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The differences between performance test leads 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 test lead and a quality assurance tester. Additionally, a performance test lead has an average salary of $96,573, which is higher than the $74,140 average annual salary of a quality assurance tester.
The top three skills for a performance test lead include java, provide management and test scenarios. The most important skills for a quality assurance tester are manual test cases, regression, and test scripts.
| Performance Test Lead | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $96,573 | $74,140 |
| Hourly rate | $46.43 | $35.64 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 42,925 | 82,396 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| 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 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 test leads and quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Performance Test Lead | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $96,573 | $74,140 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $124,000 | Between $55,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Maryland |
| Best paying company | NVIDIA | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Finance |
There are a few differences between a performance test lead and a quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Performance Test Lead | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between performance test leads' and quality assurance testers' demographics:
| Performance Test Lead | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 67.5% Female, 32.5% | 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% |