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The differences between quality assurance engineers and software 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 software engineer. Additionally, a software engineer has an average salary of $100,260, 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 software engineer are java, python, and software development.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Software Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $82,215 | $100,260 |
| Hourly rate | $39.53 | $48.20 |
| Growth rate | - | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 243,536 | 339,938 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3.5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| 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 software engineer is a computer science professional who is responsible for the development of information systems, designing and building computer systems software and applications software. They often prefer to call themselves as a software developer or computer programmer. They have substantial knowledge of programming languages, software development, and computer operating systems, and other technologies. They use these to turn a plan into a final output. They can create a design, test, and develop software based on the needs of their clients.
Quality assurance engineers and software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Software Engineer | |
| Average salary | $82,215 | $100,260 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $109,000 | Between $73,000 And $136,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance engineer and a software engineer in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Software Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance engineers' and software engineers' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Software Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% | Male, 78.0% Female, 22.0% |
| 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, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 34.0% White, 48.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 8% |