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The differences between senior testers and 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 senior tester and a quality assurance engineer. Additionally, a senior tester has an average salary of $84,660, which is higher than the $82,215 average annual salary of a quality assurance engineer.
The top three skills for a senior tester include java, test results and linux. The most important skills for a quality assurance engineer are java, python, and regression.
| Senior Tester | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $84,660 | $82,215 |
| Hourly rate | $40.70 | $39.53 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 36,535 | 243,536 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Senior testers are professionals who supervise junior-level testers that conduct testing for computer software for errors or any problems faced by end-users. These testers must attend discussion meetings to review and analyze business requirements and technical specifications with developers and business users. They must work with the quality assurance (QA) team to identify discrepancies and test the new application. Senior testers must also gather test results and document all defects to create the test completion document as per the requirement of end-users.
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.
Senior testers and quality assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Tester | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $84,660 | $82,215 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $114,000 | Between $61,000 And $109,000 |
| Highest paying City | Portland, OR | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | California |
| Best paying company | Amazon | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior tester and a quality assurance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Tester | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between senior testers' and quality assurance engineers' demographics:
| Senior Tester | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 67.5% Female, 32.5% | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% |
| 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% |