What is a Quality Assurance Engineer?

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.

What Does a Quality Assurance Engineer Do

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a quality assurance engineer, we found that a lot of resumes listed 7.2% of quality assurance engineers included java, while 6.8% of resumes included python, and 4.5% of resumes included regression. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

Learn more about what a Quality Assurance Engineer does

How To Become a Quality Assurance Engineer

If you're interested in becoming a quality assurance engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 70.8% of quality assurance engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 16.8% of quality assurance engineers have master's degrees. Even though most quality assurance engineers 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 Engineer

Quality Assurance Engineer Job Description

Quality Engineers work with the entire software development team to ensure that software applications developed are in the clear before being launched or released for purchase. Quality Engineers are in charge of creating tests to uncover any issues that may arise and isolate the root cause of those issues.

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Top Quality Assurance Engineer Jobs Near You

Quality Assurance Engineer Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a quality assurance engineer can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as quality assurance lead, progress to a title such as quality assurance manager and then eventually end up with the title delivery manager.

Quality Assurance Engineer

Average Salary for a Quality Assurance Engineer

Quality Assurance Engineers in America make an average salary of $82,215 per year or $40 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $109,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $61,000 per year.
Average Quality Assurance Engineer Salary
$82,215 Yearly
$39.53 hourly
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Roles and Types of Quality Assurance Engineer

The role of a quality assurance engineer 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 engineer responsibilities:

  • Auditing sw/fw lifecycle processes and deliverable artifacts participating in customer reviews
  • Champion thequality assurance vision in the agile teams while writing great automation. Write selenium js or protractor automated test cases. Help improve selenium automated framework. Work closely with agile team members
  • Take ownership for testing the capabilities of workday's financial applications. Become the functional domain/product expert. Determine test methodology, test data setup

There are several types of quality assurance engineer, including:

Quality Assurance Analyst

Role:

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.

  • Average Salary: $73,532
  • 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
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States With The Most Quality Assurance Engineer Jobs

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

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Quality Assurance Engineer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California9,732$98,007
2Texas4,419$73,699
3Virginia2,925$82,028
4Washington2,751$90,816
5New York2,692$82,103
6Florida2,658$65,601
7Illinois2,491$74,008
8North Carolina2,272$74,788
9Pennsylvania2,243$78,772
10Maryland2,114$85,731
11Massachusetts2,074$81,586
12Georgia1,946$70,669
13Ohio1,919$73,778
14New Jersey1,841$83,717
15Michigan1,699$72,633
16Indiana1,659$70,970
17Colorado1,599$72,518
18Minnesota1,560$72,619
19Arizona1,290$76,815
20Oregon1,135$79,688
21Wisconsin1,090$71,589
22Missouri979$69,734
23Utah910$74,673
24Tennessee894$68,210
25Alabama870$69,300
26Connecticut733$81,221
27South Carolina681$73,482
28Kentucky653$69,178
29Iowa616$71,762
30Kansas522$69,449
31New Hampshire469$89,879
32Arkansas435$68,861
33Nebraska407$71,499
34Delaware379$77,439
35Nevada379$77,615
36Louisiana373$66,273
37Oklahoma365$66,574
38New Mexico330$74,084
39Rhode Island324$78,433
40Idaho319$73,569
41Mississippi311$68,351
42Maine235$74,980
43West Virginia228$73,522
44Montana210$68,626
45Vermont190$78,737
46North Dakota186$71,379
47South Dakota162$69,340
48Hawaii149$73,334
49Wyoming145$69,906
50Alaska145$75,075

Quality Assurance Engineer Education

Quality Assurance Engineer Majors

Computer Science
23.8 %
Electrical Engineering
15.0 %
Business
9.8 %

Quality Assurance Engineer Degrees

Bachelors

70.8 %

Masters

16.8 %

Associate

8.4 %

Top Colleges for Quality Assurance Engineers

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

3. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

4. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

5. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

6. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

7. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

8. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,104

Enrollment

7,089

9. Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,453

Enrollment

4,312

10. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Top Skills For a Quality Assurance Engineer

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Quality Assurance Engineer diversity

Quality Assurance Engineer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
70%
Female
Female
31%

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

  • Among quality assurance engineers, 30.5% of them are women, while 69.5% are men.

