These experts are in charge of validating the behavior of an application and reviewing the requirements of the clients. They develop and implement functional test plans and test cases. They scan the receiver ID, check for defects and damages, and test the units to ensure proper working conditions.

Furthermore, they write serial numbers on the production track sheet, identify bugs and monitor defect tracking systems. Likewise, they update test plan status. Also, they help with researching and analyzing existing systems and program requirements.

To become a functional tester, you need a bachelor's degree in a related discipline with at least five years of prior work experience in a related role. You must be conversant with software functioning testing processes and methodologies.

The skills for this position are problem-solving and analytical skills. Functional testers are paid $72,988 on average per year, which is $35.09 per hour. Their salary falls between $59,000 and $88,000.

What Does a Functional Tester Do

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a functional tester, we found that a lot of resumes listed 10.7% of functional testers included java, while 5.6% of resumes included test cases, and 4.8% of resumes included web application. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

Learn more about what a Functional Tester does

How To Become a Functional Tester

If you're interested in becoming a functional tester, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 62.3% of functional testers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 19.3% of functional testers have master's degrees. Even though most functional testers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Functional Tester

Functional Tester Career Paths

Average Salary for a Functional Tester

Functional Testers in America make an average salary of $76,647 per year or $37 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $94,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $61,000 per year.
Average Functional Tester Salary
$76,647 Yearly
$36.85 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Functional Tester

The role of a functional tester includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general functional tester responsibilities:

  • Perform functional testing of web services for a middleware application. General duties: creates, prepares
  • Directly work with qa manager and project stakeholders to gather
  • Evaluate post procedure obstetric genetic testing review post procedures

There are several types of functional tester, including:

Quality Assurance Analyst

Role:

Quality Assurance Analysts spend a lot of time ensuring that a product is up to the company's standards. From performing software audtis to coming up with processes that test quality, everything is about quality when it comes to your job.

QA analysts notice everything. That's because they're so detail-orientated that no small error will ever get by them. Well, I mean, they're still human so maybe a small error will get by from time to time. No one is perfect.

This job is super useful in a lot of different industries so if you're looking for a career that comes with a lot of opportunity, you're in luck. QA analysts are hired by gaming development companies and software product companies. And when a company's website is ready to launch, QA analysts get a sneak peak to make sure there aren't any errors.

  • Average Salary: $73,532
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Quality Assurance Engineer

Role:

Quality assurance engineers test the quality of specifications and design of a product in order to ensure it works properly. Although this career isn't easily attainable, we can guarantee that it's worth every penny and second.

The job requires that you know quite an extensive amount of information in order to fill your role efficiently. That usually means a lot of education. The very least amount of education in this field is generally a bachelor's degree. Though most earn a master's degree.

A lot of your day-to-day will deal with software design, engineering and computer science. So maybe look into one of those degrees. Some quality assurance engineers require a license, in addition to the education. But that usually depends on the state and employer.

  • Average Salary: $82,215
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Quality Assurance Tester

Role:

Have you ever experienced a crash in a website, a virus in your software, or an error in your game? These are some of the issues that a quality assurance tester is tasked to prevent, rectify, and manage.

The primary role of a quality assurance tester is in conducting software testing to resolve issues and ensure standards and guidelines are being adhered to. Daily, they are involved in recording defect details, conducting database testing, creating automated test plans, and developing quality assurance reports. Besides that, they also work with developers in designing better software processes.

Employers require quality assurance testers have a degree related to computer science or engineering and have at least one year's worth of work experience. This role earns, on average, $34 per hour and is suitable for individuals who have an aptitude in systems testing.

  • Average Salary: $74,140
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Functional Tester Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active functional tester jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where functional testers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Functional Tester Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,095$83,694
2Texas1,091$76,275
3Florida941$67,649
4Virginia912$76,696
5New York663$76,662
6Massachusetts653$79,051
7Pennsylvania602$77,086
8Illinois570$74,553
9Washington564$87,898
10North Carolina505$76,598
11Ohio501$73,188
12New Jersey484$79,656
13Georgia469$73,639
14Maryland468$85,372
15Colorado420$75,980
16Arizona395$78,199
17Utah392$67,524
18Michigan355$70,261
19Minnesota315$70,380
20Wisconsin314$67,982
21Oregon297$81,395
22Indiana296$70,470
23Alabama221$72,358
24Connecticut217$81,874
25Tennessee192$69,680
26Missouri191$71,839
27Arkansas147$61,981
28Kentucky134$72,243
29Iowa134$70,398
30Kansas113$71,376
31Louisiana109$74,289
32South Carolina104$71,730
33Nebraska104$69,613
34New Mexico99$63,600
35Rhode Island98$82,386
36Nevada95$73,341
37New Hampshire92$81,274
38Oklahoma92$73,192
39Idaho85$75,038
40Vermont68$75,851
41West Virginia68$71,339
42Delaware64$77,199
43Montana63$73,132
44Mississippi58$71,681
45North Dakota50$73,893
46Maine45$66,110
47Wyoming37$76,325
48South Dakota36$73,319
49Hawaii34$78,566
50Alaska27$78,082

Functional Tester Education

Functional Tester Majors

10.4 %

Functional Tester Degrees

Bachelors

62.3 %

Masters

19.3 %

Associate

9.3 %

Top Colleges for Functional Testers

1. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

3. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

4. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,992

Enrollment

33,495

5. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

6. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

7. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Pomona, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,353

Enrollment

24,841

8. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

9. Minnesota State University - Mankato

Mankato, MN • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,184

Enrollment

11,675

10. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

Top Skills For a Functional Tester

Choose From 10+ Customizable Functional Tester Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Functional Tester templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Functional Tester resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Functional Tester diversity

Functional Tester Gender Distribution

Male
Male
65%
Female
Female
35%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among functional testers, 34.7% of them are women, while 65.3% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among functional testers is White, which makes up 67.7% of all functional testers.

  • The most common foreign language among functional testers is Spanish at 27.0%.

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Best States For a Functional Tester

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a functional tester. The best states for people in this position are Washington, Maryland, California, and Rhode Island. Functional testers make the most in Washington with an average salary of $87,898. Whereas in Maryland and California, they would average $85,372 and $83,694, respectively. While functional testers would only make an average of $82,386 in Rhode Island, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Functional Tester Jobs: 564
Highest 10% Earn:
$111,000
Location Quotient:
1.27

2. Rhode Island

Total Functional Tester Jobs: 98
Highest 10% Earn:
$102,000
Location Quotient:
1.33

3. New Hampshire

Total Functional Tester Jobs: 92
Highest 10% Earn:
$101,000
Location Quotient:
0.87
Full List Of Best States For Functional Testers

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Top Functional Tester Employers

Most Common Employers For Functional Tester

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Microsoft$106,531$51.2212
2AT&T$102,843$49.4410
3TSYS$99,335$47.7611
4Humana$97,612$46.9313
5MetLife$96,562$46.4212
6HMSA$92,352$44.4010
7Jabil$87,874$42.2530
8Hewlett Packard Enterprise$86,748$41.7112
9Plexus$86,423$41.559
10Bank of America$86,045$41.3710