Side-by-side distribution
QA Automation
$137,250
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 21.2%
- Live roles
- 972
Software Engineer
$172,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 33.6%
- Live roles
- 32,812
Highest-paying jobs
Staff Software Development Engineer in Test (Connectors)
Staff Software Development Engineer in Test (Infrastructure)
Staff Software Development Engineer in Test (Graph Database)
Senior Principal, Solution Test & Automation Engineer
Sr Principal Engineer - Test Development and Automation
Lead Automation QA Engineer (Calypso)
Lead Automation QA Engineer (Calypso)
Lead Automation QA Engineer (Calypso)
Principal Test Automation Engineer
Senior SDET - Platform [Remote-US]
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer
Senior Software Engineer (Database Reliability)
Frontend Software Engineer
Staff Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform
Staff Software Engineer, Node Infra
Staff Software Engineer, Code RL
Staff Software Engineer, Claude Code
Staff+ Software Engineer, Developer Productivity
Software Engineer, Research Productivity
Staff Software Engineer, Environments Infrastructure
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Air Apps
|
$59,402 | 11 |
PlayStation Global
|
$140,400 | 10 |
Blue Origin
|
$161,953 | 6 |
Anduril Industries
|
$160,750 | 6 |
CACI
|
$130,725 | 6 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$116,600 | 6 |
State Street
|
$80,438 | 4 |
|
Veeam Software
|
$327,900 | 3 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 330 |
Northrop Grumman
|
$134,700 | 268 |
Leidos
|
$151,475 | 181 |
SpaceX
|
$145,000 | 171 |
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$142,400 | 169 |
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 151 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 144 |
|
Blue Origin
|
$197,582 | 143 |
QA Automation salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | $167,500 | 4 |
| Seattle | $158,477 | 8 |
| Denver | $142,888 | 4 |
| San Francisco | $141,500 | 10 |
| Boston | $140,000 | 5 |
| Chicago | $139,425 | 7 |
| New York | $135,000 | 6 |
| Toronto | $106,250 | 10 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $230,000 | 1,613 |
| New York | $212,650 | 1,400 |
| Seattle | $209,750 | 688 |
| Los Angeles | $196,000 | 254 |
| Sydney | $195,000 | 3 |
| Austin | $186,300 | 211 |
| Boston | $185,125 | 292 |
| London | $180,000 | 148 |
| Denver | $177,500 | 221 |
| Atlanta | $166,500 | 134 |
QA Automation vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for QA Automation is $137,250 per year (typically $106,725–$167,625), versus $172,000 for Software Engineer ($132,700–$215,000). That puts Software Engineer about 25% 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.