# Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

US SOC code 15-1253. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/15-1253

Also called: QA analyst, QA engineer, Software QA engineer, Software tester, Test engineer.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **186,740** US software quality assurance analysts and testers, with median pay of **$104,300** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the highest was **203,040**, in May 2023. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://testerwork.com/the-history-of-software-testing/) of **500** from 1960, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for software quality assurance analysts and testers: Cloud testing platforms, mobile device farms, API testing, 2014 to 2022.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 5.7% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=15-1253&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **61.4%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1956
- Latest US employment: 186,740 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Latest US median pay: $104,300 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [9]
- Outlook: +5.7% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [26]

### In other countries

The latest figure each country's statistics agency publishes for this job. Each uses its own occupation definition, survey basis and currency, so the numbers are not directly comparable with each other or with the US figures.

- **Canada** (NOC 22222)
  - Employment, 2020: 10,200. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [7]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021: number of persons with employment income in NOC 22222 Information systems testing technicians, Canada, reference year 2020. A recipients basis (anyone with employment income during the year), slightly broader than a point-in-time employed count. Statistics Canada Open Licence.
  - Median pay, 2020: C$69,000. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [13]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021 (Table 98-10-0586): median employment income for NOC 22222 Information systems testing technicians, Canada, reference year 2020, full-year full-time workers (the basis comparable to the US OEWS full-time median). Statistics Canada Open Licence.

### All 8 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1960 | 500 (estimate) | n/a | Est., TesterWork [1] |
| 1979 | 10,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Open Library [2] |
| 1995 | 65,000 (estimate) | $38,000 (estimate) | Est., TJ Maher [3] |
| 2021 | 190,120 | $98,220 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 196,420 | $99,620 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 203,040 | $101,800 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 199,800 | $102,610 | BLS OEWS May 2024 (employment) [4]; BLS OEWS May 2024 (pay) [10] |
| 2025 | 186,740 | $104,300 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [4] |

## Sources (56)

### Employment series

1. [TesterWork — "The History of Software Testing" (IBM 704 testing team, Gerald Weinberg, late 1950s)](https://testerwork.com/the-history-of-software-testing/), TesterWork
2. [Open Library — "The art of software testing" by Glenford J. Myers (Wiley, 1979)](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL4725273M/The_art_of_software_testing), Open Library / Wiley
3. [TJ Maher — "Adventures in Automation: Stories of Software Testing during the 1990s Dot-Com Boom"](https://www.tjmaher.com/2017/08/qa-department-on-its-own-software.html), TJ Maher / Personal Technical Blog
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
5. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2006, Table 97-563-XCB2006069 (Wage and salary statistics by occupation, NOC-S 2006), income reference year 2005](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&PID=96285), Statistics Canada
6. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2016, Table 98-400-X2016356 (Occupation by employment income statistics, NOC 2016), income reference year 2015](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/98-400-X2016356), Statistics Canada
7. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada

### Wage series

8. [TJ Maher — "Adventures in Automation: Stories of Software Testing during the 1990s Dot-Com Boom" (salary context)](https://www.tjmaher.com/2017/08/qa-department-on-its-own-software.html), TJ Maher / Personal Technical Blog
9. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
10. [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers (median annual wage $102,610, May 2024)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
11. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2006, Table 97-563-XCB2006069 (Wage and salary statistics by occupation, NOC-S 2006), income reference year 2005](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&PID=96285), Statistics Canada
12. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2016, Table 98-400-X2016356 (Occupation by employment income statistics, NOC 2016), income reference year 2015](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/98-400-X2016356), Statistics Canada
13. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada

