Programmer Job Trends in England

Programmer
UK > England

The median Programmer salary in England is £45,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 14 October 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 285 547 399
Rank change year-on-year +262 -148 +105
Permanent jobs requiring a Programmer 662 86 395
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.63% 0.20% 0.62%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.68% 0.22% 0.65%
Number of salaries quoted 412 57 207
10th Percentile £32,500 £35,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £39,000 £45,000 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £50,000 £40,000
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +25.00% +53.85%
75th Percentile £50,000 £60,000 £50,000
90th Percentile £64,500 £75,000 £55,500
UK median annual salary £45,000 £50,000 £40,000
% change year-on-year -10.00% +25.00% +53.85%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
England

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in England. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in England with a recognized job title 96,719 38,804 60,632
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 92.58% 90.53% 95.21%
Number of salaries quoted 67,535 23,177 34,658
10th Percentile £30,250 £28,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,250 £35,750 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,500 £55,000 £56,525
Median % change year-on-year +8.18% -2.70% -5.79%
75th Percentile £77,500 £75,000 £75,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £95,000 £95,000
UK median annual salary £58,500 £53,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.35% -2.73% -8.33%

Programmer
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Programmer' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in England.

Programmer job vacancy trend in England

Programmer
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for Programmer job vacancies in England.

Salary distribution trend for Programmer job vacancies in England

Programmer
Salary Histogram in England

Salary distribution for jobs citing Programmer in England over the 6 months to 14 October 2026.

Salary histogram for Programmer in England

Programmer
Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Programmer within the England region over the 6 months to 14 October 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Midlands +114 244 £45,000 - 17
West Midlands +80 161 £42,500 -5.56% 9
South East +91 148 £55,000 +10.00% 31
North of England +32 107 £40,000 -25.58% 20
South West +21 97 £40,000 -5.88% 8
East Midlands +31 83 £45,000 - 8
Yorkshire +9 44 £40,000 -23.81% 2
East of England -4 44 £55,000 +10.00% 4
North West -2 39 £50,000 -9.09% 16
North East - 24 £45,000 - 3
London -52 22 £50,000 -28.57% 31
Programmer
UK

Programmer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England

For the 6 months to 14 October 2026, Programmer job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads across the England region featuring Programmer in the job title.

1 99 (14.95%) CAD
2 45 (6.80%) Continuous Improvement
3 31 (4.68%) Problem-Solving
4 27 (4.08%) C++
5 22 (3.32%) Software Engineering
6 19 (2.87%) Unity (Game Engine)
7 15 (2.27%) Calypso
7 15 (2.27%) Fusion 360
7 15 (2.27%) Siemens
8 14 (2.11%) Fluid Mechanics
8 14 (2.11%) Motion Control
9 13 (1.96%) Microsoft
9 13 (1.96%) Unreal Engine
10 12 (1.81%) 3D Modelling
10 12 (1.81%) Microsoft Office
11 11 (1.66%) Mathematics
12 9 (1.36%) ALPHACAM
12 9 (1.36%) Cincom
12 9 (1.36%) HNC
12 9 (1.36%) ISO 9001
12 9 (1.36%) Process Improvement
12 9 (1.36%) QA
13 8 (1.21%) CATI
13 8 (1.21%) Data Collection
13 8 (1.21%) Market Research
13 8 (1.21%) Qualitative Research
13 8 (1.21%) Quantitative Research
14 6 (0.91%) Validation
14 6 (0.91%) Workflow
15 5 (0.76%) CDISC

