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The differences between performance testers 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 tester and a quality assurance tester. Additionally, a performance tester has an average salary of $88,120, which is higher than the $74,140 average annual salary of a quality assurance tester.
The top three skills for a performance tester include test results, java and web services. The most important skills for a quality assurance tester are manual test cases, regression, and test scripts.
| Performance Tester | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $88,120 | $74,140 |
| Hourly rate | $42.37 | $35.64 |
| Growth rate | 11% | - |
| Number of jobs | 35,277 | 82,396 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| 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 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 testers and quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Performance Tester | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $88,120 | $74,140 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $112,000 | Between $55,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Populus Group | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Utilities | Finance |
There are a few differences between a performance tester and a quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Performance Tester | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| 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 testers' demographics:
| Performance Tester | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 70.5% Female, 29.5% | 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% |