departments in Georgia, with a median total compensation of $125,516. Among 7 jurisdictions where this role is reported, Georgia ranks #6 by median pay.

Employees: 2,362
Median pay: $125,516
Departments: 179
Cross-jurisdiction: #6 of 7

Compared with the local labor market

Principal pay vs. Georgia

Across all employers in Georgia, the median wage for Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary — about 7,530 people — is $103,360. Georgia pays a median base salary of $126,592 for this role, 22% above that figure — about the 75th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Georgia sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$81,440

$93,980

$103,360

$126,630

$135,990

Georgia median · $126,592

The bar is the range of annual wages for Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary across every employer in Georgia, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Georgia’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary — about 328,330 people — is $105,870. Georgia’s median base salary is 20% above that national figure, about the 68th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$76,280

$86,040

$105,870

$134,630

$167,770

Georgia median · $126,592

Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Georgia range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 2,280 of 2,362 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at Georgia is $125,516, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.

Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.

Compare jurisdictions

Principal pay in other jurisdictions

Where Principals are paid most

Chicago Public Schools

$223,911 · 478

New York City

$200,053 · 1,959

District of Columbia

$197,776 · 116

School District of Philadelphia

$172,636 · 229

City of Springfield, MA

$138,995 · 57

South Carolina

$117,713 · 14

Median total compensation for comparable Principalroles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.

Within Georgia