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The differences between product quality engineers and reliability 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 product quality engineer and a reliability engineer. Additionally, a reliability engineer has an average salary of $105,551, which is higher than the $94,173 average annual salary of a product quality engineer.
The top three skills for a product quality engineer include product quality, continuous improvement and sigma. The most important skills for a reliability engineer are java, troubleshoot, and ruby.
| Product Quality Engineer | Reliability Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $94,173 | $105,551 |
| Hourly rate | $45.28 | $50.75 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 152,621 | 44,471 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A product quality engineer is responsible for conducting quality check procedures for outputs and manufacturing processes to ensure high-quality deliverables according to business requirements and client specifications. Product quality engineers implement quality assessment criteria with strict adherence to internal guidelines and regulatory policies. They inspect the tools and equipment used for the production and solve inconsistencies, recommending and writing process reports to prevent fault reoccurrence that may affect product standards and market quality and cause distribution delays.
A reliability engineer is in charge of determining and managing the asset reliability risks of businesses. Reliability engineers are professionals who solve problems related to engineering. They are equipped with a better understanding of the principles of performance evaluation and prediction for product safety. The job requires knowledge of the field of engineering, strong communication, interpersonal skills, management skills, attention to detail, and reliability. They are also expected to become experts in engineering systems.
Product quality engineers and reliability engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Quality Engineer | Reliability Engineer | |
| Average salary | $94,173 | $105,551 |
| Salary range | Between $71,000 And $124,000 | Between $76,000 And $144,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a product quality engineer and a reliability engineer in terms of educational background:
| Product Quality Engineer | Reliability Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between product quality engineers' and reliability engineers' demographics:
| Product Quality Engineer | Reliability Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.8% Female, 18.2% | Male, 87.5% Female, 12.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 15.1% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 14.3% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |