Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers · SOC 15-1253

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testerss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for software quality assurance analysts and testers. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (8 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 214 metro areas

Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$166,530	6,480	5.7
2	Lexington Park, MD	$147,520	400	5.7
3	Boulder, CO	$136,410	500	2.6
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$134,630	5,880	2.5
5	Greeley, CO	$134,350	60	0.5
6	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$133,970	100	1.0
7	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$130,710	170	0.6
8	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$130,540	11,460	1.2
9	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$129,880	2,670	2.0
10	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$129,690	6,650	3.2
11	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$128,860	80	0.6
12	Colorado Springs, CO	$128,520	610	1.9
13	Urban Honolulu, HI	$128,010	80	0.2
14	Bozeman, MT	$127,590	50	0.8
15	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$126,350	8,460	2.7
16	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$124,400	80	0.4
17	Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL	$124,040	210	1.7
18	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$123,690	3,620	2.2
19	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$122,980	950	2.8
20	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$122,210	6,050	2.2
21	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$122,210	7,200	1.1
22	Rochester, MN	$120,630	140	1.1
23	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$120,210	2,280	1.5
24	Vallejo, CA	$115,710	40	0.3
25	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$115,000	280	1.4

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.