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The differences between performance testers and quality assurance 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 tester and a quality assurance engineer. Additionally, a performance tester has an average salary of $88,120, which is higher than the $82,215 average annual salary of a quality assurance engineer.
The top three skills for a performance tester include test results, java and web services. The most important skills for a quality assurance engineer are java, python, and regression.
| Performance Tester | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $88,120 | $82,215 |
| Hourly rate | $42.37 | $39.53 |
| Growth rate | 11% | - |
| Number of jobs | 35,277 | 243,536 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A performance tester is an industrial worker who identifies the stability, scalability, speed, and responsiveness of non-functional software in a given workload. The performance testers make sure that an application's critical components are performing well. They assess resource usage and other quality attributes, preparing it for production. Among the skills necessary to land this job are analytical, attention to detail, communication, and critical thinking.
A Quality Assurance Engineer's role is to oversee the overall production and ensure that the product is cost-efficient and aligns with the company's standards. The responsibility mainly revolves around conducting activities that examine and scrutinize the condition of a product or service to identify issues and come up with possible solutions to resolve the issue or attain stronger customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the Quality Assurance Engineer must also ensure that the product adheres to the government regulations and market guidelines.
Performance testers and quality assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Performance Tester | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $88,120 | $82,215 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $112,000 | Between $61,000 And $109,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | California |
| Best paying company | Populus Group | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Utilities | Technology |
There are a few differences between a performance tester and a quality assurance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Performance Tester | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between performance testers' and quality assurance engineers' demographics:
| Performance Tester | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 70.5% Female, 29.5% | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% |
| 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% |