What Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers earn in Arlington County, VA
The median pay for Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in Arlington County, VA is $126,350 per year, which works out to $60.75 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, the labor market that Arlington County, VA belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $126,100, which is 0.2% below the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 8,460 people working in this occupation across the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Arlington County, VA has roughly 236,254 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $81,360 a year ($39.12 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $175,240 or more ($84.25 an hour). That is a gap of $93,880 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $99,410 at the 25th percentile and $149,370 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.2 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $60.75 an hour or $126,350 a year at the median for Arlington County, VA. Before any deductions, that is $10,529 a month, $4,860 every two weeks and $2,430 each week. After taxes the same job pays $43.67 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers this way: "Develop and execute software tests to identify software problems and their causes. Test system modifications to prepare for implementation. Document software and application defects using a bug tracking system and report defects to software or web developers. Create and maintain databases of known defects. May participate in software design reviews to provide input on functional requirements, operational characteristics, product designs, and schedules."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Design test plans, scenarios, scripts, or procedures"; "Test system modifications to prepare for implementation"; "Develop testing programs that address areas such as database impacts, software scenarios, regression testing, negative testing, error or bug retests, or usability"; "Document software defects, using a bug tracking system, and report defects to software developers".
Job outlook for Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 187,600 jobs in 2025 to 198,200 in 2035, a change of +5.7%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 10,700 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 5.7% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $104,300 for this occupation; the Arlington County, VA median of $126,350 is 21.1% above it.
How pay in Arlington County, VA compares
Compared with the Virginia average
A worker in this occupation in Arlington County, VA earns $3,814 more than the Virginia average of $122,536, a premium of 3.1%. Over a year that premium is worth $3,814 before tax and roughly $2,742 after tax. Within Virginia, Arlington County, VA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers is $112,135 across the contiguous United States. At $126,350, Arlington County, VA pays $14,215 more, which is 12.7% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Arlington County, VA
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Arlington County, VA, Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers ranks number 85 by median pay, ahead of about 86% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $195,190 a year, which is $68,840 more than the median for Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers earning the Arlington County, VA median of $126,350, they add up to $35,522. The result is $90,828 of take-home pay a year ($7,569 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $28 goes to taxes and $72 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 28.1%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $110,600. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 24% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $19,391, an effective 15.3% of gross pay, well below the 24% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $7,834 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,832. FICA totals $9,666, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Virginia
Virginia income tax on this salary is $6,465 a year, or 5.1% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 33% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $539 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Arlington County, VA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Arlington County, VA show an average adjusted gross income of $159,169 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 19.4% across all filers. Filers in the $100,000 to under $200,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 14.6%, compared with the 15.3% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Arlington County, VA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Arlington County, VA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $90,828 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Arlington County, VA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $2,204 a month ($26,448 a year), and at $2,438 for two bedrooms. For Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers, a one-bedroom absorbs 29.1% of take-home pay and 20.9% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 2.7% of gross pay for Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in Arlington County, VA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Virginia residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,523 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $597, for $2,119 in total. Gasoline in Virginia averages $3.09 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,429.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $33,432 a year in Arlington County, VA. Subtract that from $90,828 of take-home pay and $57,396 remains, which is $4,783 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 45.4% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Arlington County, VA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Arlington County, VA: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Arlington County, VA, set beside the Virginia and national medians.
Property taxes in Arlington County, VA
Homeowners in Arlington County, VA pay a median of $8,153 a year in real estate taxes, 192% above the Virginia median of $2,790 and 161% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $895,000, the median tax bill is 0.91% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers median of $126,350, a tax bill of that size would equal 6.5% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Arlington County, VA
Renters in Arlington County, VA pay a median gross rent of $2,322 a month in the Census survey, 47% above the Virginia median of $1,579. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,204 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $895,000, 133% above the Virginia median of $383,700. Median household income is $142,114, 53% above the Virginia median of $93,170, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 18.6% of that income.
Commuting in Arlington County, VA
Workers in Arlington County, VA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 26.2 minutes each way, 4% below the Virginia average of 27.3. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.4 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 35.3% of workers in Arlington County, VA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers afford to live in Arlington County, VA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $126,350 that ceiling is $3,159 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,204 is $955 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $42.38 an hour; the median for Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers is $60.75, which is 43% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $43.67 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 11.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,438 a month means $1,219 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,820 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $69,216.
How fast you can save
At $4,783 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 3 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 6 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers pay in Arlington County, VA
How much do Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers make per hour in Arlington County, VA?
The median is $60.75 per hour, based on $126,350 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $39.12 at the 10th percentile to $84.25 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers take home after taxes in Arlington County, VA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $126,350 becomes $90,828 a year. That is $7,569 a month, $3,493 every two weeks or $1,747 a week.
How much tax do Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers pay in Arlington County, VA?
Total taxes are $35,522 a year, an effective rate of 28.1%: $19,391 federal income tax, $9,666 FICA and $6,465 Virginia income tax.
Do Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers earn more in Arlington County, VA than elsewhere in Virginia?
Yes. The local median of $126,350 is +3.1% versus the Virginia average of $122,536, a difference of $3,814 a year.
Can Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Arlington County, VA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,204 a month against take-home pay of $7,569, which is 29.1% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $3,159 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in Arlington County, VA?
About $4,783 a month ($57,396 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $33,432 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Arlington County, VA at the 30% guideline?
$42.38 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $26,448 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers is $60.75.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Virginia rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.