Pay · 15-1253
Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers earn $104,300 a year at the midpoint
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The lowest tenth are paid about $61,440, the highest tenth about $167,010 — figures from the 2025 federal wage survey.
National figures for software quality assurance analysts and testers, 15-1253, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Software quality assurance analyst earnings, from starting pay up to the top 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
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An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
Place 97 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 88% of the occupations in the survey.
- 95 Database Administrators $104,620
- 96 Education Administrators, Postsecondary $104,590
- 97 Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers $104,300
- 98 Mechanical Engineers $104,110
- 99 Web and Digital Interface Designers $104,000
Software quality assurance analyst wages across the states
Across 46 states the median ranges by 2.07 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $128,740 | $65,890 | $65,890 — $201,070 | 27,710 |
| Washington | $128,480 | $74,180 | $74,180 — $202,730 | 7,970 |
| Colorado | $123,690 | $79,780 | $79,780 — $172,930 | 5,110 |
| Massachusetts | $122,210 | $68,050 | $68,050 — $168,000 | 6,640 |
| Virginia | $121,590 | $78,820 | $78,820 — $169,200 | 10,160 |
| New York | $121,240 | $58,180 | $58,180 — $182,910 | 10,460 |
| New Jersey | $119,470 | $70,150 | $70,150 — $168,680 | 6,550 |
| New Mexico | $116,580 | $77,760 | $77,760 — $160,430 | 450 |
| Maryland | $111,100 | $77,270 | $77,270 — $171,810 | 5,880 |
| Oregon | $108,440 | $57,640 | $57,640 — $184,060 | 1,840 |
| New Hampshire | $107,100 | $56,190 | $56,190 — $160,190 | 770 |
| Delaware | $106,060 | $76,750 | $76,750 — $143,880 | 520 |
| Illinois | $104,910 | $65,480 | $65,480 — $150,620 | 6,530 |
| Montana | $103,930 | $50,380 | $50,380 — $170,620 | 150 |
| District of Columbia | $103,340 | $65,210 | $65,210 — $144,820 | 760 |
| Georgia | $103,040 | $68,130 | $68,130 — $141,760 | 7,110 |
| Hawaii | $102,930 | $76,370 | $76,370 — $130,860 | — |
| Texas | $101,850 | $59,010 | $59,010 — $153,380 | 19,590 |
| Rhode Island | $101,790 | $80,220 | $80,220 — $136,590 | 400 |
| Minnesota | $101,700 | $66,090 | $66,090 — $137,310 | 2,630 |
| Alabama | $101,500 | $62,670 | $62,670 — $162,600 | 1,760 |
| Arizona | $100,650 | $63,920 | $63,920 — $143,000 | 3,890 |
| North Carolina | $100,390 | $61,190 | $61,190 — $148,710 | 8,890 |
| Florida | $100,210 | $57,970 | $57,970 — $150,620 | 10,320 |
| Michigan | $98,720 | $52,460 | $52,460 — $135,830 | 3,480 |
| Nebraska | $98,010 | $64,750 | $64,750 — $131,490 | 1,240 |
| Ohio | $98,000 | $60,340 | $60,340 — $130,100 | 4,400 |
| Connecticut | $97,740 | $46,080 | $46,080 — $153,990 | 1,160 |
| South Carolina | $97,500 | $50,070 | $50,070 — $135,390 | 1,740 |
| Kansas | $94,490 | $57,050 | $57,050 — $133,590 | 1,140 |
| Pennsylvania | $93,030 | $58,970 | $58,970 — $133,120 | 4,530 |
| Tennessee | $91,040 | $61,580 | $61,580 — $125,760 | 1,530 |
| Wisconsin | $89,400 | $62,460 | $62,460 — $161,500 | 3,800 |
| Iowa | $88,590 | $55,640 | $55,640 — $126,290 | 1,000 |
| Indiana | $87,020 | $56,900 | $56,900 — $130,970 | 1,610 |
| Maine | $86,050 | $45,730 | $45,730 — $123,360 | 390 |
| Missouri | $85,530 | $55,030 | $55,030 — $141,350 | 2,930 |
| North Dakota | $83,920 | $63,060 | $63,060 — $106,000 | 200 |
| Utah | $82,100 | $45,960 | $45,960 — $134,940 | 2,600 |
| Mississippi | $79,890 | $45,770 | $45,770 — $126,740 | 350 |
| Kentucky | $79,100 | $44,290 | $44,290 — $128,340 | 890 |
| Oklahoma | $77,700 | $46,950 | $46,950 — $121,970 | 1,620 |
| Vermont | $76,580 | $60,480 | $60,480 — $144,890 | 170 |
| South Dakota | $68,120 | $47,670 | $47,670 — $104,840 | 220 |
| Louisiana | $66,810 | $36,890 | $36,890 — $115,330 | 450 |
| West Virginia | $62,300 | $37,050 | $37,050 — $127,210 | 390 |
No estimate is published for 2 states: the survey withholds a figure when too few employers report it. Nothing has been filled in for them.
Resumes for software quality assurance analysts and testers
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Identified, analyzed, and documented problems with program function, output, online screen, or content.
- Documented software defects, using a bug tracking system, and report defects to software developers.
- Developed testing programs that address areas such as database impacts, software scenarios, regression testing, negative testing, error or bug retests, or usability.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Examples
Resumes written for this kind of job.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
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Software quality assurance analyst pay rate, hourly to annual
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
What people often ask
What is a software quality assurance analyst’s yearly income?
A software quality assurance analyst makes a median of $104,300 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $80,310 and $133,180.
What is a software quality assurance analyst’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $50.14 an hour; the average is $111,490 a year.
What is the starting pay for a software quality assurance analyst?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $80,310 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $61,440.
Which state pays software quality assurance analysts and testers the most?
California, with a median of $128,740 a year.
How many people work as software quality assurance analysts and testers?
About 186,740 in the United States — number 97 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Work that pays nearly the same
Median pay within $320 of what software quality assurance analysts and testers earn — $104,300 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $190 less Mechanical Engineers $104,110median a year 10th percentile: $73,990 90th percentile: $164,340
- $290 more Education Administrators, Postsecondary $104,590median a year 10th percentile: $64,560 90th percentile: $215,620
- $320 more Database Administrators $104,620median a year 10th percentile: $60,230 90th percentile: $163,320