Side-by-side distribution
QA Automation
$142,438
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 23.5%
- Live roles
- 514
Software Engineer
$191,498
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44%
- Live roles
- 15,363
Highest-paying jobs
Automation Tester
Senior Associate - Test Automation & Tools Development Engineer
Staff Software Development Engineer in Test (Staff SDET)
Embedded Software Test Engineer, Onboard Test Automation
Principal Software Engineer in Test (SDET)
Senior Software Development Engineer in Test
Senior Software Development Engineer In Test, ML/AI
Sr. Software Development Engineer in Test, AI/ML
Sr Software Development Engineer in Test, ML
Senior Software Development Engineer in Test
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Growth
Intermediate Backend Software Engineer
Staff Software Engineer (Backend)
Lead Software Engineer (Backend)
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning (Audio)
Software Engineer - Stellar
Software Engineer - Solana
Software Engineer - EVM
Software Engineer - Compliance
Senior Staff+ Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
PlayStation Global
|
$209,700 | 14 |
Air Apps
|
$61,692 | 11 |
Anduril Industries
|
$167,250 | 6 |
Dialpad
|
$104,717 | 5 |
Brain Corp
|
$113,292 | 4 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$132,200 | 3 |
Onebrief
|
$163,750 | 2 |
Standard Bots
|
$135,000 | 2 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 298 |
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 113 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 103 |
Databricks
|
$214,700 | 98 |
Applied Intuition
|
$180,250 | 84 |
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 83 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 74 |
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 66 |
QA Automation salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $166,250 | 6 |
| Los Angeles | $162,500 | 4 |
| San Francisco | $150,000 | 7 |
| New York | $134,500 | 5 |
| Toronto | $106,250 | 6 |
| Dublin | $99,648 | 3 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 1,403 |
| Sydney | $224,060 | 8 |
| New York | $214,500 | 1,157 |
| Seattle | $212,500 | 417 |
| Austin | $194,500 | 139 |
| Boston | $186,050 | 226 |
| Los Angeles | $182,500 | 164 |
| Bangalore | $181,219 | 4 |
| Chicago | $178,000 | 138 |
| Atlanta | $172,750 | 59 |
QA Automation vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for QA Automation is $142,438 per year (typically $105,463–$175,600), versus $191,498 for Software Engineer ($152,500–$225,000). That puts Software Engineer about 34% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so QA Automation and Software Engineer 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.