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Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers pay in California and Kentucky
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers is $128,740 per year in California. It is $79,100 per year in Kentucky. California is 62.8% above Kentucky on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 15-1253 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 27,710 wage and salary jobs in California and 890 in Kentucky. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings