Manual QA engineer cost in Chicago
Employee model, USD, computed , dataset v1.0.
Hiring a mid-level manual QA engineer as an employee in Chicago costs a median of USD 105,351Confidence B a year, with scenarios from USD 93,827 to USD 117,296, against USD 107,256Confidence B[3] to [18], [22], [23] for the United States as a whole.
Base salary is USD 87,085; employer contributions (social security and payroll taxes the employer pays on top of salary), equipment, recruiting and ramp add 21%.
Junior
Confidence B Median total USD 78,250 a year. The p25 and p75 columns apply the formula to each input's p25 (the value a quarter of the data falls below) and p75 (the value a quarter of the data sits above); they are scenarios, not percentiles of the total. Footnote numbers point to the sources below.
| Component | p25 | Median | p75 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary[1][2] 2 sources, spread 27% | USD 56,000 | USD 63,539 | USD 71,077 |
| Employer contributions[3][4][5][6][7] | USD 5,144 | USD 5,830 | USD 6,517 |
| Mandatory benefits (none in statute)[8] None in statute: the statutory sources list no payment beyond 12 monthly salaries; paid leave is counted in productive hours | USD 0 | USD 0 | USD 0 |
| Voluntary benefits | Not estimated: fewer than two sources for this country; the total leaves it out | ||
| Equipment and tooling[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] | USD 954 | USD 1,130 | USD 1,403 |
| Recruiting, amortised over 2.5 years[16][17][18] Agency fee 15% to 25% of base salary | USD 3,360 | USD 5,083 | USD 7,108 |
| Onboarding ramp, amortised over 2.5 years (formula default)[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] 10 weeks at 50% productivity | USD 2,352 | USD 2,668 | USD 2,984 |
| Total annual cost | USD 67,809 | USD 78,250 | USD 89,089 |
| First-year cost (recruiting and ramp not amortised) | USD 76,377 | USD 89,877 | USD 104,227 |
| Monthly cost | USD 5,651 | USD 6,521 | USD 7,424 |
| Hourly equivalent[8] | USD 35 | USD 40 | USD 46 |
Hourly figures divide the annual cost by 1,940 productive hours a year, the national figure for the United States (1,700 + 8 x 30, for no days of statutory leave or public holidays, against the 30 days that the 1,700-hour year allows for, as this site reads the formula)[8].
Mid-level
Confidence B Median total USD 105,351 a year. The p25 and p75 columns apply the formula to each input's p25 (the value a quarter of the data falls below) and p75 (the value a quarter of the data sits above); they are scenarios, not percentiles of the total. Footnote numbers point to the sources below.
| Component | p25 | Median | p75 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary[1][19] 2 sources, spread 21% | USD 78,919 | USD 87,085 | USD 95,250 |
| Employer contributions[3][4][5][6][7] | USD 7,232 | USD 7,975 | USD 8,719 |
| Mandatory benefits (none in statute)[8] None in statute: the statutory sources list no payment beyond 12 monthly salaries; paid leave is counted in productive hours | USD 0 | USD 0 | USD 0 |
| Voluntary benefits | Not estimated: fewer than two sources for this country; the total leaves it out | ||
| Equipment and tooling[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] | USD 954 | USD 1,130 | USD 1,403 |
| Recruiting, amortised over 2.5 years[16][17][18] Agency fee 15% to 25% of base salary | USD 4,735 | USD 6,967 | USD 9,525 |
| Onboarding ramp, amortised over 2.5 years (formula default)[1][3][4][5][6][7][19] 6 weeks at 50% productivity | USD 1,988 | USD 2,194 | USD 2,399 |
| Total annual cost | USD 93,827 | USD 105,351 | USD 117,296 |
| First-year cost (recruiting and ramp not amortised) | USD 103,912 | USD 119,091 | USD 135,183 |
| Monthly cost | USD 7,819 | USD 8,779 | USD 9,775 |
| Hourly equivalent[8] | USD 48 | USD 54 | USD 60 |
Hourly figures use the same 1,940 productive hours a year.
Senior
Confidence B Median total USD 118,230 a year. The p25 and p75 columns apply the formula to each input's p25 (the value a quarter of the data falls below) and p75 (the value a quarter of the data sits above); they are scenarios, not percentiles of the total. Footnote numbers point to the sources below.
| Component | p25 | Median | p75 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary[1][20][21] 3 sources, spread 13% | USD 81,027 | USD 98,542 | USD 109,100 |
| Employer contributions[3][4][5][6][7] | USD 7,424 | USD 9,019 | USD 9,981 |
| Mandatory benefits (none in statute)[8] None in statute: the statutory sources list no payment beyond 12 monthly salaries; paid leave is counted in productive hours | USD 0 | USD 0 | USD 0 |
| Voluntary benefits | Not estimated: fewer than two sources for this country; the total leaves it out | ||
| Equipment and tooling[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] | USD 954 | USD 1,130 | USD 1,403 |
| Recruiting, amortised over 2.5 years[16][17][18] Agency fee 15% to 25% of base salary | USD 4,862 | USD 7,883 | USD 10,910 |
| Onboarding ramp, amortised over 2.5 years (formula default)[1][3][4][5][6][7][20][21] 4 weeks at 50% productivity | USD 1,361 | USD 1,655 | USD 1,832 |
| Total annual cost | USD 95,626 | USD 118,230 | USD 133,226 |
| First-year cost (recruiting and ramp not amortised) | USD 104,960 | USD 132,537 | USD 152,339 |
| Monthly cost | USD 7,969 | USD 9,852 | USD 11,102 |
| Hourly equivalent[8] | USD 49 | USD 61 | USD 69 |
Hourly figures use the same 1,940 productive hours a year.
