H1B Report
Salary comparison

Computer Hardware Engineers vs Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

Side-by-side H-1B prevailing-wage comparison using the same DOL LCA data that drives every page on H1B Report. Quartiles, hiring geography, top sponsors and yearly wage drift.

Occupation A
Computer Hardware Engineers
SOC 17-2061Rank #57

Key metrics

Wage figures are offered annual wage; volume is total LCA count.

MetricComputer Hardware EngineersSoftware Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
Median wage$124,800$81,600
P25 wage$92,162$68,715
P75 wage$158,000$100,005
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$65,838$31,290
Total filings16,919375,227
Wage samples16,901374,517
Rank#57#4

Median wage by year

Year-over-year drift of the typical offered wage.

Computer Hardware Engineers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$81k
FY2011$79k
FY2012$80k
FY2013$89k
FY2014$90k
FY2015$94k
FY2016$100k
FY2017$104k
FY2018$115k
FY2019$120k
FY2020$133k
FY2021$140k
FY2022$150k
FY2023$153k
FY2024$160k
FY2025$162k
FY2026$167k
Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$75k
FY2011$70k
FY2012$68k
FY2013$68k
FY2014$69k
FY2015$70k
FY2016$71k
FY2017$74k
FY2018$82k
FY2019$85k
FY2020$88k
FY2021$94k
FY2022$97k
FY2023$98k
FY2024$100k
FY2025$103k
FY2026$107k

Top 5 hiring states — Computer Hardware Engineers

  • 1CA10,009$135,000
  • 2TX1,074$122,700
  • 3WA1,066$141,900
  • 4NC645$103,572
  • 5MA553$116,528

Top 5 hiring states — Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

  • 1CA70,691$96,325
  • 2TX39,545$83,303
  • 3NJ23,688$72,630
  • 4WA20,111$88,000
  • 5IL18,114$74,880

Top 5 sponsors — Computer Hardware Engineers

Top 5 sponsors — Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

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Replace either occupation above without losing the comparison. 2-way for now; 3+ comparison coming soon.