Hiring a software quality assurance analyst in Long Beach, CA

Employers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area pay software quality assurance analysts and testers a median of $122,210, with the middle half of the market between $83,360 and $150,020. Long Beach residents working in computer and mathematical occupations report a median of $93,835, which is 23% below what the metro pays for this role.

What does a software quality assurance analyst earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile	$83,360
Median	$122,210
75th percentile	$150,020

Half of software quality assurance analysts and testers in this area earn between $83,360 and $150,020. A band set below $83,360 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Long Beach residents earn

$93,835

Median earnings of Long Beach residents working in computer and mathematical occupations, 6,940 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

The 23% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.

The role pays well above the local residential norm, which usually means you can hire from inside Long Beach rather than competing for commuters.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Identify, analyze, and document problems with program function, output, online screen, or content.
Document software defects, using a bug tracking system, and report defects to software developers.
Develop testing programs that address areas such as database impacts, software scenarios, regression testing, negative testing, error or bug retests, or usability.
Design test plans, scenarios, scripts, or procedures.
Document test procedures to ensure replicability and compliance with standards.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 15-1253.

Tools and technologies in demand

Amazon Web Services AWS software, Apache JMeter, Atlassian JIRA, C#, C++, Git, JavaScript, Jenkins CI.

O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Long Beach?

This is a job zone four: considerable preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

That matters here, because 34.8% of Long Beach adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a workable pool, but the search will reach beyond the city line. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average Long Beach commute runs 30 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 14.4% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Los Angeles County, computer systems design and related services employs 39,838 and turns over 7.7% a quarter, with 3,975 hires against 4,023 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $13,235 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5415.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about software quality assurance analysts and testers. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a normal churn rate, where a well-run search closes on schedule.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $24,442 to $36,663 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring a software quality assurance analyst somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other computer and mathematical roles in Long Beach

Long Beach is the 7th largest of 21 California cities in this dataset.