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The differences between quality assurance engineers and software 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 software quality engineer. Additionally, a software quality engineer has an average salary of $99,902, 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 quality engineer are software quality, java, and python.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Software Quality Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $82,215 | $99,902 |
| Hourly rate | $39.53 | $48.03 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 243,536 | 279,437 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| 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 Software Quality Engineer ensures that the software of a company meets all quality standards. They are responsible for software development, inspection, implementation, testing, and verification.
Quality assurance engineers and software quality engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Software Quality Engineer | |
| Average salary | $82,215 | $99,902 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $109,000 | Between $73,000 And $136,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance engineer and a software quality engineer in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Software Quality Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between quality assurance engineers' and software quality engineers' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Software Quality Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% | Male, 67.3% Female, 32.7% |
| 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% |