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The differences between quality assurance testers and senior quality assurance 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 tester and a senior quality assurance engineer. Additionally, a senior quality assurance engineer has an average salary of $106,802, which is higher than the $74,140 average annual salary of a quality assurance tester.
The top three skills for a quality assurance tester include manual test cases, regression and test scripts. The most important skills for a senior quality assurance engineer are QA, java, and python.
| Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $74,140 | $106,802 |
| Hourly rate | $35.64 | $51.35 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 82,396 | 254,258 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A quality assurance tester, also known as QA tester, has different responsibilities depending on the line of work or industry involved. In a computer development setting, they are in charge of working and coordinating with technical engineers. They have to conduct regular tests for new software and programs, identify inconsistencies, and find areas for improvement. Furthermore, a quality assurance tester must produce reports from the tests, which can be the basis of progress for further developments.
A senior quality assurance engineer oversees the testing procedures conducted in software development, ensuring technical accuracy and efficiency. They are primarily responsible for working alongside software designers and quality engineers, reviewing quality control reports, inspecting specifications, and devising particular test procedures. Moreover, it is also essential to troubleshoot issues and identify any inconsistencies or bugs. As someone with more experience in the team, they must supervise and serve as a mentor to the younger quality assurance engineers in the joint effort to develop efficient software.
Quality assurance testers and senior quality assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $74,140 | $106,802 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $99,000 | Between $82,000 And $138,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance tester and a senior quality assurance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | 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 testers' and senior quality assurance engineers' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8% | Male, 68.0% Female, 32.0% |
| 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, 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% |