SOC 15-1253, wage year 2025-26

Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers prevailing wage in California

Short answer

In California, the median prevailing wage for software quality assurance analysts and testers across its 28 areas is $33.77 an hour at Level 1 ($70,242 a year) and $64.21 an hour at Level 4 ($133,557 a year). The Level 2 median of $43.99 is 16% above the national median across areas ($37.99). San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is the highest-paying area at $62.40 at Level 2, and Chico, CA the lowest at $33.19.

Every California area for software quality assurance analysts and testers

Area	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$45.27	$62.40	$79.53	$96.66
Merced, CA	$44.67	$61.79	$78.92	$96.04
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$42.36	$54.46	$66.56	$78.66
Vallejo, CA	$38.63	$48.83	$59.04	$69.24
Redding, CA	$34.83	$48.66	$62.48	$76.31
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$37.04	$47.87	$58.69	$69.52
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$34.46	$45.61	$56.77	$67.92
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$35.89	$45.58	$55.28	$64.97
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$34.15	$45.03	$55.92	$66.80
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$33.86	$44.81	$55.77	$66.72
El Centro, CA	$35.01	$44.71	$54.41	$64.11
Napa, CA	$34.39	$44.67	$54.94	$65.22
North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area	$34.27	$44.50	$54.74	$64.97
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$34.13	$44.30	$54.46	$64.63
Yuba City, CA	$33.37	$43.68	$53.98	$64.29
North Valley-Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area	$33.08	$43.43	$53.78	$64.13
Salinas, CA	$33.68	$42.73	$51.77	$60.82
Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area	$32.84	$42.50	$52.16	$61.82
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$32.56	$41.73	$50.90	$60.07
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$31.02	$40.90	$50.78	$60.66
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$29.38	$40.89	$52.39	$63.90
Modesto, CA	$32.99	$40.79	$48.58	$56.38
Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$31.31	$40.18	$49.04	$57.91
Visalia, CA	$31.33	$40.06	$48.80	$57.53
Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$30.30	$39.66	$49.03	$58.39
Fresno, CA	$31.33	$39.34	$47.35	$55.36
Stockton-Lodi, CA	$30.08	$39.28	$48.47	$57.67
Chico, CA	$20.10	$33.19	$46.29	$59.38

Hourly dollars. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC), prevailing wage data, wage year 2025-26. An LCA is not an H-1B approval or a job opening.

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