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The differences between senior testers 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 tester and a quality assurance tester. Additionally, a senior tester has an average salary of $84,660, which is higher than the $74,140 average annual salary of a quality assurance tester.
The top three skills for a senior tester include java, test results and linux. The most important skills for a quality assurance tester are manual test cases, regression, and test scripts.
| Senior Tester | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $84,660 | $74,140 |
| Hourly rate | $40.70 | $35.64 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 36,535 | 82,396 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| 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 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 testers and quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Tester | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $84,660 | $74,140 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $114,000 | Between $55,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | Portland, OR | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior tester and a quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Senior Tester | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | 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 testers' and quality assurance testers' demographics:
| Senior Tester | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 67.5% Female, 32.5% | 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% |