Software Engineer Job Trends in the South East

Software Engineer
England > South East

The median Software Engineer salary in the South East is £70,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 10 October 2026.

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

6 months to
10 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 111 23
Rank change year-on-year +89 -88 +43
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 1,017 221 902
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.37% 2.47% 7.35%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.74% 2.74% 7.62%
Number of salaries quoted 696 132 534
10th Percentile £45,000 £40,139 £40,000
25th Percentile £55,000 £56,250 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £69,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +1.45% +25.45% -8.33%
75th Percentile £85,000 £83,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £82,500 £65,000
% change year-on-year -15.15% +26.92% -7.14%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
South East

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the South East. 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 the South East with a recognized job title 17,724 8,052 11,838
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.50% 89.95% 96.40%
Number of salaries quoted 12,538 4,472 6,613
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £30,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £33,670 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £47,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +15.79% -9.52% -4.55%
75th Percentile £70,000 £65,000 £68,750
90th Percentile £90,000 £81,925 £82,500
England median annual salary £59,000 £55,000 £55,281
% change year-on-year +7.27% -0.51% -7.87%

Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Software Engineer' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Software Engineer job vacancy trend in the South East

Software Engineer
Salary Trend in the South East

Salary distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in the South East.

Salary distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in the South East

Software Engineer
Salary Histogram in the South East

Salary distribution for jobs citing Software Engineer in the South East over the 6 months to 10 October 2026.

Salary histogram for Software Engineer in the South East

Software Engineer
Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Software Engineer within the South East region over the 6 months to 10 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
Hampshire +38 439 £66,250 +1.92% 110
Thames Valley +123 389 £70,000 +7.69% 157
Oxfordshire +35 187 £65,000 -7.14% 96
Berkshire +96 130 £77,500 +26.53% 38
Surrey -4 96 £85,000 -5.56% 30
Buckinghamshire +50 72 £80,000 +128.57% 23
Kent +5 37 £40,000 -36.00% 3
West Sussex +3 30 £75,000 +7.14% 20
East Sussex +8 20 £65,000 -24.64% 16
Sussex - 5 £85,000 - 1
Isle of Wight -2 1 £54,500 -19.85% 11
Software Engineer
England

Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East

For the 6 months to 10 October 2026, Software Engineer 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 South East region featuring Software Engineer in the job title.

1 1,015 (99.80%) Software Engineering
2 243 (23.89%) C++
3 206 (20.26%) C#
4 187 (18.39%) Python
5 140 (13.77%) Degree
6 115 (11.31%) Security Cleared
7 113 (11.11%) .NET
8 111 (10.91%) AI
9 108 (10.62%) AWS
10 107 (10.52%) Agile
11 97 (9.54%) Linux
12 95 (9.34%) CI/CD
13 82 (8.06%) C
14 81 (7.96%) Azure
15 80 (7.87%) SC Cleared
16 71 (6.98%) Docker
16 71 (6.98%) JavaScript
17 69 (6.78%) Computer Science Degree
17 69 (6.78%) Mentoring
18 68 (6.69%) DevOps
18 68 (6.69%) Full-Stack Development
18 68 (6.69%) Problem-Solving
18 68 (6.69%) TypeScript
19 64 (6.29%) Computer Science
20 59 (5.80%) Software Architecture
21 56 (5.51%) Git
22 55 (5.41%) Java
22 55 (5.41%) SDLC
23 53 (5.21%) React
24 51 (5.01%) Test Automation

