What is a Quality Assurance Analyst?

Quality Assurance Analysts spend a lot of time ensuring that a product is up to the company's standards. From performing software audtis to coming up with processes that test quality, everything is about quality when it comes to your job.

QA analysts notice everything. That's because they're so detail-orientated that no small error will ever get by them. Well, I mean, they're still human so maybe a small error will get by from time to time. No one is perfect.

This job is super useful in a lot of different industries so if you're looking for a career that comes with a lot of opportunity, you're in luck. QA analysts are hired by gaming development companies and software product companies. And when a company's website is ready to launch, QA analysts get a sneak peak to make sure there aren't any errors.

What Does a Quality Assurance Analyst Do

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a quality assurance analyst, we found that a lot of resumes listed 9.0% of quality assurance analysts included qa, while 5.4% of resumes included regression, and 4.9% of resumes included manual test cases. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

Learn more about what a Quality Assurance Analyst does

How To Become a Quality Assurance Analyst

If you're interested in becoming a quality assurance analyst, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 65.3% of quality assurance analysts have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 14.5% of quality assurance analysts have master's degrees. Even though most quality assurance analysts have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Quality Assurance Analyst
Top Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs Near You

Quality Assurance Analyst Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of business analyst you might progress to a role such as consultant eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title senior information technology manager.

Quality Assurance Analyst

Average Salary for a Quality Assurance Analyst

Quality Assurance Analysts in America make an average salary of $73,532 per year or $35 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $93,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $57,000 per year.
Average Quality Assurance Analyst Salary
$73,532 Yearly
$35.35 hourly
See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

Roles and Types of Quality Assurance Analyst

The role of a quality assurance analyst includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general quality assurance analyst responsibilities:

  • Creates, prepares and implements systems quality assurance reviews for numerous applications responsible for primary development of testing strategies consults with users, providing advice
  • Manage the technical and business aspects of client
  • Responsible for evaluating, developing and implementing quality system feedback processes to achieve goals in accordance with established qsr, iso, cmdr

There are several types of quality assurance analyst, including:

Quality Assurance Engineer

Role:

Quality assurance engineers test the quality of specifications and design of a product in order to ensure it works properly. Although this career isn't easily attainable, we can guarantee that it's worth every penny and second.

The job requires that you know quite an extensive amount of information in order to fill your role efficiently. That usually means a lot of education. The very least amount of education in this field is generally a bachelor's degree. Though most earn a master's degree.

A lot of your day-to-day will deal with software design, engineering and computer science. So maybe look into one of those degrees. Some quality assurance engineers require a license, in addition to the education. But that usually depends on the state and employer.

  • Average Salary: $82,215
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Quality Assurance Lead

Role:

We have all witnessed the consequences of quality failures. The explosion of NASA Shuttle Challenger, resulting in the death of all 7 astronauts. The BP Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, resulting in 4 million oil barrels leaking into the Mexican Gulf. Although quality assurance does not seem to be discussed in shareholder's meetings, it should remain at the forefront of how a company leads an operation.

The primary role of a quality assurance lead is to oversee the testing of a product or service to ensure adherence to industry and the organization's standards. They are involved in developing testing plans, creating risk mitigation strategies, and liaising with the product team in suggesting process improvements.

Different industries will require different degrees for a quality assurance lead. For example, working in a food production facility will require a science-related degree, whereas working to maintain the TikTok platform will require an IT degree. A quality assurance lead earns an average of $39 per hour and generally works 40 hours a week.

  • Average Salary: $94,758
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Quality Assurance Tester

Role:

Have you ever experienced a crash in a website, a virus in your software, or an error in your game? These are some of the issues that a quality assurance tester is tasked to prevent, rectify, and manage.

The primary role of a quality assurance tester is in conducting software testing to resolve issues and ensure standards and guidelines are being adhered to. Daily, they are involved in recording defect details, conducting database testing, creating automated test plans, and developing quality assurance reports. Besides that, they also work with developers in designing better software processes.

