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The differences between senior quality assurances and 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 senior quality assurance and a quality assurance tester. Additionally, a senior quality assurance has an average salary of $98,182, which is higher than the $74,140 average annual salary of a quality assurance tester.
The top three skills for a senior quality assurance include QA, java and test cases. The most important skills for a quality assurance tester are manual test cases, regression, and test scripts.
| Senior Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $98,182 | $74,140 |
| Hourly rate | $47.20 | $35.64 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 79,947 | 82,396 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
The senior quality assurance or QA agent is in charge of ensuring all products and services are up to the company's standards and customer expectations. The role is vital as it helps the company fine-tune its products and services, resolve issues, and satisfy customer experience. Through the quality assurance team headed by its senior leaders, a company grows, expands, and improves. A quality assurance agent needs to have an eye for detail, be highly organized, and provide insights and advice for continual improvement.
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.
Senior quality assurances and quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $98,182 | $74,140 |
| Salary range | Between $74,000 And $128,000 | Between $55,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | Redwood City, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Apple | |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior quality assurance and a quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Senior Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between senior quality assurances' and quality assurance testers' demographics:
| Senior Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3% | Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8% |
| 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% |