Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between quality technicians and quality associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a quality associate has an average salary of $50,300, which is higher than the $37,007 average annual salary of a quality technician.
The top three skills for a quality technician include calipers, quality standards and corrective action. The most important skills for a quality associate are patients, QA, and quality system.
| Quality Technician | Quality Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $37,007 | $50,300 |
| Hourly rate | $17.79 | $24.18 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 80,291 | 60,168 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 45 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
Quality systems analysts are professionals who analyze the implemented quality standards of an organization's business procedures and policies. These analysts are required to execute test plans and resolve discrepancies with their technical personnel. They must coordinate all internal audits of the quality system while implementing corrective action to their audit findings. They are required to conduct weekly meetings with development staff to discuss defects and revised business requirements. Quality systems analysts must also identify the quality training needs for operations personnel working with supervisors and quality engineers.
A quality associate is responsible for ensuring that a new product meets standards for usage and operating. You will perform various tasks that include assisting in identifying quality problems and improving operational processes, writing, disseminating, and maintaining quality documentation and manuals, and verifying logs and databases to monitor and flag quality issues and improvements. In addition, you are responsible for supporting document control and quality audits, reviewing reports and validation protocols, and investigating and diagnosing quality complaints.
Quality technicians and quality associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Technician | Quality Associate | |
| Average salary | $37,007 | $50,300 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $50,000 | Between $31,000 And $80,000 |
| Highest paying City | Los Angeles, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | Amphenol | JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a quality technician and a quality associate in terms of educational background:
| Quality Technician | Quality Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Business | Biology |
| Most common college | Purdue University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality technicians' and quality associates' demographics:
| Quality Technician | Quality Associate | |
| Average age | 45 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 60.4% Female, 39.6% | Male, 44.8% Female, 55.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 7.5% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 11.6% White, 55.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 8% |