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The differences between performance engineers and quality assurance testers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a performance engineer and a quality assurance tester. Additionally, a performance engineer has an average salary of $101,647, which is higher than the $74,140 average annual salary of a quality assurance tester.
The top three skills for a performance engineer include java, linux and performance issues. The most important skills for a quality assurance tester are manual test cases, regression, and test scripts.
| Performance Engineer | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $101,647 | $74,140 |
| Hourly rate | $48.87 | $35.64 |
| Growth rate | 11% | - |
| Number of jobs | 95,652 | 82,396 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A Performance Engineer validates system stability and its performance by carrying out load tests. They analyze test outcomes and work diligently with different engineers and developers to deliver excellent bug fix results. These professionals improve system capacity, scalability, reliability, and performance by offering technical assistance. Besides undertaking root cause evaluation of the system's performance problems and giving corrective actions, a performance engineer also recommends system improvements after evaluating the system performance. Also, they oversee the performance lifecycle and then recommend the right improvements.
A quality assurance tester, also known as QA tester, has different responsibilities depending on the line of work or industry involved. In a computer development setting, they are in charge of working and coordinating with technical engineers. They have to conduct regular tests for new software and programs, identify inconsistencies, and find areas for improvement. Furthermore, a quality assurance tester must produce reports from the tests, which can be the basis of progress for further developments.
Performance engineers and quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Performance Engineer | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $101,647 | $74,140 |
| Salary range | Between $76,000 And $134,000 | Between $55,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Meta | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Finance |
There are a few differences between a performance engineer and a quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Performance Engineer | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Georgia Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between performance engineers' and quality assurance testers' demographics:
| Performance Engineer | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6% | Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |