Software quality assurance analysts and testers job market in Texas

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Texas industry employment changed 0.8 percentage points above the U.S. benchmark

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Software quality assurance analysts and testers in Texas.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitationEvidence record

Occupation pay

What Software quality assurance analysts and testers earn in Texas

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$101,850Texas
Middle 50% of published wages
$79,670 – $127,760
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 Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.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 Texas

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Software quality assurance analysts and testers, compared with the Texas median of $101,850.

Texas median$101,850
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX$103,210+1.3% vs. state
Middle 50%$81,980 – $127,610Published employment8,840
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX$103,070+1.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$82,510 – $130,680Published employment3,340
Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX$99,670−2.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$71,580 – $122,860Published employment50
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX$98,690−3.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$70,890 – $126,360Published employment2,420
Corpus Christi, TX$96,530−5.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$74,460 – $110,500Published employment50
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX$95,990−5.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$76,350 – $119,250Published employment1,010
View 7 more published metro areas
Midland, TX$94,500−7.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$77,780 – $120,790Published employment60
El Paso, TX$92,150−9.5% vs. state
Middle 50%$69,770 – $106,480Published employment180
College Station-Bryan, TX$83,700−17.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$65,260 – $102,670Published employment90
Waco, TX$83,150−18.4% vs. state
Middle 50%$67,040 – $109,060Published employment80
Abilene, TX$81,990−19.5% vs. state
Middle 50%$60,880 – $95,420Published employment50
Killeen-Temple, TX$81,390−20.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$65,810 – $103,120Published employment80
San Angelo, TX$62,400−38.7% vs. state
Middle 50%$54,530 – $79,520Published employment40

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Texas 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 Texas’s weighted industry mix.

+0.5%Industry employmentTexas industry employmentU.S. -0.3%vs. -0.3% U.S.
+3.1%Establishments in weighted industriesTexas establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +2.5%vs. +2.5% U.S.
+5.0%Avg. weekly industry wageTexas avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +4.4% · not occupation payvs. +4.4% U.S. · not occupation pay
+0.8 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 304,614 represented establishments, 82.24% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for software quality assurance analysts and testers in Texas

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.

Professional and business services has the largest positive weighted contribution

The leading industry groups examined cover 98.1% of this occupation's national industry mix. Within that comparison for Texas in January to March 2026, Professional and business services accounts for 69.5% of the positive weighted contributions, with its own employment changing +0.9% year over year. These contributions weight industry growth by the national industry mix and do not count occupation jobs created.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Pay differs widely between metro areas

Published metro pay varies substantially across the 13 comparable areas associated with Texas in OEWS May 2025. Median wages range from $62,400 in San Angelo, TX to $103,210 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX; the upper figure is 65.4% higher. Higher nominal pay alone does not account for living costs or job availability.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Metro estimates may include areas in neighboring states. The comparison covers published metro estimates, not every part of the state.

Industry 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

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.

Latest published values
  • Texas · 2026 Q1+0.5%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark-0.3%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value
Quarterly Texas industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterTexasCoverage
2024 Q2-0.1%100%
2024 Q3+0.2%100%
2024 Q4+0.4%100%
2025 Q1+0.3%100%
2025 Q2+0.5%100%
2025 Q3+0.3%100%
2025 Q4+0.4%100%
2026 Q1+0.5%100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Texas’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 Texas industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Texas Software quality assurance analysts and testers context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Professional and business services52.0%+0.9%192,656$2,210
Information16.7%-0.7%16,389$3,141
Financial activities13.5%+1.1%95,569$2,867
Manufacturing8.6%-0.4%31,528$2,126
Trade, transportation, and utilities4.5%-0.2%162,594$1,485
Private education and health services2.8%+2.0%117,663$1,236

Which industries are growing?

3 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Texas employment change are listed.

  • Private education and health services+2.0%
  • Financial activities+1.1%
  • Professional and business services+0.9%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Current Texas context

Current Texas Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Texas. 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 · Texas

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

118.6Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026
+18.6%Versus the February 2020 baseline
+0.8%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

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
Indeed postings index
Observation dateIndex (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026114.05
Jul 31, 2026113.97
Aug 7, 2026113.53
Aug 14, 2026114.15
Aug 21, 2026114.29
Aug 28, 2026114.83
Sep 4, 2026115.34
Sep 11, 2026116.90
Sep 18, 2026117.48
Sep 25, 2026117.58
Oct 2, 2026117.56
Oct 9, 2026118.31
Oct 16, 2026118.27
Oct 23, 2026118.56

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.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Statewide layoff notices

Statewide WARN notices

Texas statewide

27 notices in this source

Notice dates from Aug 4, 2026 to Nov 1, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.

What this means: This is the number of WARN notices with notice dates in this period in Texas’s official statewide list. It is a statewide count only, and does not identify any employer.

Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. WARN covers qualifying large layoffs and closures under applicable law, not all layoffs, and thresholds vary by state.

Texas Workforce Commission About WARN data

Source last checked

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Software quality assurance analysts and testers in Texas 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 Texas?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Texas industries weighted to Software quality assurance analysts and testers changed +0.5% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with -0.3% nationwide.

Are wages for Software quality assurance analysts and testers rising in Texas?

QCEW does not publish pay for Software quality assurance analysts and testers in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +5.0% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Texas 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
Texas
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
+0.5%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
-0.3%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
+0.8 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
+3.1%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+5.0%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/texas#evidence-record
Derived by
JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

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.

Software quality assurance analysts and testers in other states