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

  • The most common foreign language among quality assurance engineers is Spanish at 28.3%.

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Best States For a Quality Assurance Engineer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a quality assurance engineer. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, New Hampshire, and Maryland. Quality assurance engineers make the most in California with an average salary of $98,007. Whereas in Washington and New Hampshire, they would average $90,816 and $89,879, respectively. While quality assurance engineers would only make an average of $85,731 in Maryland, 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. Washington

Total Quality Assurance Engineer Jobs: 2,751
Highest 10% Earn:
$120,000
Location Quotient:
1.65

$90,816

Avg. Salary

View 2,751 Quality Assurance Engineer Jobs In WA

2. California

Total Quality Assurance Engineer Jobs: 9,732
Highest 10% Earn:
$134,000
Location Quotient:
1.46

$98,007

Avg. Salary

View 9,732 Quality Assurance Engineer Jobs In CA

3. New Hampshire

Total Quality Assurance Engineer Jobs: 469
Highest 10% Earn:
$117,000
Location Quotient:
1.17

$89,879

Avg. Salary

View 469 Quality Assurance Engineer Jobs In NH
Full List Of Best States For Quality Assurance Engineers

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Top Quality Assurance Engineer 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 engineers and discovered their number of quality assurance engineer opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Tata Group was the best, especially with an average salary of $77,589. Amazon follows up with an average salary of $127,273, and then comes Tech Mahindra with an average of $80,080. 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 engineer. The employers include Umpqua Bank, Charles Schwab, and Veeva Systems

Most Common Employers For Quality Assurance Engineer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Apple$134,504$64.67737
2Amazon$127,273$61.192,315
3Cisco$119,290$57.35809
4Nokia$111,962$53.83249
5AT&T$107,153$51.52200
6VMware$106,432$51.17258
7Fidelity Investments$96,019$46.16194
8Populus Group$91,454$43.97528
9Hewlett Packard Enterprise$89,776$43.16215
10Alcatel Networks Inc$88,159$42.38340
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Quality Assurance Engineer Videos

Lending Club: Senior Quality Assurance Engineer
Quality Assurance and Control Manager - CRD/4051

Becoming a Quality Assurance Engineer FAQs

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

It takes 4 years of professional experience to become a quality assurance engineer. That is the time it takes to learn specific quality assurance engineer 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 engineer.

Are Qa Engineers In Demand?

Yes, QA engineers are in demand. As technology grows and dominates our lives, so will the need for roles like quality assurance engineers. Quality assurance engineers are one of the fastest-growing roles in technology, with less qualified people to perform the function than there are openings to hire.

Do Qa Engineer Jobs Pay Well?

Yes, QA engineer jobs pay well. The average salary for quality assurance engineers is around $96,000 a year.

The quality assurance tester is considered an entry-level role for quality assurance engineers. They earn an average salary of $65,000 a year, though this can vary depending on experience and location.

How Much Do Qa Engineers Get Paid?

QA engineers typically get paid $96,000 a year. This salary varies from a typical range of $90,000 to $100,000 for mid-career quality assurance engineers.

Salary for quality assurance engineers does vary by experience and location, of course. Entry-level quality assurance engineers, typically quality assurance testers, earn about $65,000 to $70,000 a year.

Is It Hard To Become A Qa Engineer?

Yes, it is hard to become a QA engineer. Depending on the career path, it typically takes one to four years to become a quality assurance engineer.

The challenge of becoming a quality assurance engineer is learning the necessary coding languages, software, and hardware needed to perform this role. This takes a substantial initial investment of time and energy to learn.

What Degree Do I Need To Be A Qa Engineer?

You will need a bachelor's degree in computer science to be a QA engineer. Other standard degree programs for a quality assurance engineer include information systems technology and software engineering.

What Does A Quality Assurance Engineer Do?

A quality assurance engineer maintains the quality of code written by other engineers. They explore potential problems and bugs in a program and resolve them before the code is pushed to production.

What Is The Role Of A Qa Engineer?

The role of a QA engineer is to ensure that new software products work before they are released to the customer. They will consult with managers on product goals, anticipate user behaviors and write software test cases.

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

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Updated April 6, 2023