QA Engineer

Designs and executes manual and automated tests.

Also known as:QAApplication IntegratorApplications AnalystApplications Quality Assurance Specialist (Applications QA Specialist)Applications Software Engineering Information Technology Specialist (Applications Software Engineering IT Specialist)Applications System AnalystApplications Tester

Compensation by seniority

Reported

Median

$104k

Mean

$109k

10th–90th pct

$61k–$167k

Employed (US)

186740

Confidence: 90% · based on real BLS OEWS data covering all experience levels (not broken out by seniority) · 186,740 employed nationally · last updated 9/24/2026

Historical trend & projection

Median total compensation at the typical seniority level for this role, 2021–2025, projected forward under three scenarios.

Simulated

Common skills

Quality Assurance

Core

JavaScript

Core

Education requirements

Share of surveyed workers/experts reporting each education level as typical for this occupation (O*NET).

Reported

Bachelor's Degree

50% typical

Associate Degree

26% typical

Certificate

9% typical

Some College

9% typical

Explore education impact for related majors →

Common next roles

Test Automation Engineer+18.0%QA Manager+188.3%Release Manager+149.8%Application Security Engineer+9.9%DevSecOps Engineer+5.2%

Common previous roles

Test Automation Engineer+15.2%QA Manager+65.3%Release Manager+60.0%DevSecOps Engineer+4.9%Application Security Engineer+9.0%

Demand snapshot

Active openings (simulated)1,907

Posting growth (est. from real category-level trend)+24.4%

Median days to fill—

Estimated

Employed (US)186,740

Projected growth7.8%/yr

Reported

Role characteristics

Remote-friendliness70%

Automation exposure35%

Sources & freshness

Compensation and employment figures on this page are real, reported datafrom the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey (all experience levels combined — BLS doesn't break wages out by seniority). Education requirements and some alternate titles are real data from O*NET. Historical trend, projections, and demand figures below remain simulated demo data.

Read the full methodology