Average Software Quality Assurance Analysts And Testers Salary in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
Software Quality Assurance Analysts And Testers in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA earn a median annual salary of $133,970, which is +28.4% compared to the national median. There are 100 workers employed locally in this occupation.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA (metro area).
Local wage range
- 10th
- $75,100
- 25th
- $97,820
- Median
- $133,970
- 75th
- $168,150
- 90th
- $175,960
All values are percentiles of annual wages.
This local range is the useful part of the page. The median tells you the center of the market in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, while the percentile band shows how compressed or wide the local pay distribution actually is.
Cost-of-living context
Services: 152.7%
Rents: 164.3%
Comparable metros for this occupation
| Metro | Median annual wage | Compare | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $166,530 | Compare | 6,480 |
| Lexington Park, MD | $147,520 | Compare | 400 |
| Boulder, CO | $136,410 | Compare | 500 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $134,630 | Compare | 5,880 |
| Greeley, CO | $134,350 | Compare | 60 |
| Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY | $130,710 | Compare | 170 |
The point of this table is not random nearby places. It is to show the other labor markets where this same occupation looks stronger or weaker on the same OEWS release.
Top occupations in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
| Occupation | Median annual wage | LQ |
|---|---|---|
| General Internal Medicine Physicians | $430,970 | N/A |
| Physicians, All Other | $305,610 | 0.87 |
| Family Medicine Physicians | $291,880 | N/A |
| Chief Executives | $209,080 | 1.71 |
| Architectural And Engineering Managers | $206,880 | 0.54 |
| Natural Sciences Managers | $202,380 | 1.19 |
| Computer And Information Systems Managers | $198,770 | 0.61 |
| Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | $182,840 | 0.53 |
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA has salary data for 334 occupations. The highest-paid occupation in this area is General Internal Medicine Physicians.
Trend for Software Quality Assurance Analysts And Testers in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
Historical trend data is not yet available for this occupation in this area.
Outlook and page notes
Nationally, Software Quality Assurance Analysts And Testers are projected to change by +10.0% from 2024 to 2034, with 14,000 annual openings.
Use this page to answer three separate questions: what the occupation pays here, how large the local market is, and whether this market is unusually concentrated for the occupation.
For metro pages in particular, read long-term trend rows as directional until the area comparability layer is fully wired. OEWS area definitions can change over time, and that matters more at the metro level than at the state level.