H1B Report
Salary comparison

Software Developers 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
Software Developers
SOC 15-1252Rank #1

Key metrics

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

MetricSoftware DevelopersSoftware Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
Median wage$102,000$81,328
P25 wage$84,000$68,549
P75 wage$130,000$100,000
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$46,000$31,451
Total filings2,765,226367,097
Wage samples2,760,334366,392
Rank#1#4

Median wage by year

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

Software Developers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$80k
FY2011$80k
FY2012$81k
FY2013$82k
FY2014$82k
FY2015$82k
FY2016$84k
FY2017$90k
FY2018$93k
FY2019$96k
FY2020$103k
FY2021$112k
FY2022$115k
FY2023$120k
FY2024$124k
FY2025$133k
FY2026$143k
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$110k

Top 5 hiring states — Software Developers

  • 1CA571,349$130,000
  • 2TX328,305$98,910
  • 3WA175,348$135,000
  • 4NJ152,178$100,000
  • 5NY127,190$110,460

Top 5 hiring states — Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

  • 1CA69,271$96,325
  • 2TX38,277$82,710
  • 3NJ23,266$72,030
  • 4WA19,761$87,942
  • 5IL17,732$74,818

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.
Software Developers vs Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers — H-1B Salary Comparison · H1B Report