Software Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 9 (0.88%) Apache
2 1 (0.098%) ArchestrA
2 1 (0.098%) Confluence
Applications
1 21 (2.06%) Lightworks
2 6 (0.59%) Simulink
3 3 (0.29%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.29%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.29%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 6 (0.59%) Oracle Applications
2 2 (0.20%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 108 (10.62%) AWS
2 81 (7.96%) Azure
3 46 (4.52%) SaaS
4 27 (2.65%) GCP
5 16 (1.57%) Serverless
6 15 (1.47%) Azure DevOps
6 15 (1.47%) GitHub
7 12 (1.18%) Firebase
8 9 (0.88%) Anthropic Claude
9 7 (0.69%) Cloud Run
10 6 (0.59%) GitHub Actions
10 6 (0.59%) PaaS
11 5 (0.49%) Azure Functions
12 4 (0.39%) Amazon EKS
12 4 (0.39%) GitHub Copilot
13 3 (0.29%) Amazon S3
13 3 (0.29%) AWS Lambda
13 3 (0.29%) Azure Key Vault
13 3 (0.29%) Azure Monitor
14 2 (0.20%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 30 (2.95%) Wireless
2 12 (1.18%) TCP/IP
3 10 (0.98%) ATM
3 10 (0.98%) MQTT
4 9 (0.88%) 5G
5 7 (0.69%) Wireshark
6 6 (0.59%) Ethernet
7 4 (0.39%) HTTP
8 3 (0.29%) Software-Defined Radio
9 1 (0.098%) LAN
9 1 (0.098%) NGN
9 1 (0.098%) SNMP
9 1 (0.098%) Software-Defined Networking
9 1 (0.098%) VLAN
9 1 (0.098%) VoIP
9 1 (0.098%) WAN
9 1 (0.098%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (3.15%) PostgreSQL
2 29 (2.85%) SQL Server
3 13 (1.28%) MySQL
4 11 (1.08%) Relational Database
5 10 (0.98%) MongoDB
6 9 (0.88%) Redis
7 7 (0.69%) Chroma
7 7 (0.69%) Pinecone
8 6 (0.59%) Elasticsearch
9 2 (0.20%) Amazon Aurora
9 2 (0.20%) Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.20%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.20%) RDBMS
10 1 (0.098%) Big Data
10 1 (0.098%) DynamoDB
10 1 (0.098%) Electronic Patient Records
Development Applications
1 56 (5.51%) Git
2 17 (1.67%) GitLab
3 14 (1.38%) Visual Studio Code
4 10 (0.98%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.69%) Rational Rhapsody
6 6 (0.59%) JIRA
7 5 (0.49%) CMake
7 5 (0.49%) Yeoman
8 4 (0.39%) PetaLinux
8 4 (0.39%) Visual Studio
9 3 (0.29%) Eclipse
9 3 (0.29%) Eclipse RCP
9 3 (0.29%) JUnit
9 3 (0.29%) Storybook
10 2 (0.20%) Claude Code
10 2 (0.20%) ESLint
10 2 (0.20%) NUnit
10 2 (0.20%) Vite
11 1 (0.098%) IntelliJ
11 1 (0.098%) Subversion
General
1 84 (8.26%) Manufacturing
2 73 (7.18%) Electronics
3 62 (6.10%) Social Skills
4 51 (5.01%) Aviation
5 50 (4.92%) Finance
6 47 (4.62%) Aerospace
7 17 (1.67%) Automotive
8 16 (1.57%) Analytical Skills
9 15 (1.47%) Military
10 14 (1.38%) Health Technology
10 14 (1.38%) Telecoms
11 11 (1.08%) Public Sector
12 9 (0.88%) Games
13 6 (0.59%) Law
13 6 (0.59%) Organisational Skills
14 5 (0.49%) Banking
14 5 (0.49%) Pharmaceutical
15 4 (0.39%) Digital Health
16 3 (0.29%) Tech for Good
17 2 (0.20%) Documentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 113 (11.11%) .NET
2 53 (5.21%) React
3 28 (2.75%) CSS
4 27 (2.65%) Node.js
5 25 (2.46%) HTML
5 25 (2.46%) WPF
6 23 (2.26%) Vue
7 22 (2.16%) AngularJS
7 22 (2.16%) Django
8 17 (1.67%) Terraform
9 14 (1.38%) React Native
10 13 (1.28%) JSON
10 13 (1.28%) XML
11 11 (1.08%) ASP.NET
12 10 (0.98%) REST
12 10 (0.98%) WebSockets
12 10 (0.98%) Yocto
13 9 (0.88%) .NET Core
14 7 (0.69%) Kafka
14 7 (0.69%) Unreal Engine
