Side-by-side distribution
Manufacturing Engineer
$150,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 54.8%
- Live roles
- 1,009
Quality Assurance
$108,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 28%
- Live roles
- 246
Highest-paying jobs
Research Engineer, Production Model Post-Training
Risk and Pnl Production Support Engineer
Production Support Engineer - Trading Systems
Product Engineer - Manufacturing Operations
Manufacturing Quality Engineer, Data Center Power & Cooling
Manufacturing Engineer - Data Center Hardware
Senior Manufacturing Engineer (Arc Vehicle)
Senior Manufacturing Engineer (Reentry)
Product Manufacturing Engineer - PCBA
Manufacturing Quality Engineer – Datacenter Infrastructure
Highest-paying jobs
Senior QA Manager, GMP GxP Auditing & Vendor Management
Senior Manager, Clinical Quality Assurance
Sr. Manager, Quality Assurance for Quality Control
Quality Assurance Manager
QA Manager, Training Services
Manager, Clinical Review and Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance and Documentation Manager
Principal Analytical QA Specialist, Drug Substance
Senior Technical Program Manager, QA & Developer Experience
Senior Construction Quality Assurance & Control Manager
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$150,000 | 136 |
Relativity Space
|
$136,000 | 28 |
Rocket Lab Corporation
|
$143,550 | 23 |
SpaceX
|
$115,000 | 21 |
Crusoe
|
$187,500 | 15 |
Fluidstack
|
$250,250 | 12 |
Hadrian Automation
|
$160,000 | 12 |
Vast
|
$165,000 | 11 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Genetix Biotherapeutics
|
$142,000 | 3 |
Career Team
|
$51,000 | 3 |
|
Revolution Medicines
|
$159,750 | 2 |
Genezen
|
$97,500 | 2 |
Legend Biotech US
|
$90,478 | 2 |
| OP OpenEye | $54,600 | 2 |
|
Corcept Therapeutics
|
$188,730 | 1 |
|
Verra Mobility
|
$180,000 | 1 |
Manufacturing Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $226,000 | 31 |
| Seattle | $226,000 | 19 |
| Austin | $226,000 | 17 |
| San Francisco | $190,500 | 41 |
| Los Angeles | $152,500 | 41 |
| Boston | $150,000 | 7 |
| Chicago | $135,750 | 6 |
| Atlanta | $130,000 | 7 |
| Denver | $97,500 | 4 |
Quality Assurance salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $151,500 | 3 |
| Los Angeles | $92,500 | 3 |
Manufacturing Engineer vs Quality Assurance: which pays more?
The median for Manufacturing Engineer is $150,000 per year (typically $125,375–$173,500), versus $108,000 for Quality Assurance ($79,375–$137,588). That puts Manufacturing Engineer about 39% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Manufacturing Engineer and Quality Assurance are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.