Side by side
Backend Engineer vs QA Engineer
Pay is effectively the same — the medians sit under 1% apart. There is 5.1× more demand for QA Engineer. QA Engineer is the more remote-friendly of the two, by 8.4%. Listings for QA Engineer move faster — median age 30 days against 78.
Comparison
Side by side
| Measure | Backend Engineer | QA Engineer | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open postings | 8,361 | 42,516 | -34,155 |
| Posted this week | 646 | 3,216 | |
| Median salary | $138,000 | $137,000 | +$1k |
| 25th percentile | $109k | $108k | |
| 75th percentile | $171k | $170k | |
| Salary disclosed | 6.4% | 7.2% | |
| Remote share | 3.5% | 11.9% | -8.4pp |
| Median age of posting | 78d | 30d | |
| Open over 60 days | 31.2% | 48.1% | |
| Visa sponsorship | 20.9% | 22.5% |
Pay
Pay distribution
Backend Engineer
$62k$239k
QA Engineer
$62k$237k
Freshness
How old the listings are
Backend Engineer
just posted78d median90d+
QA Engineer
just posted30d median90d+
Demand
What each side asks for
Backend Engineer — technologies
QA Engineer — technologies
Backend Engineer — employers
QA Engineer — employers
More comparisons
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Both sides are counted the same way on the same day, so the gap is comparable even where the
absolute numbers move. Salary figures use only postings that publish a range — the disclosure
rate is in the table because a median over 20% of a cohort is a weaker number than one over 70%.