You will make less than a programmer while being expected to possess extensive programming skills. Where developers produce code, therefore product, therefore generating earnings and profits, QA is a cost center and does not put revenue on the books. Thus, QA gets laid off more often and you can expect to work more as a contractor with no benefits.
Be prepared to spend much time explaining how the job provides value to managers and engineers over and over and over again. You need to present good data often, and be a strong salesman for your work. Expect to hear things like 'You mean you just play with the software?'. Have a good answer ready at all times.
At many shops, if a customer finds a single bug and you missed it, even though it won't reproduce on your test configurations, everyone will consider you a failure, in spite the value of your overall contribution. For some reason this never affects the developer who created the bug.
Now, if a legal precedent is ever set that software companies are held liable for their products, QA will become front line in a damn hurry.