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 24 September 2026.

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

6 months to
24 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 21 103 22
Rank change year-on-year +82 -81 +43
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 1,029 222 908
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.47% 2.50% 7.09%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.81% 2.79% 7.38%
Number of salaries quoted 736 132 599
10th Percentile £45,000 £45,000 £40,000
25th Percentile £52,500 £60,000 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £70,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -7.14% +27.27% -8.33%
75th Percentile £84,063 £80,000 £65,000
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 17,710 7,954 12,299
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.11% 89.46% 96.06%
Number of salaries quoted 12,538 4,433 7,064
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £70,000 £66,250 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £82,500 £82,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -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 24 September 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 24 September 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 - 107
Thames Valley +132 393 £70,000 +7.69% 149
Oxfordshire +32 191 £65,000 -7.14% 89
Berkshire +99 127 £75,000 +20.00% 43
Surrey -2 102 £80,000 -5.88% 23
Buckinghamshire +56 75 £80,000 +128.57% 17
Kent -1 34 £35,000 -44.00% 3
West Sussex +6 28 £75,000 +7.14% 20
East Sussex +12 26 £65,000 -27.78% 11
Sussex - 5 £85,000 - 1
Software Engineer
England

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

For the 6 months to 24 September 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 1,023 (99.42%) Software Engineering
2 261 (25.36%) C++
3 217 (21.09%) C#
4 201 (19.53%) Python
5 152 (14.77%) Degree
6 121 (11.76%) Security Cleared
7 117 (11.37%) .NET
8 112 (10.88%) Agile
9 110 (10.69%) AI
9 110 (10.69%) AWS
10 96 (9.33%) Linux
11 95 (9.23%) CI/CD
12 87 (8.45%) C
13 85 (8.26%) SC Cleared
14 82 (7.97%) Azure
15 74 (7.19%) Computer Science Degree
16 73 (7.09%) Docker
16 73 (7.09%) Full-Stack Development
17 72 (7.00%) Problem-Solving
18 71 (6.90%) Computer Science
18 71 (6.90%) JavaScript
19 68 (6.61%) DevOps
19 68 (6.61%) TypeScript
20 65 (6.32%) Mentoring
21 63 (6.12%) Git
22 59 (5.73%) Software Architecture
23 58 (5.64%) SDLC
24 55 (5.34%) Java
25 51 (4.96%) React
25 51 (4.96%) SaaS

