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The differences between quality assurance engineers and senior quality assurance testers 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 senior quality assurance tester. Additionally, a senior quality assurance tester has an average salary of $93,770, which is higher than the $82,215 average annual salary of a quality assurance engineer.
The top three skills for a quality assurance engineer include java, python and regression. The most important skills for a senior quality assurance tester are test cases, QA, and regression.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Senior Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $82,215 | $93,770 |
| Hourly rate | $39.53 | $45.08 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 243,536 | 81,916 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| 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 senior quality assurance tester manages junior quality assurance staff. They test documents, lead testing procedures, and ensure customer satisfaction. They also work with an engineering development team to make updates to software.
Quality assurance engineers and senior quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Senior Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $82,215 | $93,770 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $109,000 | Between $73,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | California | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Sagarsoft |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance engineer and a senior quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Senior Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance engineers' and senior quality assurance testers' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Senior Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% | Male, 56.4% Female, 43.6% |
| 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% |