United States · Manual QA engineer · Junior (0-2 years)
Junior manual QA engineer in the United States: USD 85,626 a year,
Total employer cost as of , dataset v1.0.
Hiring a junior manual QA engineer as an employee in the United States costs a median of USD 85,626 a year, with scenarios from USD 82,111 to USD 92,861.
Base salary is USD 69,619; employer contributions (social security and payroll taxes the employer pays on top of salary), equipment, recruiting and ramp add 23%.
Median total annual cost, employee
USD 85,626
Breakdown
Each row applies formula v1.0 to sourced inputs. The p25 and p75 columns apply the formula to the low and high ends of each input; they are scenarios, not percentiles of the total. Footnote numbers point to the sources below.
| Component | p25 | Median | p75 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary[1][2][3] 3 sources, spread 9% | USD 67,988 | USD 69,619 | USD 74,136 |
| Employer contributions[4][5][6][7][8] | USD 6,236 | USD 6,384 | USD 6,796 |
| Mandatory benefits (none in statute)[9] 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[10][11][12][13][14][15][16] | USD 954 | USD 1,130 | USD 1,403 |
| Recruiting, amortised over 2.5 years[17][18][19] Agency fee 15% to 25% of base salary | USD 4,079 | USD 5,570 | USD 7,414 |
| Onboarding ramp, amortised over 2.5 years (formula default)[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] 10 weeks at 50% productivity | USD 2,855 | USD 2,923 | USD 3,113 |
| Total annual cost | USD 82,111 | USD 85,626 | USD 92,861 |
| First-year cost (recruiting and ramp not amortised) | USD 92,513 | USD 98,365 | USD 108,650 |
| Monthly cost | USD 6,843 | USD 7,136 | USD 7,738 |
| Hourly equivalent[9] | USD 42 | USD 44 | USD 48 |
Hourly figures divide the annual cost by 1,940 productive hours a year (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)[9].
- 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%
Employer contributions and mandatory benefits in the United States
| Item | Type | Rate, cap or amount | At this salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security (OASDI), employer share[4][5] | Employer contributions | 6.2%, capped at USD 184,500 a year | Applied |
| Medicare (HI), employer share[4][5] | Employer contributions | 1.45% | Applied |
| Federal unemployment tax (FUTA), net of state credit[5][6] | Employer contributions | 0.6%, capped at USD 7,000 a year | Applied |
| State unemployment insurance (SUI), employer[7] | Employer contributions | 0.37% | Applied |
| Workers' compensation insurance premium[8] | Employer contributions | 1.09%, varies 0.5% to 2.52% | Applied |
Full statutory structure with caps and notes: United States country page.
What changes the number
- First year versus later years: the first year carries the full recruiting fee and ramp, USD 98,365 at the median against USD 85,626 in an average year.
- Voluntary benefits (private health insurance, pension top-ups, meal cards) are not in the total: fewer than two sources for the United States. Where an employer offers them, the total is higher.
- City: Chicago has its own figures for this role and level, listed with their sources on the city pages linked from the country page.
- Industry: no industry factor meets the two-source rule, so no industry adjustment is applied. See not published.
- Level: mid-level is also published for this role; the manual QA engineer page for the United States lists every level with its sources.
Employee, contractor and outsourced
The same role and level under each hiring model, annual, USD, median. Each model includes different items, listed under its name. A model without enough sources reads “not published” with the reason; see not published.
| Hiring model | Employee, total | This model, total | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer of record Includes base salary, employer contributions, mandatory benefits, EOR fee, equipment, recruiting and onboarding ramp. Not included: voluntary benefits; office space; management time; and bonuses and equity. Salary, contributions and mandatory benefits pass through the EOR at statutory rates. | USD 85,626 | USD 93,414[20][21][22][23] | +USD 7,788 |
| Contractor Not published: no contractor hourly rate for this role in the North America region meets the two-source rule. | USD 85,626 | not published | n/a |
| Outsourced Includes vendor hourly rate for billed hours. Not included: recruiting, onboarding ramp, equipment and your own management time. Vendor rate USD 70 to USD 90 an hour, median USD 80; the median total uses the median rate. | USD 85,626 | USD 153,600[24][25][26] | +USD 67,974 |
Time to hire
Sources put time to hire at 34 to 44 days, median 38 days[27][28][29]. The figure is not specific to QA roles.
Sources
Salary confidence A from 3 sources; employer contributions confidence B. How grades work.
- 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)
- Manatal (citing JoinGenius). Average Time to Hire by Industry: 2026 Benchmarks
Formula
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 it cost to hire a junior manual QA engineer in the United States?
- The median total annual employer cost is USD 85,626, computed on 17 October 2026. The low and high scenarios are USD 82,111 and USD 92,861.
- How much is added on top of the salary?
- At the median, 23% is added to a base salary of USD 69,619: employer contributions of USD 6,384 plus equipment, recruiting and ramp as listed in the table.
- What does the first year cost?
- USD 98,365 at the median, because the full recruiting fee and the full onboarding ramp fall in the first year instead of being spread over the 2.5-year expected tenure.
- How long does it take to hire?
- Sources put time to hire at 34 to 44 days, median 38 days. This figure is not specific to this role and level.
- Are contractor and outsourced figures published?
- Employer of record: USD 93,414 a year at the median. Contractor is not published: no contractor hourly rate for this role in the North America region meets the two-source rule. Outsourced: USD 153,600.