### Tool eras

14. [TesterWork — "The History of Software Testing" (IBM 704, Weinberg, 1956-1979 era)](https://testerwork.com/the-history-of-software-testing/), TesterWork
15. [IEEE Xplore — IEEE Std 730-1989 Standard for Software Quality Assurance Plans (first major standard)](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/213705), IEEE
16. [Open Library — "The art of software testing" by Glenford J. Myers (Wiley, 1979)](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL4725273M/The_art_of_software_testing), Open Library / Wiley
17. [ANSI/IEEE 730-2002 — Software Quality Assurance Plans (standard history)](https://webstore.ansi.org/standards/ieee/ANSIIEEE7302002), ANSI / IEEE
18. [Wikipedia — HP WinRunner (Mercury Interactive history)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_WinRunner), Wikipedia
19. [TestGuild — "Mercury Interactive Musings" (WinRunner, QuickTest Professional history)](https://testguild.com/mercury-interactive-winrunner/), TestGuild
20. [TestRigor — "The History of Test Automation" (Selenium 2004, open-source era)](https://testrigor.com/blog/the-history-of-test-automation/), TestRigor
21. [Wikipedia — International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB founded 2002)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Software_Testing_Qualifications_Board), Wikipedia
22. [CertLibrary Blog — "How Software Testing Has Transformed Over the Decades" (2011-2022 cloud era)](https://www.certlibrary.com/blog/how-software-testing-has-transformed-over-the-decades/), CertLibrary
23. [Mabl — AI-native test automation platform (founding 2017, G2 Leader in AI testing)](https://www.mabl.com/), Mabl
24. [Tricentis — "QA trends for 2026: AI, agents, and the future of testing" (agentic testing, 2025 Quality Transformation Report)](https://www.tricentis.com/blog/qa-trends-ai-agentic-testing), Tricentis
25. [Diffblue Cover — Testing Agent: 81% avg line coverage vs 32% for dev plus coding-agent](https://www.diffblue.com/agents/), Diffblue

### Forecasts and exposure studies

26. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 15-1253 Software quality assurance analysts and testers (2025: 187.6 thousand; 2035: 198.2 thousand; +5.7%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=15-1253&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
27. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 15-1253.00, human-rated β 0.614)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

28. [TesterWork — "The History of Software Testing" (Weinberg, IBM 704, late 1950s)](https://testerwork.com/the-history-of-software-testing/), TesterWork
29. [GeeksForGeeks — "History of Software Testing" (1968 NATO conference, software crisis)](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/software-testing/history-of-software-testing/), GeeksForGeeks
30. [ACM SIGMIS Database — Review of "The Art of Software Testing" by Glenford J. Myers (1979)](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1113469.1113478), ACM SIGMIS Database
31. [Wikipedia — HP WinRunner (Mercury Interactive, 1991 launch)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_WinRunner), Wikipedia
32. [Wikipedia — International Software Testing Qualifications Board (founding 2002, Foundation syllabus 2005)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Software_Testing_Qualifications_Board), Wikipedia
33. [TestRigor — "The History of Test Automation" (Selenium 2004 origins)](https://testrigor.com/blog/the-history-of-test-automation/), TestRigor
34. [BLS OEWS 2023 — 15-1253 Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers (SOC 2018 introduction)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes151253.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
35. [Tricentis — 2025 Quality Transformation Report (2,700 practitioners surveyed)](https://www.tricentis.com/resources/quality-transformation-report), Tricentis / Censuswide

### Predecessors & successors

36. [TesterWork — "The History of Software Testing" (programmer-as-tester era)](https://testerwork.com/the-history-of-software-testing/), TesterWork
37. [CertLibrary Blog — "How Software Testing Has Transformed Over the Decades" (developers moving into dedicated QA roles)](https://www.certlibrary.com/blog/how-software-testing-has-transformed-over-the-decades/), CertLibrary

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers (15-1253.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/15-1253.00), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Tricentis — QA Trends for 2026: AI, Agents, and the Future of Testing](https://www.tricentis.com/blog/qa-trends-ai-agentic-testing), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Diffblue — Testing Agent: 81% line coverage vs 32% for dev+coding-agent](https://www.diffblue.com/agents/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Valido AI — Impact of AI on QA Roles (70% adoption, 53% C-suite demand increase)](https://www.valido.ai/en/impact-of-ai-on-qa-roles/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Prepare.sh — QA and SDET Job Market 2025 Analysis](https://prepare.sh/articles/qa-and-sdet-is-the-safest-job-during-ai-boom-analysis-of-qa-2025-job-market-trends), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Quash — QA to SDET in 2026: AI Skills, Tools & Mobile Testing (77% postings require coding)](https://quashbugs.com/blog/qa-to-sdet-ai-2026), accessed 2026-05-24
- [QA Wolf — The 12 Best AI Testing Tools in 2026](https://www.qawolf.com/blog/the-12-best-ai-testing-tools-in-2026), accessed 2026-05-24
- [DigitalOcean — Testim Smart Locators: AI self-healing analyzes hundreds of DOM attributes to maintain stability](https://www.digitalocean.com/resources/articles/ai-testing-tools), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Functionize — SmartFix ML remediation and testGPT engine replace manual test maintenance](https://www.functionize.com), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Mabl — AI-native test automation, 85% reduction in manual sanity testing (Barracuda case study)](https://www.mabl.com/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Applitools — Visual AI trained on 4B screens, 9× faster test creation, 4× reduction in maintenance](https://applitools.com/), accessed 2026-05-24

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.