Job Market Health score
32/ 100
Weak
Stable · -2
- At least 90% of required inputs and occupation-industry mapping are covered.
Job Market Health scores are derived indicators based on published data, informational only, not a forecast or guarantee.
Software quality assurance analysts and testers
SOC 15-1253 · 15-0000 · Reference month July 2026
Develop and execute software tests to identify software problems and their causes. Test system modifications to prepare for implementation. Document software and application defects using a bug tracking system and report defects to software or web developers. Create and maintain databases of known defects. May participate in software design reviews to provide input on functional requirements, operational characteristics, product designs, and schedules.
In short
As of July 2026, Software quality assurance analysts and testers have a Job Market Health score of 32/100, classified as Weak. This score is our derived indicator, not a government statistic.
The published median annual wage is $104,300.
BLS projects about 10,700 average annual openings and +5.7% employment growth over the 2025-2035 projection period. Projected openings are a modeled yearly average, not jobs open today.
$104,300Median annual wageOEWS May 2025
10,700Projected annual openingsBLS Employment Projections 2025-2035
+5.7%Projected growth2025–2035
186,740Total employmentOEWS May 2025
How to read this page
The score is a national composite from 0 to 100 that weights near term hiring demand at 50 percent, the occupation's own employment fundamentals at 30 percent, and long-term outlook at 20 percent. Wages and occupation profile details are context shown alongside it, not score inputs. See the full methodology.
Median annual wage and metro employment come from BLS OEWS, which is annual. Projected annual openings and projected growth come from BLS Employment Projections and describe the published projection horizon, so they are not a count of jobs open today. Values shown as not published are suppressed by the source rather than filled in here.
Job Market Health trend
Published composite score by reference month
Score components
The three published inputs behind the composite
Largest metro markets by employment
OEWS metro employment, where the jobs are, not a quality ranking
| Metro area | Employment | Jobs per 1,000 | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 11,460 | 1.21 | $130,540 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 8,840 | 2.18 | $103,210 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 8,460 | 2.70 | $126,350 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 7,200 | 1.15 | $122,210 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 6,650 | 3.19 | $129,690 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 6,480 | 5.71 | $166,530 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 6,050 | 2.24 | $122,210 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 5,880 | 2.48 | $134,630 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 5,270 | 1.82 | $105,800 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 5,010 | 1.11 | $105,580 |
Education & training
Typical entry requirements · BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035
Top skills
Occupation profile · O*NET 31.0 Database
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Writing
- Monitoring
- Programming
- Complex Problem Solving
- Quality Control Analysis
- Systems Evaluation
Also known as: Automation Tester, Information Technology Analyst (IT Analyst), Quality Assurance Analyst (QA Analyst), Quality Assurance Engineer (QA Engineer), Quality Engineer, Software Quality Assurance Analyst (SQA Analyst)
Sources & releases
Every figure above traces to a published release
Values marked “Not published” are suppressed or not published by the source. We leave them blank rather than estimating them.
Related occupations
O*NET® lists these occupations as related. Each link opens the same published view of score, wages and outlook.
Keep going
Learn how to judge a market from these numbers in how to tell if a job market is healthy, or why projected growth and annual openings often disagree in projected growth vs projected annual openings. Coverage, revisions and limits are explained on about the data.
The datasets behind these figures, and what each one can and cannot show, are set out on data sources.