Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers salary
SOC 15-1253 · BLS OEWS May 2025
What the range looks like
A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.
- 10th
- $61,440
- 25th
- $80,310
- Median
- $104,300
- 75th
- $133,180
- 90th
- $167,010
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- Bachelor's degree
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- None
Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.
Where software quality assurance analysts and testers earn the most
Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | State | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $128,740 | 110.7 | 27,710 | 1.27× |
| 2 | Washington | $128,480 | 107.0 | 7,970 | 1.87× |
| 3 | Colorado | $123,690 | 103.1 | 5,110 | 1.48× |
| 4 | Massachusetts | $122,210 | 105.8 | 6,640 | 1.52× |
| 5 | Virginia | $121,590 | 101.1 | 10,160 | 2.06× |
| 6 | New York | $121,240 | 107.9 | 10,460 | 0.90× |
| 7 | New Jersey | $119,470 | 108.8 | 6,550 | 1.27× |
| 8 | New Mexico | $116,580 | 92.2 | 450 | 0.43× |
| 9 | Maryland | $111,100 | 105.0 | 5,880 | 1.77× |
| 10 | Oregon | $108,440 | 103.4 | 1,840 | 0.78× |
| 11 | New Hampshire | $107,100 | 104.2 | 770 | 0.94× |
| 12 | Delaware | $106,060 | 99.8 | 520 | 0.90× |
| 13 | Illinois | $104,910 | 100.0 | 6,530 | 0.89× |
| 14 | Montana | $103,930 | 94.6 | 150 | 0.24× |
| 15 | District of Columbia | $103,340 | 109.9 | 760 | 0.90× |
| 16 | Georgia | $103,040 | 96.3 | 7,110 | 1.21× |
| 17 | Hawaii | $102,930 | 110.0 | — | — |
| 18 | Texas | $101,850 | 97.1 | 19,590 | 1.16× |
| 19 | Rhode Island | $101,790 | 102.3 | 400 | 0.66× |
| 20 | Minnesota | $101,700 | 98.6 | 2,630 | 0.74× |
| 21 | Alabama | $101,500 | 88.8 | 1,760 | 0.69× |
| 22 | Arizona | $100,650 | 100.7 | 3,890 | 1.00× |
| 23 | North Carolina | $100,390 | 94.3 | 8,890 | 1.50× |
| 24 | Florida | $100,210 | 103.4 | 10,320 | 0.87× |
| 25 | Michigan | $98,720 | 96.2 | 3,480 | 0.66× |
| 26 | Nebraska | $98,010 | 90.1 | 1,240 | 1.01× |
| 27 | Ohio | $98,000 | 92.8 | 4,400 | 0.66× |
| 28 | Connecticut | $97,740 | 103.6 | 1,160 | 0.57× |
| 29 | South Carolina | $97,500 | 93.7 | 1,740 | 0.63× |
| 30 | Kansas | $94,490 | 90.1 | 1,140 | 0.66× |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $93,030 | 97.6 | 4,530 | 0.62× |
| 32 | Tennessee | $91,040 | 91.9 | 1,530 | 0.39× |
| 33 | Wisconsin | $89,400 | 94.1 | 3,800 | 1.08× |
| 34 | Iowa | $88,590 | 87.8 | 1,000 | 0.53× |
| 35 | Indiana | $87,020 | 93.3 | 1,610 | 0.42× |
| 36 | Maine | $86,050 | 97.0 | 390 | 0.51× |
| 37 | Missouri | $85,530 | 90.8 | 2,930 | 0.83× |
| 38 | North Dakota | $83,920 | 89.0 | 200 | 0.39× |
| 39 | Utah | $82,100 | 98.9 | 2,600 | 1.25× |
| 40 | Mississippi | $79,890 | 87.0 | 350 | 0.25× |
| 41 | Kentucky | $79,100 | 90.2 | 890 | 0.37× |
| 42 | Oklahoma | $77,700 | 87.8 | 1,620 | 0.79× |
| 43 | Vermont | $76,580 | 98.0 | 170 | 0.45× |
| 44 | South Dakota | $68,120 | 88.6 | 220 | 0.40× |
| 45 | Louisiana | $66,810 | 88.2 | 450 | 0.19× |
| 46 | West Virginia | $62,300 | 89.5 | 390 | 0.46× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where software quality assurance analysts and testers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
Best paying metro areas for software quality assurance analysts and testers
The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | Metro area | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $166,530 | 110.4 | 6,480 | 4.76× |
| 2 | Lexington Park, MD | $147,520 | 100.8 | 400 | 4.73× |