Programmer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 5 (0.76%) SAS
2 1 (0.15%) Apache
Applications
1 15 (2.27%) Fusion 360
2 12 (1.81%) Microsoft Office
3 9 (1.36%) ALPHACAM
4 5 (0.76%) SOLIDWORKS
5 2 (0.30%) Siemens NX
6 1 (0.15%) Windchill
Cloud Services
1 3 (0.45%) AWS
2 1 (0.15%) Azure
2 1 (0.15%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 3 (0.45%) Broadband
2 1 (0.15%) DNS
2 1 (0.15%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.45%) MongoDB
1 3 (0.45%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (0.15%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.15%) SQL Server Reporting Services
General
1 160 (24.17%) Manufacturing
2 95 (14.35%) Aerospace
3 55 (8.31%) Games
4 51 (7.70%) Automotive
5 38 (5.74%) Social Skills
6 12 (1.81%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 10 (1.51%) Electronics
8 8 (1.21%) Military
8 8 (1.21%) Pharmaceutical
9 6 (0.91%) Analytical Skills
10 4 (0.60%) Finance
10 4 (0.60%) Local Government
11 3 (0.45%) Aviation
11 3 (0.45%) Organisational Skills
12 1 (0.15%) Advertising
12 1 (0.15%) Agriculture
12 1 (0.15%) Legal
12 1 (0.15%) Retail
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (2.87%) Unity (Game Engine)
2 13 (1.96%) Unreal Engine
3 5 (0.76%) XML
4 3 (0.45%) RESTful
5 2 (0.30%) EDI
5 2 (0.30%) HTML
6 1 (0.15%) .NET
6 1 (0.15%) CSS
6 1 (0.15%) HTML5
6 1 (0.15%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 19 (2.87%) Virtual Reality
2 17 (2.57%) Self-Motivation
3 10 (1.51%) Robotics
4 8 (1.21%) Mobile Games
5 5 (0.76%) Driving Licence
6 4 (0.60%) Smart Home
7 3 (0.45%) Cloud Native
7 3 (0.45%) Data Structures
7 3 (0.45%) Distributed Systems
7 3 (0.45%) FMCG
7 3 (0.45%) Low-Code
7 3 (0.45%) Video\Live Streaming
8 2 (0.30%) AS400
8 2 (0.30%) iSeries
9 1 (0.15%) Graphic Design
9 1 (0.15%) Hedge funds
9 1 (0.15%) Home Automation
9 1 (0.15%) Team-Oriented Environment
Operating Systems
1 1 (0.15%) Linux
1 1 (0.15%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 99 (14.95%) CAD
2 45 (6.80%) Continuous Improvement
3 31 (4.68%) Problem-Solving
4 22 (3.32%) Software Engineering
5 14 (2.11%) Fluid Mechanics
5 14 (2.11%) Motion Control
6 12 (1.81%) 3D Modelling
7 11 (1.66%) Mathematics
8 9 (1.36%) Process Improvement
9 8 (1.21%) CATI
9 8 (1.21%) Data Collection
9 8 (1.21%) Market Research
9 8 (1.21%) Qualitative Research
9 8 (1.21%) Quantitative Research
10 6 (0.91%) Validation
10 6 (0.91%) Workflow
11 5 (0.76%) Computer Science
11 5 (0.76%) Data Management
11 5 (0.76%) ERP
11 5 (0.76%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 27 (4.08%) C++
2 4 (0.60%) R
3 3 (0.45%) Go
3 3 (0.45%) Python
3 3 (0.45%) SAS Macro
4 2 (0.30%) RPG
5 1 (0.15%) C#
5 1 (0.15%) JavaScript
5 1 (0.15%) Perl
5 1 (0.15%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 9 (1.36%) HNC
2 5 (0.76%) Degree
2 5 (0.76%) HND
3 3 (0.45%) Master's Degree
4 1 (0.15%) City & Guilds
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (1.36%) ISO 9001
1 9 (1.36%) QA
2 5 (0.76%) CDISC
3 3 (0.45%) Accessibility
4 1 (0.15%) GDPR
Vendors
1 15 (2.27%) Calypso
1 15 (2.27%) Siemens
2 13 (1.96%) Microsoft
3 9 (1.36%) Cincom
4 3 (0.45%) Epicor
5 2 (0.30%) IBM
5 2 (0.30%) Infor
6 1 (0.15%) EXTOL