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The differences between performance test leads and performance engineers 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 test lead and a performance engineer. Additionally, a performance engineer has an average salary of $101,647, which is higher than the $96,573 average annual salary of a performance test lead.
The top three skills for a performance test lead include java, provide management and test scenarios. The most important skills for a performance engineer are java, linux, and performance issues.
| Performance Test Lead | Performance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $96,573 | $101,647 |
| Hourly rate | $46.43 | $48.87 |
| Growth rate | - | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 42,925 | 95,652 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Performance test lead positions require a high school diploma or GED and generally pay around $79K per year. This position calls on individuals who have a clear understanding of business needs and possessing skills in test development, design, and data management. Performance test leads oversee all test activity for given projects, partner with stakeholders to ensure effective planning and definition of requirements, and analyze requirements.
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.
Performance test leads and performance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Performance Test Lead | Performance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $96,573 | $101,647 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $124,000 | Between $76,000 And $134,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | NVIDIA | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a performance test lead and a performance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Performance Test Lead | Performance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Georgia Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between performance test leads' and performance engineers' demographics:
| Performance Test Lead | Performance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 67.5% Female, 32.5% | Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6% |
| 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% |