Software quality assurance analysts and testers job market in Minnesota
Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.
The headline
Industry employment fell while average weekly industry wages rose
A data-driven view of the industries that employ Software quality assurance analysts and testers in Minnesota.
Occupation pay
What Software quality assurance analysts and testers earn in Minnesota
BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.
Median annual wage
$101,700Minnesota- Middle 50% of published wages
- $80,610 – $128,450
- U.S. median annual wage
- $104,300
- Reference period
- May 2025
The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.
Pay around Minnesota
How median pay varies by metro area
Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Software quality assurance analysts and testers, compared with the Minnesota median of $101,700.
Rochester, MN$120,630+18.6% vs. state
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI$102,130+0.4% vs. state
Fargo, ND-MN$85,670−15.8% vs. state
La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN$79,840−21.5% vs. state
Sioux Falls, SD-MN$69,990−31.2% vs. state
Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Minnesota median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.
Verified snapshot
Market at a Glance
Key changes in Minnesota’s weighted industry mix.
Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Published coverage: 69,160 represented establishments, 82.24% of the published industry mix.
Local research
What the data shows for software quality assurance analysts and testers in Minnesota
Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.
The highest-paying metro has a smaller employment market
The OEWS May 2025 comparison for Minnesota shows a pay premium alongside a smaller employment estimate. Rochester, MN's median annual pay of $120,630 is 18.1% higher than Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI's $102,130, while their employment estimates are 140 and 2,190, respectively. Among 2 metros with both usable measures, the former has the highest median pay and the latter the largest employment estimate. These counts describe existing jobs, not available vacancies.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSSome metro estimates cross state lines. Higher nominal pay does not establish better living standards or better chances of finding a job.
This occupation is less concentrated in the state
Using the national share of employment as the benchmark, software quality assurance analysts and testers have a published location quotient of 0.74 in Minnesota in OEWS May 2025. Their state employment share is 0.74 times the national share. The state estimate is 2,630 jobs, 1.4% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 0.89 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. The comparison describes where existing employment is concentrated, not current hiring or future growth.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSOEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.
Industry groups are pulling in opposite directions
The leading industry groups examined represent 98.1% of this occupation's national industry mix. Their Minnesota employment changes were mixed in January to March 2026: +2.6% year over year in Private education and health services, compared with -4.4% in Information. Those opposing movements are combined in the overall industry measure.
January to March 2026 · BLS QCEWEmployment and establishment counts moved apart
An establishment-count change of +1.5% accompanied an employment change of -1.6% year over year in January to March 2026 for the industries that employ this occupation in Minnesota. The two measures moved in opposite directions. This comparison describes their movements without identifying a cause.
January to March 2026 · BLS QCEWIndustry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology
Employment trends
Minnesota industry employment over time
Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.
- Minnesota · 2026 Q1-1.6%
- U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark-0.3%
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View every published value
| Quarter | Minnesota | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q2 | -2.2% | 100% |
| 2024 Q3 | -1.9% | 100% |
| 2024 Q4 | -1.3% | 100% |
| 2025 Q1 | -1.6% | 100% |
| 2025 Q2 | -1.7% | 100% |
| 2025 Q3 | -1.6% | 100% |
| 2025 Q4 | -1.1% | 100% |
| 2026 Q1 | -1.6% | 100% |
How to read this chart
State trend and national reference
The solid line follows Minnesota’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.
- Published quarters
- 8
- Earliest quarter
- 2024 Q2
- Latest quarter
- 2026 Q1
- U.S. benchmark
- -0.3%
Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.
Industry context
Where Software quality assurance analysts and testers Work
The occupation mix determines which Minnesota industries are weighted into this view.
| Industry group | Occupation mix | Employment change | Establishments | Avg. weekly industry wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional and business services | 52.0% | -0.9% | 43,340 | $2,451 |
| Information | 16.7% | -4.4% | 7,700 | $2,783 |
| Financial activities | 13.5% | -2.4% | 18,120 | $3,394 |
| Manufacturing | 8.6% | -0.7% | 8,466 | $1,835 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 4.5% | -1.3% | 38,906 | $1,399 |
| Private education and health services | 2.8% | +2.6% | 31,780 | $1,323 |
Which industries are growing?
One weighted industry is growing
Only weighted industries with a published positive Minnesota employment change are listed.
- Private education and health services+2.6%
The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.
Current Minnesota context
Current Minnesota Market Signals
Statewide indicators for all occupations in Minnesota. They are not Software quality assurance analysts and testers demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.
Statewide job postings
Indeed job postings · Minnesota
Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score
Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View values: Indeed postings index
| Observation date | Index (Feb 2020 = 100) |
|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | 90.31 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 89.30 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 88.88 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 89.27 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 89.57 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 89.56 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 88.83 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 89.79 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 90.34 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 90.10 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 90.34 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | 91.47 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 92.36 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 92.44 |
This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.
Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Oct 30, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.
Career context
Related occupations
Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.
Questions answered by this release
Software quality assurance analysts and testers in Minnesota FAQs
Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.
Is employment growing for Software quality assurance analysts and testers in Minnesota?
The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Minnesota industries weighted to Software quality assurance analysts and testers changed -1.6% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with -0.3% nationwide.
Are wages for Software quality assurance analysts and testers rising in Minnesota?
QCEW does not publish pay for Software quality assurance analysts and testers in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +4.3% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.
How complete is this Minnesota industry view?
The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.
Does this page show current Software quality assurance analysts and testers openings?
No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.
Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record
Methodology & Sources
Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.
- Occupation
- Software quality assurance analysts and testers
- SOC code
- 15-1253
- State
- Minnesota
- QCEW release label
- QCEW 2026 Q1
- Data period
- 2026 Q1
- State industry employment, year over year
- -1.6%State data coverage 100%
- U.S. benchmark, year over year
- -0.3%
- Difference from U.S. benchmark
- -1.3 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
- Establishments, year over year
- +1.5%State data coverage 100%
- Average weekly industry wage, year over year
- +4.3%State data coverage 100%
- Industry mix vintage
- EP-2025-2035
- BLS publication date
- Aug 28, 2026
- Source verification
- Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
- Canonical record URL
- https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/software-quality-assurance-analysts-and-testers/minnesota#evidence-record
- Derived by
- JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix
MethodologyBLS QCEWHow to citeQCEW state context release, 2026 Q1
Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.