Side-by-side distribution
Production Manager
$93,055
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 36.6%
- Live roles
- 1,761
Quality Assurance
$108,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 31.1%
- Live roles
- 858
Highest-paying jobs
Production Supervisor 2nd Shift
Engineering Manager, Production Engineering
Marketing - Senior Manager/Manager, Event Production, Events & Experiences
SAP Production Planning & Execution Manager - Industrial
Program Manager II-Production
Senior Manager, Production Engineering
Engineering Manager - AJAX Production
Manager, Engineering (Production Orchestration)
Sr Manager, Production Planning & Control
Production Operations Manager 3
Highest-paying jobs
QA/QC Manager (Construction)
QA/QC Manager
Software Quality Assurance Manager 2
Software Quality Assurance Specialist/Applications Tester – TS/SCI w/ Poly
Manager, QA Method Validation
Sr. Quality Manager - Process Assurance
Sr. Quality Manager - Customer Assurance
Sr. Quality Manager - Design Assurance
Senior Manager Quality Assurance, Medical Device (Sustaining)
Software Quality Assurance Specialist/Applications Tester
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Oshkosh Corporation
|
$95,500 | 16 |
|
Northrop Grumman
|
$179,000 | 14 |
Kraft Heinz
|
$87,550 | 13 |
QXO
|
$75,000 | 12 |
Anduril Industries
|
$149,750 | 10 |
Caterpillar
|
$111,510 | 10 |
Flex
|
$101,600 | 10 |
Heidelberg Materials
|
$90,040 | 10 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Regeneron
|
$98,050 | 17 |
Bristol Myers Squibb
|
$112,467 | 12 |
Cardinal Health
|
$92,425 | 10 |
Gilead Sciences
|
$122,948 | 9 |
|
GDIT
|
$165,672 | 7 |
Abbott
|
$149,000 | 6 |
| NO Novartis | $128,000 | 5 |
CACI
|
$139,400 | 4 |
Production Manager salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $190,300 | 8 |
| Seattle | $157,050 | 4 |
| Toronto | $135,250 | 9 |
| Denver | $115,395 | 4 |
| New York | $114,475 | 34 |
| Los Angeles | $107,500 | 19 |
| London | $103,443 | 6 |
| Chicago | $103,208 | 13 |
| Boston | $90,000 | 9 |
| Austin | $84,600 | 7 |
Quality Assurance salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $151,500 | 3 |
| Chicago | $129,438 | 7 |
| Atlanta | $113,633 | 5 |
| New York | $113,100 | 7 |
| Toronto | $100,000 | 5 |
| Los Angeles | $92,500 | 3 |
Production Manager vs Quality Assurance: which pays more?
The median for Production Manager is $93,055 per year (typically $80,000–$119,400), versus $108,000 for Quality Assurance ($82,637–$137,125). That puts Quality Assurance about 16% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Production Manager 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.