H1B Report
Salary comparison

Computer Programmers 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 Programmers
SOC 15-1251Rank #6

Key metrics

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

MetricComputer ProgrammersSoftware Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
Median wage$68,848$81,600
P25 wage$61,000$68,715
P75 wage$80,184$100,005
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$19,184$31,290
Total filings313,856375,227
Wage samples312,556374,517
Rank#6#4

Median wage by year

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

Computer Programmers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$60k
FY2011$62k
FY2012$62k
FY2013$63k
FY2014$65k
FY2015$67k
FY2016$68k
FY2017$69k
FY2018$74k
FY2019$77k
FY2020$78k
FY2021$85k
FY2022$87k
FY2023$86k
FY2024$94k
FY2025$94k
FY2026$98k
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 Programmers

  • 1TX38,662$69,200
  • 2CA38,151$75,000
  • 3NJ29,022$70,251
  • 4IL21,834$66,100
  • 5NY16,102$70,735

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 Programmers

Top 5 sponsors — Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

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