Manual QA engineer cost in the United States
Designs and executes test cases by hand, reports and verifies defects. Total employer cost by level, USD, computed .
Hiring a manual QA engineer as an employee in the United States costs a median of USD 85,626Confidence B a year at junior level and USD 107,256Confidence B at mid-level.
Each total includes base salary, employer contributions (social security and payroll taxes the employer pays on top of salary), benefits, equipment, recruiting and ramp (the weeks before a new hire works at full productivity).
By level
| Level | Base salary | Total, median | Scenario range | First year | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | USD 69,619[1][2][3] | USD 85,626 | USD 82,111USD 92,861 | USD 98,365 | Confidence B |
| Mid-level | USD 88,678[3][27] | USD 107,256 | USD 82,483USD 121,421 | USD 121,248 | Confidence B |
Sources for the totals in this table (base salary footnotes are on each row): [1] to [19], [27] in the source list below.
Not published: senior, fewer sources than the threshold. Reasons.
Where the cost goes
Junior
- Base salary 81.3%
- Employer contributions 7.5%
- Equipment and tooling 1.3%
- Recruiting, amortised over 2.5 years 6.5%
- Onboarding ramp, amortised over 2.5 years 3.4%
Mid-level
- Base salary 82.7%
- Employer contributions 7.6%
- Equipment and tooling 1.1%
- Recruiting, amortised over 2.5 years 6.6%
- Onboarding ramp, amortised over 2.5 years 2.1%
Versus contractor and outsourced
| Level | Employee | Employer of record | Contractor | Outsourced | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | USD 85,626 | USD 93,414 | not published | USD 153,600 | Confidence B |
| Mid-level | USD 107,256 | USD 115,044 | not published | USD 153,600 | Confidence B |
Sources for the totals in this table (the shared employee lines and each model's fee or rate): [1] to [27] in the source list below.
- Contractor: No contractor hourly rate for this role in the North America region meets the two-source rule.
What is not published and why.
3 of 4 models published. Employee · Contractor and EOR · Outsourced.
Sources
- Built In. 2026 QA Engineer Salary in US | Built In
- 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
- Deel. Deel pricing
- Remote. Remote pricing
- Oyster HR. Oyster pricing
- Multiplier. Multiplier pricing
- QA vendor rate page (vendor not named)
- QA vendor rate page (vendor not named)
- QA vendor rate page (vendor not named)
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; computedOnFormula v1.0
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; computedOnQuestions
- How much does a manual QA engineer cost in the United States?
- Junior: USD 85,626 and mid-level: USD 107,256 a year at the median, total employer cost, computed 17 October 2026.