Sources
Junior: salary confidence B from 2 sources, employer contributions confidence B; Mid-level: salary confidence B from 2 sources, employer contributions confidence B; Senior: salary confidence A from 3 sources, employer contributions confidence B. How grades work.
- Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries. United States - Corporate - Other taxes
- Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 759, Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. UI Data Summary, 2nd Quarter 2026 Summary Tables
- Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. Oregon Workers' Compensation Premium Rate Ranking (rates in effect January 1, 2024)
- U.S. Department of Labor. Vacation Leave
- Apple. Buy MacBook Air
- Apple. Buy MacBook Pro
- Testing tool list price (vendor not named)
- Testing tool list price (vendor not named)
- Linear. Linear pricing
- Manatal. Recruitment fees (agency fee guide)
- Apollo Technical. What is a placement fee for engineering hiring
- HeroHunt.ai. True Cost to Hire an AI Engineer in 2026
- Built In. 2026 QA Engineer Salary in US | Built In
Formula v1.0How each component is computed
version: 1.0
total_annual_cost =
base_salary
+ employer_contributions # statutory rates applied to base with caps; per country
+ mandatory_benefits # 13th or 14th salary, paid leave value above base, mandatory insurance; per country
+ voluntary_benefits # health, pension top-up, meal and transport; market survey medians per country and level; shown as a separate line
+ equipment_and_tooling # laptop amortised over 3 years, licences, test devices for mobile roles; per level and role
+ recruiting_cost_amortised # recruiting cost / expected tenure years; per country, role and model
+ onboarding_ramp # ramp_weeks x weekly cost x (1 - productivity_factor); per level
first_year_cost = total_annual_cost - recruiting_cost_amortised + recruiting_cost - onboarding_ramp_amortised + onboarding_ramp
monthly_cost = total_annual_cost / 12
hourly_equivalent = total_annual_cost / productive_hours
# Defaults (overridable per country in data with a source)
expected_tenure_years: 2.5
productive_hours: 1,700 per year, adjusted by statutory paid leave per country
ramp_weeks: junior 10, mid 6, senior 4
productivity_factor_during_ramp: 0.5
equipment_amortisation_years: 3
# Hiring models
employee: full formula
contractor: contractor_rate x hours + platform_or_eor_fee; no employer_contributions, no mandatory_benefits unless the EOR passes them through (sourced); recruiting as for employee; ramp as for employee
outsourced: published vendor monthly or hourly rate per role and region; no recruiting, no ramp, no equipment; show typical minimum engagement from sources
# Output per combination
p25, median, p75 for each component and for the totals, in local currency and USD at fx.json date; confidence grade; source ids; computedOnversion: 1.0
total_annual_cost =
base_salary
+ employer_contributions # statutory rates applied to base with caps; per country
+ mandatory_benefits # 13th or 14th salary, paid leave value above base, mandatory insurance; per country
+ voluntary_benefits # health, pension top-up, meal and transport; market survey medians per country and level; shown as a separate line
+ equipment_and_tooling # laptop amortised over 3 years, licences, test devices for mobile roles; per level and role
+ recruiting_cost_amortised # recruiting cost / expected tenure years; per country, role and model
+ onboarding_ramp # ramp_weeks x weekly cost x (1 - productivity_factor); per level
first_year_cost = total_annual_cost - recruiting_cost_amortised + recruiting_cost - onboarding_ramp_amortised + onboarding_ramp
monthly_cost = total_annual_cost / 12
hourly_equivalent = total_annual_cost / productive_hours
# Defaults (overridable per country in data with a source)
expected_tenure_years: 2.5
productive_hours: 1,700 per year, adjusted by statutory paid leave per country
ramp_weeks: junior 10, mid 6, senior 4
productivity_factor_during_ramp: 0.5
equipment_amortisation_years: 3
# Hiring models
employee: full formula
contractor: contractor_rate x hours + platform_or_eor_fee; no employer_contributions, no mandatory_benefits unless the EOR passes them through (sourced); recruiting as for employee; ramp as for employee
outsourced: published vendor monthly or hourly rate per role and region; no recruiting, no ramp, no equipment; show typical minimum engagement from sources
# Output per combination
p25, median, p75 for each component and for the totals, in local currency and USD at fx.json date; confidence grade; source ids; computedOn