Miscellaneous
1 44 (4.33%) Algorithms
2 43 (4.23%) Embedded Systems
3 38 (3.74%) Robotics
4 25 (2.46%) Distributed Computing
5 22 (2.16%) Cloud Native
5 22 (2.16%) Product Ownership
6 14 (1.38%) AI Agents
7 13 (1.28%) Data Structures
8 11 (1.08%) IoT
9 9 (0.88%) Distributed Systems
9 9 (0.88%) Enterprise Software
10 7 (0.69%) Life Science
10 7 (0.69%) NHS
10 7 (0.69%) Self-Motivation
11 6 (0.59%) Client/Server
11 6 (0.59%) FPGA
11 6 (0.59%) Greenfield Project
11 6 (0.59%) Legacy Systems
12 4 (0.39%) Verilog
12 4 (0.39%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 97 (9.54%) Linux
2 24 (2.36%) Windows
3 14 (1.38%) Embedded Linux
4 9 (0.88%) FreeRTOS
5 7 (0.69%) Android
6 6 (0.59%) Apple iOS
7 5 (0.49%) Debian
8 3 (0.29%) Gentoo
9 2 (0.20%) Robot Operating System
10 1 (0.098%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.098%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 1,015 (99.80%) Software Engineering
2 111 (10.91%) AI
3 107 (10.52%) Agile
4 95 (9.34%) CI/CD
5 69 (6.78%) Mentoring
6 68 (6.69%) DevOps
6 68 (6.69%) Full-Stack Development
6 68 (6.69%) Problem-Solving
7 64 (6.29%) Computer Science
8 59 (5.80%) Software Architecture
9 55 (5.41%) SDLC
10 51 (5.01%) Test Automation
11 45 (4.42%) Containerisation
11 45 (4.42%) Microservices
12 40 (3.93%) Machine Learning
13 37 (3.64%) Technical Leadership
14 34 (3.34%) Code Quality
14 34 (3.34%) Continuous Improvement
15 33 (3.24%) Data Science
16 31 (3.05%) Design Patterns
Programming Languages
1 243 (23.89%) C++
2 206 (20.26%) C#
3 187 (18.39%) Python
4 82 (8.06%) C
5 71 (6.98%) JavaScript
6 68 (6.69%) TypeScript
7 55 (5.41%) Java
8 41 (4.03%) SQL
9 30 (2.95%) Rust
10 19 (1.87%) Go
11 15 (1.47%) PHP
12 11 (1.08%) Ada
13 8 (0.79%) MATLAB
14 7 (0.69%) Embedded C++
14 7 (0.69%) T-SQL
15 4 (0.39%) Bash
15 4 (0.39%) Ruby
16 3 (0.29%) Embedded C
16 3 (0.29%) PowerShell
16 3 (0.29%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 140 (13.77%) Degree
2 115 (11.31%) Security Cleared
3 80 (7.87%) SC Cleared
4 69 (6.78%) Computer Science Degree
5 33 (3.24%) DV Cleared
6 31 (3.05%) Master's Degree
7 21 (2.06%) PhD
8 16 (1.57%) BPSS Clearance
9 8 (0.79%) Azure Certification
10 4 (0.39%) Chartered Engineer
11 2 (0.20%) AWS Certification
11 2 (0.20%) Microsoft Certification
11 2 (0.20%) Numerate Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (1.18%) QA
2 7 (0.69%) DO-178B
3 4 (0.39%) ECSS
4 3 (0.29%) GAMP
5 2 (0.20%) AUTOSAR
5 2 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 2 (0.20%) MISRA
5 2 (0.20%) MISRA C
6 1 (0.098%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.098%) JTAG
System Software
1 71 (6.98%) Docker
2 30 (2.95%) Firmware
3 13 (1.28%) Embedded Firmware
4 4 (0.39%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.20%) Active Directory
5 2 (0.20%) KVM
5 2 (0.20%) VMware Infrastructure
6 1 (0.098%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 43 (4.23%) Kubernetes
2 15 (1.47%) Ansible
3 6 (0.59%) Podman
4 2 (0.20%) Puppet
Vendors
1 13 (1.28%) Salesforce
2 11 (1.08%) Microsoft
3 10 (0.98%) Oracle
4 8 (0.79%) Sage
5 5 (0.49%) Google
6 4 (0.39%) Xilinx
7 2 (0.20%) Atlassian
7 2 (0.20%) ServiceNow
7 2 (0.20%) VMware
7 2 (0.20%) Yahoo!
8 1 (0.098%) IBM
8 1 (0.098%) New Relic
8 1 (0.098%) NVIDIA
8 1 (0.098%) Xamarin