Test automation salary: $182K median
The median advertised Test automation salary is $182K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $152K to $218K: counted from 878 open roles that publish a yearly US-dollar range: about $88 an hour or $15,208 a month. A tenth of the postings offer $253K or more. Advertised ranges, not verified pay.
Check an offer against these figuresAll Test automation jobs
$182Kmedian advertised salary
$152K – $218Kmiddle half of roles
$188Kaverage advertised salary
878roles counted
Test automation salary by level
Lead roles advertise a median of $222K, 19% more than senior roles ($186K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.
| Level | Median salary | Middle half | Roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | $186K | $166K–$215K | 323 |
| Lead and above | $222K | $195K–$256K | 165 |
| No level in the title | $160K | $135K–$194K | 382 |
Test automation salary by location
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area | $212K | 231 |
| 🇺🇸Seattle, WA | $204K | 61 |
| 🇺🇸New York, NY | $202K | 65 |
| 🇺🇸California | $190K | 502 |
| 🇺🇸Washington, DC | $186K | 21 |
| 🇺🇸United States | $184K | 849 |
| 🇺🇸Denver, CO | $168K | 18 |
| 🇺🇸Boston, MA | $168K | 23 |
| 🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA | $168K | 93 |
Skills that pay more for Test automation roles
| Skill | Median with it | Above the median | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kubernetes | $200K | +$17K | 118 |
| Go | $198K | +$15K | 106 |
| C++ | $189K | +$6K | 242 |
| Linux | $186K | +$4K | 246 |
| AWS | $186K | +$4K | 154 |
Top-paying companies
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | $382K | 6 |
| Block | $330K | 4 |
| OpenAI | $328K | 9 |
| Wayve | $286K | 6 |
| Roblox | $269K | 8 |
| Harvey | $259K | 4 |
| $252K | 4 | |
| Metropolis | $250K | 3 |
| Pure Storage | $246K | 11 |
| Shield AI | $235K | 11 |
| Waymo | $235K | 4 |
| Nuro | $226K | 9 |
| Agility Robotics | $220K | 3 |
| Reliable Robotics | $219K | 4 |
| Plaid | $218K | 12 |
| Lightning AI | $215K | 3 |
| Databricks | $214K | 3 |
| Elastic | $212K | 4 |
| Twenty | $211K | 7 |
| Huntress | $210K | 4 |
| Toast | $210K | 4 |
| Skydio | $205K | 5 |
| Coinbase | $202K | 4 |
| May Mobility | $202K | 6 |
| Zoox | $202K | 17 |
Highest-paying open Test automation roles
All Test automation jobs- Research Engineer, Machine Learning (Reinforcement Learning)Anthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY$500K - $850KRustPythonC++
- Research Engineer, RL EngineeringAnthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | Seattle, WA$500K - $850KRustPythonC++
- Software Engineer, Build Systems / CIOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$185K - $490KRustGoPython
- Software Engineer, CI/CD & ML InfrastructureOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$318K - $485KHybridRustGoPython
- Staff/Principal Frontend Software EngineerTwenty · 🇺🇸Arlington, VA$192K - $455KLead and aboveTypeScriptJavaScriptReact
- Staff/Principal Frontend Software EngineerTwenty · 🇺🇸New York, NY$192K - $455KLead and aboveTypeScriptJavaScriptReact
- Radar LeadWayve · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale, California USA$315K - $408KHybridLead and abovePythonAngularBash
- Senior Software Engineer, Developer PlatformDecagon · 🇺🇸San Francisco$200K - $400KSeniorPythonTypeScriptCI/CD
- Staff iOS Software Engineer, BitcoinBlock · 🇺🇸Bay Area, CA, United States of America$264K - $395KLead and aboveSwiftiOSObjective-C
- Staff Software Engineer, Payments AcquiringBlock · 🇺🇸Bay Area, CA, United States of America$264K - $395KLead and aboveAI agentsIncident responseReconciliations
- Senior Software Engineer - SDNLambda · 🇺🇸San Francisco Office (Fremont St)$266K - $395KHybridSeniorGoPythonTerraform
- Senior Staff Software Engineer - Perception & SensingZoox · 🇺🇸Foster City, CA$324K - $389KLead and aboveComputer VisionMechatronicsTest automation
- Principal Software Engineer, Onboard InfrastructureNuro · 🇺🇸Mountain View, California (HQ)$258K - $387KLead and aboveC++Machine LearningLinux
- Principal Software Engineer, PerformanceNuro · 🇺🇸Mountain View, California (HQ)$258K - $387KLead and aboveC++Machine LearningLinux
- Power Electronics - Principal Electrical Engineer (R4822)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Seattle, WA, US$253K - $380KLead and aboveSecurity clearancePCB designAnalog design
- Senior Software Development EngineerLambda · Bellevue Office$284K - $378KHybridSeniorTerraformMachine LearningLinux
- Software Engineer - Developer ExperienceFigma · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA • New York, NY • United States$185K - $376KGoPythonTypeScript
- Director of Software Engineering, CPBUPure Storage · 🇺🇸Santa Clara, California$296K - $362KLead and aboveChange managementTest automation
- Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer (R4815)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Seattle, WA, US$160K - $360KGoPythonC++
- Hardware Engineering ManagerPure Storage · 🇺🇸Santa Clara, California$217K - $359KLoad testingHardware testingStorage systems
Questions about Test automation pay
- What is the average Test automation salary?
- $188K a year on average and $182K at the median, across 878 open Test automation postings at companies that state pay (November 2026). The median is the better guide: a few very high offers pull the average up.
- What is the typical range?
- The middle half of the postings offer $152K to $218K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
- Which companies advertise the highest Test automation pay?
- Anthropic ($382K), Block ($330K), OpenAI ($328K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
- Is a test automation a high-paying job?
- The median Test automation posting advertises $182K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 5% above the middle of the market.
- How much can you earn as a test automation?
- A tenth of the postings offer $253K a year or more; the highest open Test automation role advertises up to $850K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
- What is the Test automation salary per hour and per month?
- The median of $182K a year is about $88 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $15,208 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $73 to $105 an hour.
- Which skills pay more for Test automation roles?
- Postings that ask for Kubernetes (+$17K, 118 postings), Go (+$15K, 106 postings), C++ (+$6K, 242 postings) advertise more than the $182K median of all Test automation postings with pay.
- What does an entry-level test automation make?
- 8 junior and intern Test automation postings state pay, with a median of $106K a year ($51 an hour).
- Where do these figures come from?
- From the pay ranges employers print in their own job postings, read from their careers pages every hour. The midpoint of each range is counted. These are advertised ranges for open roles, mostly in the United States and in US dollars, not what people are actually paid.
Writing about this? A sentence you can quote
The median advertised salary for Test automation roles at companies is $182K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $152K to $218K. Counted from 878 open job postings that state pay, November 2026. Source: Jobs Every Hour, https://jobseveryhour.com/salaries/test-automation/
Free to use with the link.