Software Engineer Job Trends in the South East

Software Engineer
England > South East

The median Software Engineer salary in the South East is £65,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 16 August 2026.

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

6 months to
16 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 100 25
Rank change year-on-year +78 -75 +47
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 994 251 948
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.80% 2.83% 6.89%
As % of the Job Titles category 6.09% 3.16% 7.27%
Number of salaries quoted 705 160 703
10th Percentile £45,000 £44,875 £40,000
25th Percentile £53,750 £55,000 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £66,250 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -1.89% +26.19% -12.50%
75th Percentile £83,750 £80,000 £64,375
90th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £75,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £80,000 £62,500
% change year-on-year -12.50% +28.00% -10.71%

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 16,332 7,944 13,033
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 95.28% 89.53% 94.79%
Number of salaries quoted 11,568 4,427 8,726
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £39,573
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% - -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £87,500 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £57,500 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.55% - -8.33%

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 16 August 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 16 August 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 +39 441 £65,000 - 48
Thames Valley +114 360 £65,000 - 74
Oxfordshire +23 168 £65,000 -3.70% 28
Berkshire +94 114 £65,000 +8.33% 29
Surrey +4 107 £80,000 +3.23% 13
Buckinghamshire +52 78 £82,500 +50.00% 17
Kent -10 30 £35,000 -44.00% 6
West Sussex +4 26 £75,000 +9.09% 6
East Sussex +1 25 £60,000 -33.33% 6
Sussex - 5 £85,000 - 4
Software Engineer
England

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

For the 6 months to 16 August 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.

1 987 (99.30%) Software Engineering
2 248 (24.95%) C++
3 203 (20.42%) Python
4 201 (20.22%) C#
5 167 (16.80%) Degree
6 122 (12.27%) Agile
6 122 (12.27%) Security Cleared
7 120 (12.07%) .NET
8 116 (11.67%) AWS
9 102 (10.26%) Linux
10 98 (9.86%) AI
11 92 (9.26%) Azure
12 89 (8.95%) CI/CD
13 88 (8.85%) SC Cleared
14 85 (8.55%) C
15 82 (8.25%) Computer Science Degree
16 81 (8.15%) Computer Science
17 80 (8.05%) Full-Stack Development
18 75 (7.55%) Docker
19 74 (7.44%) DevOps
20 69 (6.94%) Problem-Solving
21 66 (6.64%) JavaScript
21 66 (6.64%) TypeScript
22 63 (6.34%) Mentoring
23 60 (6.04%) Git
24 57 (5.73%) Test Automation
25 56 (5.63%) Containerisation
26 55 (5.53%) SDLC
27 54 (5.43%) SaaS
27 54 (5.43%) Software Architecture