Employers require quality assurance testers have a degree related to computer science or engineering and have at least one year's worth of work experience. This role earns, on average, $34 per hour and is suitable for individuals who have an aptitude in systems testing.

  • Average Salary: $74,140
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
View More

States With The Most Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active quality assurance analyst jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where quality assurance analysts earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California6,647$83,752
2Texas2,869$70,644
3Florida2,185$65,293
4New York2,058$74,354
5Virginia1,905$76,172
6Illinois1,865$72,037
7North Carolina1,836$71,594
8Pennsylvania1,669$70,931
9Ohio1,539$71,415
10Massachusetts1,490$74,309
11New Jersey1,455$77,400
12Georgia1,381$69,054
13Maryland1,353$78,822
14Washington1,214$82,707
15Michigan1,200$69,538
16Minnesota1,152$71,392
17Indiana1,122$71,092
18Colorado1,024$69,075
19Arizona977$71,942
20Wisconsin882$68,103
21Missouri811$68,464
22Tennessee728$68,568
23Oregon718$77,902
24Utah662$69,378
25Alabama645$65,237
26Connecticut597$74,584
27Kentucky569$71,026
28South Carolina533$70,547
29Iowa481$69,881
30Kansas396$69,431
31New Hampshire368$81,826
32Nebraska317$68,976
33Arkansas312$66,460
34Nevada284$76,828
35Oklahoma279$64,575
36Louisiana268$66,510
37Mississippi259$65,975
38New Mexico258$67,728
39Idaho222$76,876
40Delaware217$73,848
41Rhode Island206$72,396
42Maine173$70,351
43West Virginia168$67,586
44North Dakota150$67,294
45Montana144$72,504
46Vermont127$63,816
47Alaska117$81,575
48Hawaii112$77,702
49South Dakota104$68,962
50Wyoming90$65,457

Quality Assurance Analyst Education

Quality Assurance Analyst Majors

Business
20.4 %
Computer Science
20.4 %
Electrical Engineering
5.8 %

Quality Assurance Analyst Degrees

Bachelors

65.3 %

Masters

14.5 %

Associate

11.4 %

Top Colleges for Quality Assurance Analysts

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. Maine Maritime Academy

Castine, ME • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,478

Enrollment

979

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

6. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

7. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

8. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

9. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

10. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

Top Skills For a Quality Assurance Analyst

Choose From 10+ Customizable Quality Assurance Analyst Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Quality Assurance Analyst templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Quality Assurance Analyst resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume
Quality Assurance Analyst Resume

Quality Assurance Analyst diversity

Quality Assurance Analyst Gender Distribution

Female
Female
51%
Male
Male
49%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among quality assurance analysts, 51.1% of them are women, while 48.9% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among quality assurance analysts is White, which makes up 67.7% of all quality assurance analysts.

  • The most common foreign language among quality assurance analysts is Spanish at 55.5%.

Online Courses For Quality Assurance Analyst That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Software Engineering Immersive (Full-time)

general_assembly

Meet the global demand for technical problem-solvers by developing your coding skills to create full-stack web applications across multiple frameworks, incorporating functionality from third-party APIs, executing software engineering projects in an Agile development workflow, and more...

2. Intro to Coding

general_assembly

Discover if coding is a career fit for you In this free, two-hour livestream, explore the building blocks of the web — HTML and CSS — and learn how you can apply these programming languages to develop your own simple sites. All in real time, taught by an industry professional. Come learn the basics and gain the skills you need to write your first line of code!...

3. Software Testing

udacity

When writing software, destruction can be just as valuable as creation. Learn how to catch bugs and break software as you discover different testing methods that will help you build better software...

