QA jobs in San Jose, United States
For QA work, San Jose counts as a tier a hub in United States. It has 54 open QA roles, and United States has 1166 in total. It is the busiest listing hub in United States. A mid-level QA Automation Engineer earns about $120k gross a year here, set from the national median with the A-tier pay index of 96.
Silicon Valley hardware, networking and enterprise software. Strong demand for performance and embedded test skills.
Index vs New York = 100. 4% below New York. Estimated from tier, not measured.
Open QA roles in San Jose
54 roles based in San Jose, newest first. Pay is shown upfront.
AI Inference Core - Senior SDET, Release Integration Testing
Senior Enterprise Automation Engineer
Quality Assurance Manager
Senior Software Engineer, Agentic Test Systems
DevX Technical Writer
2027 Summer Intern, MS/PhD, AI-driven ML Performance Engineering Intern
What is hiring in San Jose
Share of the 54 listings in San Jose.
- SDET24 44%
- Manual QA Tester12 22%
- QA Automation Engineer7 13%
- QA Lead / Manager4 7%
- Technical Writer (QA / Docs)2 4%
- Performance Test Engineer2 4%
Pay in San Jose
Mid-level gross pay in USD, from the United States median with a pay index of 96.
| Role | P10 | Median | P90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual QA Tester | $65k | $79k | $96k |
| QA Automation Engineer | $95k | $120k | $140k |
| SDET | $100k | $130k | $150k |
| QA Lead / Manager | $87k | $110k | $130k |
Country figures: United States salary snapshot · QA Automation Engineer pay in United States.
Working hours from San Jose
San Jose is on UTC-7 (PDT). A 09:00-17:00 day here shares 8 h with US West (09:00-17:00 local), 5 h with US East, 8 h with US West, 0 h with London and 0 h with Central Europe.
San Jose changes its clocks: UTC-8 in winter and UTC-7 in summer. Today it is on UTC-7 (PDT). Europe moves its clocks on 25 Oct 2026 and the US on 1 Nov 2026. For that week US East and London overlap 4 h on a 09:00-17:00 day, against 3 h today.
San Jose as a QA market
A Tier A city has steady QA listings and a deep talent pool. Silicon Valley hardware, networking and enterprise software. Strong demand for performance and embedded test skills.
San Jose has about 1 million residents (city-proper estimate, GeoNames). It is the 12th largest of the 62 United States cities we list.
Population: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). City-proper figures are not comparable across countries.
Employers in United States hire QA mostly in AI / ML, SaaS, Healthcare / MedTech. Listings name Jira, Selenium, Playwright most often. 409 of 1166 United States roles are remote, against 17% of the listings based in San Jose.
The largest QA market in the data, with hiring concentrated in SaaS, fintech, gaming and AI companies on both coasts and in Texas.
Hiring in United States
- Contracts
- Full-time employee (W-2), Contractor (1099 / corp-to-corp), Contract-to-hire
- Notice
- No statutory notice for most employees. Two weeks is the common courtesy, and senior roles often agree longer terms.
- Paid leave
- No federal paid-leave minimum. Employers typically offer 15 to 25 days of PTO plus public holidays.
- Working week
- 40 hours is standard. Non-exempt staff get overtime under federal and state rules.
Typical values only. Full hiring guide for United States. Flex work from United States is open: how Flex works.
QA roles in San Jose: jobs and pay
Open a role for local openings and the pay by level in San Jose.
Manual QA Tester
Mid-level median $98k
QA Automation Engineer
Mid-level median $150k
SDET
Mid-level median $160k
QA Lead / Manager
Mid-level median $130k
Mobile QA Engineer
Mid-level median $130k
Performance Test Engineer
Mid-level median $180k
Security / Penetration Tester
Mid-level median $220k
Game QA Tester
Mid-level median $79k
Accessibility Tester
Mid-level median $120k
Business / Test Analyst
Mid-level median $110k
Data / ETL QA Engineer
Mid-level median $120k
Localization QA Tester
Mid-level median $58k
AI / LLM Evaluation QA
Mid-level median $120k
Release / DevOps Engineer
Mid-level median $170k
Technical Writer (QA / Docs)
Mid-level median $110k
QA jobs in San Jose: FAQ
How much does a QA automation engineer earn in San Jose?
A mid-level QA Automation Engineer in San Jose earns about $120k gross a year, with a p10 to p90 band of $95k to $140k. Junior roles start near $89k and senior roles reach $150k. This applies a pay index of 96 (anchor city = 100) to the United States median.
How many QA jobs are open in San Jose?
San Jose has 54 open QA roles today, 9 of them remote, and United States has 1166 in total. Remote roles in the same time zone are open to candidates here.
How much time-zone overlap does San Jose have with US and European teams?
On a 09:00-17:00 day in San Jose (UTC-7 (PDT)), the overlap is 5 h with US East, 8 h with US West, 0 h with London and 0 h with Central Europe. San Jose changes its clocks: UTC-8 in winter and UTC-7 in summer. Today it is on UTC-7 (PDT).
What does it cost to live in San Jose compared with New York?
Our approximate cost-of-living index for San Jose is 95 against New York at 100, and the pay index is 96. Both are tier-based estimates, not measured prices.
Which industries hire QA testers in United States?
In United States listings, the most common industries are AI / ML, SaaS, Healthcare / MedTech. The tools named most often are Jira, Selenium, Playwright.
How big is San Jose and how does it rank as a QA talent pool?
San Jose has about 1 million residents (city-proper estimate, GeoNames). It is the 12th largest of the 62 United States cities we list. Population alone does not set pay: the pay index of 96 comes from the city tier, and the 54 local listings show how much QA hiring is visible today. Remote roles in the same time zone widen the pool for candidates here.
What notice period and paid leave should I expect in United States?
No statutory notice for most employees. Two weeks is the common courtesy, and senior roles often agree longer terms. No federal paid-leave minimum. Employers typically offer 15 to 25 days of PTO plus public holidays. These are typical values, not legal advice.