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The differences between principal test engineers 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 principal test engineer and a quality assurance engineer. Additionally, a principal test engineer has an average salary of $116,493, which is higher than the $82,215 average annual salary of a quality assurance engineer.
The top three skills for a principal test engineer include python, C++ and java. The most important skills for a quality assurance engineer are java, python, and regression.
| Principal Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $116,493 | $82,215 |
| Hourly rate | $56.01 | $39.53 |
| Growth rate | 3% | - |
| Number of jobs | 96,539 | 243,536 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Principal Test Engineers test automation tools and frameworks like Selenium, Appium, and Ranorex. They make sure that the software their companies offer is safe and reliable for consumer use. Being a principal test engineer requires testing to influence better software design, promoting good engineering practice, security, testability, scalability, drafting bug prevention strategies, and reliability. They are responsible for defining test goals, preparing and executing system-level functional tests, providing new project forecasts based on the provided information, and improving the current test solutions by reducing the test time, repeat tests, and yield analysis.
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.
Principal test engineers and quality assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Principal Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $116,493 | $82,215 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $159,000 | Between $61,000 And $109,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a principal test engineer and a quality assurance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Principal Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between principal test engineers' and quality assurance engineers' demographics:
| Principal Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.8% Female, 10.2% | 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% |