Show More Online Courses For Quality Assurance Analyst
Job type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary

Best States For a Quality Assurance Analyst

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a quality assurance analyst. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, New Hampshire, and Alaska. Quality assurance analysts make the most in California with an average salary of $83,752. Whereas in Washington and New Hampshire, they would average $82,707 and $81,826, respectively. While quality assurance analysts would only make an average of $81,575 in Alaska, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. New Hampshire

Total Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs: 368
Highest 10% Earn:
$107,000
Location Quotient:
1.29

$81,826

Avg. Salary

View 368 Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs In NH

2. Washington

Total Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs: 1,214
Highest 10% Earn:
$107,000
Location Quotient:
1.02

$82,707

Avg. Salary

View 1,214 Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs In WA

3. Oregon

Total Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs: 718
Highest 10% Earn:
$101,000
Location Quotient:
1.06

$77,902

Avg. Salary

View 718 Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs In OR
Full List Of Best States For Quality Assurance Analysts

How Do Quality Assurance Analysts Rate Their Jobs?

Working as a Quality Assurance Analyst? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
Career Growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Top Quality Assurance Analyst Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ quality assurance analysts and discovered their number of quality assurance analyst opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Tech Mahindra was the best, especially with an average salary of $76,947. Wells Fargo follows up with an average salary of $57,318, and then comes Bank of America with an average of $59,061. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a quality assurance analyst. The employers include UL, Interactive Brokers, and Envision Healthcare

Most Common Employers For Quality Assurance Analyst

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Oracle$100,457$48.30373
2JPMorgan Chase & Co.$94,534$45.45704
3Citi$94,379$45.37424
4Aspire Chicago$87,846$42.23330
5McKesson$87,707$42.17244
6AT&T$87,573$42.10454
7T-Mobile$81,784$39.32350
8Synechron$79,209$38.08508
9IBM$78,548$37.76214
10Tata Group$78,545$37.76231
Show More

Becoming a Quality Assurance Analyst FAQs

How Long Does It Take To Become A Quality Assurance Analyst?

It takes 4 years of professional experience to become a quality assurance analyst. That is the time it takes to learn specific quality assurance analyst skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 7 to 9 years years to become a quality assurance analyst.

Do You Need A Degree To Be A Qa Analyst?

Yes, you typically need at least a bachelor's degree to become a QA Analyst. Most quality assurance analysts have a degree in computer science, information technology, or mathematics, such as statistics.

How Much Do Qa Analysts Make?

QA analysts make roughly $72,800 per year. Those just starting as a QA analyst with minimal experience may make less at approximately $61,500. It's not uncommon for a seasoned QA Analyst to make around $125,000 annually.

How Much Do Quality Analysts Make?

Quality analysts make $68,000 a year, on average ($32.75 an hour). How much a quality analyst can make ranges from $56,000 to $82,000 a year. A senior quality analyst can earn around $92,000 a year, while a lead quality analyst earns close to $100,000.

Is Qa Analyst A Good Job?

Yes, QA Analyst is a good job. Many within the profession rank it as one of the most reliable tech positions with plenty of room for growth within the software and tech fields.

Salaries are reported as being heavily competitive, with minimal time needed for training with the right pre-qualification, such as certifications or a degree. While the job can be mundane at times, many QA analysts report, especially in the manual testing arena, it is not stressful. There are also opportunities for advancement.

What Are The Five Main Responsibilities Of A Quality Analyst?

The five main responsibilities of a quality analyst are:

  • Auditing software and user-facing projects,

  • Maintaining control systems,

  • Troubleshooting failures within the testing environment,

  • Creating and managing user experience and testing documentation, and

  • Ensuring the software is fully functional before public production.

What Degree Do You Need To Work In Quality Assurance?

To work in quality assurance, you need at least a bachelor's degree. To become a quality assurance specialist, you will need at least a bachelor's degree in computer science or business management. These courses will help hone your troubleshooting and quality testing skills to discover possible flaws in a product.

What Is Required To Be A Quality Assurance Analyst?

The requirements to be a quality assurance analyst are a degree in a computer-related or mathematics field, extensive communication and problem-solving skills, and knowledge of native coding languages.

Have more questions? See all answers to common computer and mathematical questions.

Search For Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs

Quality Assurance Analyst Related Careers

Quality Assurance Analyst Related Jobs

Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs By Location

Quality Assurance Analyst Jobs By Company

Updated April 6, 2023