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 7 (0.70%) Apache
2 3 (0.30%) Confluence
3 1 (0.10%) ArchestrA
Applications
1 13 (1.31%) Lightworks
2 5 (0.50%) Simulink
3 4 (0.40%) Microsoft Office
4 3 (0.30%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.30%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.20%) AutoCAD
5 2 (0.20%) EPLAN
6 1 (0.10%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 6 (0.60%) Oracle Applications
Cloud Services
1 116 (11.67%) AWS
2 92 (9.26%) Azure
3 54 (5.43%) SaaS
4 38 (3.82%) GCP
5 16 (1.61%) Azure DevOps
6 15 (1.51%) GitHub
6 15 (1.51%) Serverless
7 12 (1.21%) Firebase
8 7 (0.70%) Anthropic Claude
8 7 (0.70%) Cloud Run
9 6 (0.60%) PaaS
10 5 (0.50%) Azure Functions
10 5 (0.50%) Figma
10 5 (0.50%) GitHub Actions
11 4 (0.40%) Amazon EKS
11 4 (0.40%) AWS Lambda
12 3 (0.30%) Azure Key Vault
12 3 (0.30%) Azure Monitor
13 2 (0.20%) Azure AKS
13 2 (0.20%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 17 (1.71%) Wireless
2 12 (1.21%) TCP/IP
3 10 (1.01%) ATM
4 9 (0.91%) MQTT
5 6 (0.60%) Wireshark
6 3 (0.30%) Ethernet
6 3 (0.30%) Software-Defined Radio
7 2 (0.20%) HTTP
8 1 (0.10%) Broadband
8 1 (0.10%) Internet
8 1 (0.10%) LAN
8 1 (0.10%) Multicast
8 1 (0.10%) Software-Defined Networking
8 1 (0.10%) VoIP
8 1 (0.10%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (3.02%) SQL Server
2 25 (2.52%) PostgreSQL
3 12 (1.21%) MySQL
4 10 (1.01%) MongoDB
5 8 (0.80%) Relational Database
6 7 (0.70%) Pinecone
7 5 (0.50%) Elasticsearch
7 5 (0.50%) Redis
8 2 (0.20%) Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.20%) NoSQL
8 2 (0.20%) RDBMS
9 1 (0.10%) Electronic Patient Records
9 1 (0.10%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 60 (6.04%) Git
2 19 (1.91%) GitLab
3 18 (1.81%) Visual Studio Code
4 10 (1.01%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.70%) JIRA
6 6 (0.60%) CMake
6 6 (0.60%) Yeoman
7 4 (0.40%) Rational Rhapsody
8 3 (0.30%) Bitbucket
8 3 (0.30%) Eclipse
8 3 (0.30%) Eclipse RCP
8 3 (0.30%) JUnit
8 3 (0.30%) PetaLinux
8 3 (0.30%) Visual Studio
9 2 (0.20%) NUnit
9 2 (0.20%) Postman
9 2 (0.20%) SpecFlow
10 1 (0.10%) Storybook
10 1 (0.10%) Toad
10 1 (0.10%) utPLSQL
General
1 79 (7.95%) Manufacturing
2 70 (7.04%) Electronics
3 66 (6.64%) Social Skills
4 39 (3.92%) Aviation
5 38 (3.82%) Aerospace
6 31 (3.12%) Finance
7 19 (1.91%) Analytical Skills
8 16 (1.61%) Telecoms
9 14 (1.41%) Pharmaceutical
9 14 (1.41%) Public Sector
10 13 (1.31%) Games
11 12 (1.21%) Military
12 11 (1.11%) Automotive
13 6 (0.60%) Law
13 6 (0.60%) Organisational Skills
14 4 (0.40%) Digital Health
14 4 (0.40%) Health Technology
15 3 (0.30%) Banking
16 2 (0.20%) Documentation Skills
16 2 (0.20%) Inclusion and Diversity
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 120 (12.07%) .NET
2 51 (5.13%) React
3 32 (3.22%) CSS
4 31 (3.12%) HTML
5 25 (2.52%) Django
6 24 (2.41%) Vue
7 21 (2.11%) AngularJS
8 18 (1.81%) Node.js
8 18 (1.81%) REST
8 18 (1.81%) WPF
9 14 (1.41%) JSON
9 14 (1.41%) WebSockets
10 13 (1.31%) ASP.NET
10 13 (1.31%) Unreal Engine
11 12 (1.21%) XML
12 8 (0.80%) Yocto
13 7 (0.70%) .NET Core
13 7 (0.70%) Blazor
13 7 (0.70%) Kafka
13 7 (0.70%) pgvector
Miscellaneous
1 49 (4.93%) Algorithms
2 35 (3.52%) Robotics
