Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$87,855
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$33,385
27.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,630
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$121,240
Kept after tax
$87,855
Worth in national money
$81,630
State rank
6
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New York is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $121,240, which ranks 6 of 46 states with published figures. That is about 16.24% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations New York reports, this job comes in at 57 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $121,240 the take-home is $87,855. But New York costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $81,630 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $122,950, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New York ranks 6 of 46 states publishing a median for software quality assurance analysts and testers, at $121,240 — about 16.24% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Software quality assurance analysts and testers ranks 57 of 493 occupations by median in New York, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New York income tax is $87,855 for software quality assurance analysts and testers, from $121,240. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $81,630. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $122,950 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $121,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $182,910 |
| This salary | $121,240 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in New York | $87,855 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $94,122 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,229 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $112,331 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$21,036 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $121,240 as a midpoint for New York, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $58,180 and the ninetieth is $182,910 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $87,855 take-home in New York comes from $121,240. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 57 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $81,630 uses one figure for the whole of New York. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 57.
- The New York median of $121,240 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $58,180 to $182,910. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $87,855, from $121,240, assumes a single New York filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 57 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $81,630, worked from $121,240, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular New York address, on work sitting at 57 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $58,180 at the bottom tenth to $182,910 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $81,630 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; New York then takes its own share, leaving $87,855.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($58,180) and the ninetieth ($182,910) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $81,630 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $87,855 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.