Quality engineer salary: How much should you ask?

Functional tester salary

The salary for a software testing professional in the USA can vary widely based on several factors, such as experience level, location, industry, and type of testing. However, on average, the median salary for a software tester in the USA is around $78,000 per year for an entry level software tester salary, to $103000 per year for a senior software test engineer salary.

That being said, there are several factors that can affect how much you earn as a Quality Engineer, for example, your location, technical skills and your years of experience.

For example, software testing positions in cities with a high cost of living, such as San Francisco or New York, may have higher salaries to compensate for the higher cost of living.

Additionally, senior-level testers or those with specialized skills, such as security testing or performance testing, may earn higher salaries.

Automation tester salary

Test automation engineers are more technical as then have programming skills like Python or Java to create the test automation scripts. For this reason, it’s more complicated to find good automation engineers in the market, and their salary tends to be bigger than the functional tester salary.

Test Automation Engineers are responsible for designing, developing, and implementing automated testing processes for software applications. Their primary goal is to ensure the quality of software products and reduce the time and effort required for manual testing. As a result, their demand and compensation are increasing rapidly in the software industry.

The average automation software tester salary in the United States is around $93,000 per year. As with the functional tester, the salary can vary according to the same factors: A Test Automation Engineer in San Francisco, CA can earn up to $120,000 per year, while the same position in Austin, TX can earn around $105,000 per year.

The demand for Test Automation Engineers is expected to grow in the coming years, making it a promising career path for those interested in software development and testing.

Performance tester salary

Performance testers are harder to find, and they require another level of knowledge because they work with the under layer of software development, they need to understand what’s under the hood to perform their job and they require other skills such as data analysis and math.

What I see is that a performance tester can earn up to 20% more than a test automation engineer in general, which is a good percentage taking into account that general salaries are not bad at all.

Software tester perks

In addition to the base salary, you can also receive benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and professional development opportunities. Some companies also offer bonuses, stock options, and other incentives.

The demand for software testers is expected to grow in the coming years due to the increasing importance of software quality and the need for faster and more efficient testing processes. Companies are investing in automation testing to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and speed up their software development process.