3 34 (3.42%) Embedded Systems
4 25 (2.52%) Product Ownership
5 22 (2.21%) Cloud Native
6 19 (1.91%) Distributed Computing
7 16 (1.61%) IoT
8 15 (1.51%) Distributed Systems
9 13 (1.31%) AI Agents
9 13 (1.31%) Data Structures
9 13 (1.31%) Self-Motivation
10 12 (1.21%) Client/Server
11 7 (0.70%) Enterprise Software
11 7 (0.70%) Life Science
12 6 (0.60%) Legacy Systems
12 6 (0.60%) Smart Energy
13 5 (0.50%) Management Information System
13 5 (0.50%) Video Conferencing
14 4 (0.40%) FPGA
14 4 (0.40%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 102 (10.26%) Linux
2 24 (2.41%) Windows
3 10 (1.01%) Embedded Linux
4 5 (0.50%) Debian
5 3 (0.30%) FreeRTOS
5 3 (0.30%) Gentoo
6 2 (0.20%) Android
6 2 (0.20%) Robot Operating System
7 1 (0.10%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 987 (99.30%) Software Engineering
2 122 (12.27%) Agile
3 98 (9.86%) AI
4 89 (8.95%) CI/CD
5 81 (8.15%) Computer Science
6 80 (8.05%) Full-Stack Development
7 74 (7.44%) DevOps
8 69 (6.94%) Problem-Solving
9 63 (6.34%) Mentoring
10 57 (5.73%) Test Automation
11 56 (5.63%) Containerisation
12 55 (5.53%) SDLC
13 54 (5.43%) Software Architecture
14 48 (4.83%) Machine Learning
15 43 (4.33%) Continuous Improvement
15 43 (4.33%) Microservices
16 41 (4.12%) Code Quality
17 32 (3.22%) Embedded Software Development
17 32 (3.22%) Software Testing
18 31 (3.12%) Data Science
Programming Languages
1 248 (24.95%) C++
2 203 (20.42%) Python
3 201 (20.22%) C#
4 85 (8.55%) C
5 66 (6.64%) JavaScript
5 66 (6.64%) TypeScript
6 46 (4.63%) Java
7 43 (4.33%) SQL
8 30 (3.02%) Rust
9 17 (1.71%) Go
10 11 (1.11%) Ada
11 8 (0.80%) PHP
12 7 (0.70%) MATLAB
13 6 (0.60%) PL/SQL
13 6 (0.60%) T-SQL
14 5 (0.50%) Ruby
15 4 (0.40%) Bash
15 4 (0.40%) Embedded C++
15 4 (0.40%) VB.NET
16 3 (0.30%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 167 (16.80%) Degree
2 122 (12.27%) Security Cleared
3 88 (8.85%) SC Cleared
4 82 (8.25%) Computer Science Degree
5 43 (4.33%) Master's Degree
6 32 (3.22%) DV Cleared
7 23 (2.31%) PhD
8 8 (0.80%) Azure Certification
8 8 (0.80%) BPSS Clearance
9 3 (0.30%) HNC
9 3 (0.30%) HND
10 2 (0.20%) AWS Certification
10 2 (0.20%) Microsoft Certification
10 2 (0.20%) Numerate Degree
10 2 (0.20%) NVQ Level 3
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (1.91%) QA
2 4 (0.40%) DO-178B
3 3 (0.30%) ECSS
3 3 (0.30%) GAMP
4 2 (0.20%) AUTOSAR
4 2 (0.20%) GDPR
4 2 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 2 (0.20%) MISRA
4 2 (0.20%) MISRA C
System Software
1 75 (7.55%) Docker
2 33 (3.32%) Firmware
3 11 (1.11%) Embedded Firmware
4 9 (0.91%) Virtual Machines
5 8 (0.80%) KVM
5 8 (0.80%) VMware Infrastructure
6 7 (0.70%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.20%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 42 (4.23%) Kubernetes
2 17 (1.71%) Terraform
3 14 (1.41%) Ansible
4 6 (0.60%) Podman
5 2 (0.20%) Puppet
Vendors
1 16 (1.61%) Oracle
2 12 (1.21%) Microsoft
3 9 (0.91%) Salesforce
4 8 (0.80%) VMware
5 4 (0.40%) Google
6 3 (0.30%) Allen-Bradley
6 3 (0.30%) Siemens
6 3 (0.30%) Wonderware
6 3 (0.30%) Xilinx
7 2 (0.20%) Atlassian
7 2 (0.20%) Sage
7 2 (0.20%) ServiceNow
7 2 (0.20%) Yahoo!
8 1 (0.10%) Adobe
8 1 (0.10%) IBM
8 1 (0.10%) NVIDIA
8 1 (0.10%) Typelevel
8 1 (0.10%) Xamarin