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The differences between quality assurance engineers and quality 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 quality assurance engineer and a quality engineer. Additionally, a quality assurance engineer has an average salary of $82,215, which is higher than the $79,672 average annual salary of a quality engineer.
The top three skills for a quality assurance engineer include java, python and regression. The most important skills for a quality engineer are corrective action, continuous improvement, and ISO.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $82,215 | $79,672 |
| Hourly rate | $39.53 | $38.30 |
| Growth rate | - | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 243,536 | 96,838 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 44 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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.
A quality engineer's responsibilities include ensuring that the manufacturing processes are efficient and accurate, documenting findings that would raise concerns, conducting quality tests while observing parameters, and implementing changes as necessary to meet the highest quality standards. Quality engineers need to have excellent problem-solving and observation skills to detect any irregularities and possible malfunctions. They also must be able to communicate effectively with the clients for feedbacks and corrective adjustments, address complaints, and immediately resolve any inconsistencies made.
Quality assurance engineers and quality engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Average salary | $82,215 | $79,672 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $109,000 | Between $61,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance engineer and a quality engineer in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance engineers' and quality engineers' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% | Male, 78.2% Female, 21.8% |
| 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, 4.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 13.9% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 4% |