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 (0.87%) Apache
2 2 (0.19%) Confluence
3 1 (0.097%) ArchestrA
Applications
1 18 (1.75%) Lightworks
2 6 (0.58%) Simulink
3 3 (0.29%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.29%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.29%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 6 (0.58%) Oracle Applications
2 1 (0.097%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 110 (10.69%) AWS
2 82 (7.97%) Azure
3 51 (4.96%) SaaS
4 27 (2.62%) GCP
5 15 (1.46%) Azure DevOps
5 15 (1.46%) Serverless
6 13 (1.26%) GitHub
7 12 (1.17%) Firebase
8 8 (0.78%) Anthropic Claude
9 7 (0.68%) Cloud Run
10 6 (0.58%) GitHub Actions
10 6 (0.58%) PaaS
11 5 (0.49%) Azure Functions
12 4 (0.39%) Amazon EKS
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
13 3 (0.29%) GitHub Copilot
14 2 (0.19%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 29 (2.82%) Wireless
2 13 (1.26%) TCP/IP
3 10 (0.97%) ATM
3 10 (0.97%) MQTT
4 9 (0.87%) 5G
5 7 (0.68%) Wireshark
6 5 (0.49%) Ethernet
7 3 (0.29%) HTTP
7 3 (0.29%) Software-Defined Radio
8 1 (0.097%) Broadband
8 1 (0.097%) Internet
8 1 (0.097%) LAN
8 1 (0.097%) Multicast
8 1 (0.097%) NGN
8 1 (0.097%) SNMP
8 1 (0.097%) Software-Defined Networking
8 1 (0.097%) VLAN
8 1 (0.097%) VoIP
8 1 (0.097%) WAN
8 1 (0.097%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (2.72%) PostgreSQL
2 27 (2.62%) SQL Server
3 13 (1.26%) MySQL
4 10 (0.97%) MongoDB
4 10 (0.97%) Relational Database
5 7 (0.68%) Chroma
5 7 (0.68%) Pinecone
5 7 (0.68%) Redis
6 6 (0.58%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (0.19%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.19%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.19%) RDBMS
8 1 (0.097%) Amazon Aurora
8 1 (0.097%) DynamoDB
8 1 (0.097%) Electronic Patient Records
Development Applications
1 63 (6.12%) Git
2 21 (2.04%) GitLab
3 18 (1.75%) Visual Studio Code
4 10 (0.97%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.68%) JIRA
6 6 (0.58%) CMake
7 5 (0.49%) Yeoman
8 4 (0.39%) PetaLinux
8 4 (0.39%) Rational Rhapsody
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 (0.19%) Bitbucket
10 2 (0.19%) ESLint
10 2 (0.19%) NUnit
10 2 (0.19%) Vite
11 1 (0.097%) IntelliJ
11 1 (0.097%) Subversion
General
1 88 (8.55%) Manufacturing
2 77 (7.48%) Electronics
3 64 (6.22%) Social Skills
4 48 (4.66%) Aviation
5 45 (4.37%) Finance
6 41 (3.98%) Aerospace
7 18 (1.75%) Analytical Skills
8 15 (1.46%) Automotive
9 14 (1.36%) Telecoms
10 13 (1.26%) Public Sector
11 12 (1.17%) Military
12 10 (0.97%) Games
13 9 (0.87%) Health Technology
13 9 (0.87%) Pharmaceutical
14 6 (0.58%) Law
14 6 (0.58%) Organisational Skills
15 4 (0.39%) Banking
15 4 (0.39%) Digital Health
16 3 (0.29%) Marketing
17 2 (0.19%) Tech for Good
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 117 (11.37%) .NET
2 51 (4.96%) React
3 34 (3.30%) CSS
4 32 (3.11%) HTML
5 28 (2.72%) WPF
6 26 (2.53%) Vue
7 22 (2.14%) AngularJS
7 22 (2.14%) Node.js
8 21 (2.04%) Django
9 17 (1.65%) Terraform
10 14 (1.36%) JSON
10 14 (1.36%) React Native
11 13 (1.26%) XML
12 12 (1.17%) ASP.NET
13 10 (0.97%) REST
13 10 (0.97%) WebSockets
13 10 (0.97%) Yocto
14 8 (0.78%) .NET Core
15 7 (0.68%) pgvector
15 7 (0.68%) Qt
Miscellaneous
1 48 (4.66%) Algorithms
2 42 (4.08%) Embedded Systems
3 38 (3.69%) Robotics
4 24 (2.33%) Distributed Computing
5 22 (2.14%) Cloud Native
5 22 (2.14%) Product Ownership
6 13 (1.26%) Data Structures
7 12 (1.17%) AI Agents
8 11 (1.07%) IoT
9 10 (0.97%) Distributed Systems
10 9 (0.87%) Enterprise Software
11 8 (0.78%) Self-Motivation
12 7 (0.68%) Life Science
13 6 (0.58%) Client/Server
13 6 (0.58%) Legacy Systems
14 5 (0.49%) FPGA
14 5 (0.49%) Greenfield Project
14 5 (0.49%) Management Information System
14 5 (0.49%) NHS
15 4 (0.39%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 96 (9.33%) Linux
2 25 (2.43%) Windows
3 12 (1.17%) Embedded Linux
4 7 (0.68%) FreeRTOS
5 5 (0.49%) Android
5 5 (0.49%) Debian
6 4 (0.39%) Apple iOS
7 3 (0.29%) Gentoo
8 2 (0.19%) Robot Operating System
9 1 (0.097%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 1,023 (99.42%) Software Engineering
2 112 (10.88%) Agile
3 110 (10.69%) AI
4 95 (9.23%) CI/CD
5 73 (7.09%) Full-Stack Development
6 72 (7.00%) Problem-Solving
7 71 (6.90%) Computer Science
8 68 (6.61%) DevOps
9 65 (6.32%) Mentoring
10 59 (5.73%) Software Architecture
11 58 (5.64%) SDLC
12 47 (4.57%) Containerisation
12 47 (4.57%) Microservices
12 47 (4.57%) Test Automation
13 45 (4.37%) Machine Learning
14 40 (3.89%) Continuous Improvement
15 34 (3.30%) Data Science
16 32 (3.11%) Code Quality
17 31 (3.01%) Embedded Software Development
18 30 (2.92%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 261 (25.36%) C++
2 217 (21.09%) C#
3 201 (19.53%) Python
4 87 (8.45%) C
5 71 (6.90%) JavaScript
6 68 (6.61%) TypeScript
7 55 (5.34%) Java
8 42 (4.08%) SQL
9 30 (2.92%) Rust
10 20 (1.94%) Go
11 13 (1.26%) PHP
12 11 (1.07%) Ada
13 8 (0.78%) MATLAB
14 6 (0.58%) T-SQL
15 5 (0.49%) Embedded C++
16 4 (0.39%) Bash
16 4 (0.39%) Ruby
16 4 (0.39%) VB.NET
17 3 (0.29%) Julia
17 3 (0.29%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 152 (14.77%) Degree
2 121 (11.76%) Security Cleared
3 85 (8.26%) SC Cleared
4 74 (7.19%) Computer Science Degree
5 37 (3.60%) Master's Degree
6 33 (3.21%) DV Cleared
7 23 (2.24%) PhD
8 11 (1.07%) BPSS Clearance
9 8 (0.78%) Azure Certification
10 3 (0.29%) Chartered Engineer
11 2 (0.19%) AWS Certification
11 2 (0.19%) Microsoft Certification
11 2 (0.19%) Numerate Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (1.07%) QA
2 4 (0.39%) DO-178B
2 4 (0.39%) ECSS
3 3 (0.29%) GAMP
4 2 (0.19%) AUTOSAR
4 2 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 2 (0.19%) MISRA
4 2 (0.19%) MISRA C
5 1 (0.097%) Accessibility
System Software
1 73 (7.09%) Docker
2 31 (3.01%) Firmware
3 13 (1.26%) Embedded Firmware
4 4 (0.39%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.19%) Active Directory
5 2 (0.19%) KVM
5 2 (0.19%) VMware Infrastructure
6 1 (0.097%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 42 (4.08%) Kubernetes
2 15 (1.46%) Ansible
3 6 (0.58%) Podman
4 2 (0.19%) Puppet
Vendors
1 13 (1.26%) Salesforce
2 11 (1.07%) Microsoft
3 10 (0.97%) Oracle
4 8 (0.78%) Sage
5 5 (0.49%) Google
6 4 (0.39%) Xilinx
7 2 (0.19%) Atlassian
7 2 (0.19%) ServiceNow
7 2 (0.19%) VMware
7 2 (0.19%) Yahoo!
8 1 (0.097%) Adobe
8 1 (0.097%) IBM
8 1 (0.097%) NVIDIA
8 1 (0.097%) Typelevel
8 1 (0.097%) Xamarin