| 3 | Boulder, CO | $136,410 | 105.2 | 500 | 2.18× |
| 4 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $134,630 | 115.6 | 5,880 | 2.06× |
| 5 | Greeley, CO | $134,350 | 100.2 | 60 | 0.43× |
| 6 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $133,970 | 109.9 | 100 | 0.86× |
| 7 | Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY | $130,710 | 109.4 | 170 | 0.52× |
| 8 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $130,540 | 112.6 | 11,460 | 1.00× |
| 9 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $129,880 | 104.5 | 2,670 | 1.64× |
| 10 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $129,690 | 111.1 | 6,650 | 2.65× |
| 11 | Kennewick-Richland, WA | $128,860 | 100.1 | 80 | 0.50× |
| 12 | Colorado Springs, CO | $128,520 | 100.7 | 610 | 1.61× |
| 13 | Urban Honolulu, HI | $128,010 | 111.0 | 80 | 0.16× |
| 14 | Bozeman, MT | $127,590 | 102.5 | 50 | 0.63× |
| 15 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $126,350 | 108.9 | 8,460 | 2.25× |
| 16 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $124,400 | 107.8 | 80 | 0.34× |
| 17 | Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL | $124,040 | 97.0 | 210 | 1.42× |
| 18 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $123,690 | 105.8 | 3,620 | 1.87× |
| 19 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | $122,980 | 97.6 | 950 | 2.31× |
| 20 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $122,210 | 108.3 | 6,050 | 1.86× |
| 21 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $122,210 | 113.6 | 7,200 | 0.96× |
| 22 | Rochester, MN | $120,630 | 90.8 | 140 | 0.94× |
| 23 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $120,210 | 111.9 | 2,280 | 1.24× |
| 24 | Vallejo, CA | $115,710 | 108.5 | 40 | 0.26× |
| 25 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | $115,000 | 105.7 | 280 | 1.18× |
| 26 | Asheville, NC | $114,510 | 96.5 | 100 | 0.47× |
| 27 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | $113,680 | 110.5 | 290 | 0.74× |
| 28 | Punta Gorda, FL | $112,240 | 100.5 | 30 | 0.48× |
| 29 | Santa Fe, NM | $111,360 | 98.8 | 40 | 0.51× |
| 30 | Dover, DE | $111,270 | 97.5 | 30 | 0.39× |
| 31 | Charlottesville, VA | $111,060 | 99.1 | 130 | 0.92× |
| 32 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | $110,800 | 98.2 | 1,760 | 1.97× |
| 33 | Kenosha, WI | $110,770 | 101.1 | 50 | 0.53× |
| 34 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $110,640 | 108.8 | 230 | 0.95× |
| 35 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $109,760 | 105.4 | 1,550 | 1.07× |
| 36 | Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA | $109,540 | 105.6 | 40 | 0.32× |
| 37 | Albuquerque, NM | $108,230 | 95.5 | 230 | 0.48× |
| 38 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | $108,040 | 89.1 | 180 | 0.82× |
| 39 | Naples-Marco Island, FL | $107,950 | 103.2 | 60 | 0.29× |
| 40 | Worcester, MA | $107,370 | 102.5 | 220 | 0.53× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where software quality assurance analysts and testers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
Similar occupations
Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.
- Software Developers$135,980
- Computer User Support Specialists$61,860
- Computer Systems Analysts$105,850
- Computer Occupations, All Other$116,580
- Network and Computer Systems Administrators$99,130
- Information Security Analysts$129,180
- Computer Network Architects$134,050
- Computer Network Support Specialists$76,220