For the second time in three years, salaries in 2014 decreased slightly for quality professionals, who said their organization’s quality culture plays a key role in the overall satisfaction of their job and salary, according to Quality Progress magazine’s 28th annual salary survey.

In 2014, salaries decreased a meager $183 for quality professionals in the United States, from an average $88,606 in 2013 to $88,423 this year. In 2013, salaries increased 2 percent, after declining slightly in 2012. In Canada, the decrease was more significant, from $84,226 in 2013 to $82,388 in 2014. (All Canadian figures are noted in Canadian dollars.)

Among the highest-paying job titles found in the survey in the United States are vice president/executive, earning an average of $163,741; directors, who make $125,033; and Master Black Belts, who averaged a $122,714 salary in 2014.

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