As of December 2025, the median salary for testers is $2,250 — the highest figure in the entire period of DOU salary surveys, starting in 2011.
As of December 2025, the median salary for testers is $2,250 — the highest figure in the entire period of DOU salary surveys, starting in 2011.
A DOU survey of 1,732 testers showed that the median salary for a QA Tech Lead has increased to $4,600, which is $284 more than half a year ago.
Junior QA salaries increased by $87 to $887. This is the first increase since June 2022.
In General QA, the median salary for Juns is $1060 (+$360 per half year).
In Manual QA, the median salary is $850 (+$50 per half year).
Negative dynamics over the past six months are demonstrated by QA Team Lead (-$100) and Head / Manager (-$300).
If we talk about experience, in six months the salary increased the most in Manual QA with 15–20 years of experience — from $2,300 to $3,200. The biggest decrease was in Automation QA with similar experience — from $4,750 to $3,800.
The highest median salaries are for QA professionals using C#/.NET, TypeScript, or Java programming languages, starting at $3,000 and up. The lowest are for QA professionals using JavaScript ($2,100) and SQL ($1,800).
The five cities with the highest median salaries for testers:
This time, Odesa dropped out of the top five. The median salary here dropped from $2,425 to $1,800.
DOU also noted that Ukrainian QA specialists currently living abroad have higher salaries than their colleagues in Ukraine: Middle by almost 23% more, Senior by 16%, and Lead by 21%. But at the Junior level, the difference is minimal.
Let us recall that the median salary of developers in Ukraine remained at $3,450, which is $50 more than half a year ago . At the same time, some titles went down, and this is most noticeable among beginners and seniors.
