Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between quality assurance testers 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 tester and a senior quality assurance tester. Additionally, a senior quality assurance tester has an average salary of $93,770, 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 tester are test cases, QA, and regression.
| Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $74,140 | $93,770 |
| Hourly rate | $35.64 | $45.08 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 82,396 | 81,916 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| 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 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 testers and senior quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $74,140 | $93,770 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $99,000 | Between $73,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | Apple | Sagarsoft |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance tester and a senior quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | 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 testers' and senior quality assurance testers' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8% | 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% |