H1B Report
Salary comparison

Cost Estimators 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
Cost Estimators
SOC 13-1051Rank #62

Key metrics

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

MetricCost EstimatorsSoftware Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
Median wage$75,000$81,600
P25 wage$60,000$68,715
P75 wage$99,623$100,005
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$39,623$31,290
Total filings14,309375,227
Wage samples14,208374,517
Rank#62#4

Median wage by year

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

Cost Estimators
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$62k
FY2011$60k
FY2012$61k
FY2013$65k
FY2014$62k
FY2015$63k
FY2016$69k
FY2017$66k
FY2018$70k
FY2019$73k
FY2020$77k
FY2021$82k
FY2022$90k
FY2023$93k
FY2024$93k
FY2025$93k
FY2026$97k
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 — Cost Estimators

  • 1NY2,451$74,360
  • 2CA2,383$87,360
  • 3TX1,778$79,792
  • 4NJ877$71,800
  • 5FL606$66,062

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 — Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

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