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 24 October 2026.

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

6 months to
24 Oct 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 111 21
Rank change year-on-year +87 -90 +47
Permanent Software Engineer jobs 1,060 210 897
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.28% 2.33% 7.84%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.68% 2.59% 8.12%
Number of salaries quoted 695 124 500
10th Percentile £45,000 £36,250 £40,000
25th Percentile £55,000 £54,375 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £65,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.69% +18.18% -8.33%
75th Percentile £85,000 £83,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £80,000 £65,000
% change year-on-year -12.50% +23.08% -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 adverts in the South East matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all permanent IT job adverts they make up.

6 months to
24 Oct 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Permanent job adverts in the South East matching a recognised job title 18,660 8,119 11,051
% of permanent job adverts matching a recognised job title 92.92% 90.14% 96.55%
Number of salaries quoted 12,970 4,579 6,213
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £33,750 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £47,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +15.79% -13.64% -
75th Percentile £70,000 £65,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £81,250 £82,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £53,750 £57,500
% change year-on-year +11.63% -6.52% -4.17%

Software Engineer Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent Software Engineer job postings 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 Software Engineer jobs in the South East over the 6 months to 24 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 Software Engineer jobs within the South East region over the 6 months to 24 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		 Job Ads
Past 6 Months		 Median Salary
Past 6 Months		 Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Live
Jobs
Hampshire +36 430 £65,000 - 99
Thames Valley +123 391 £70,000 +24.05% 152
Oxfordshire +38 181 £65,000 -7.14% 84
Berkshire +92 133 £75,000 +22.45% 40
Surrey -10 86 £85,000 -5.56% 20
Buckinghamshire +46 77 £80,000 +128.57% 28
Kent +15 39 £45,000 -28.00% 5
West Sussex - 34 £75,000 - 22
East Sussex +16 25 £65,000 -24.64% 12
Isle of Wight +3 7 £54,500 -19.85% 5
Sussex - 5 £85,000 - 5
Middlesex +16 4 £66,000 - 4
Software Engineer
England

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

For the 6 months to 24 October 2026, Software Engineer job ads cited 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 Software Engineer job ads across the South East region.

RankSkillShareJob Ads
1Software Engineering100.0%1,060
2C++23.5%249
3C#18.0%191
4Python16.7%177
5Degree12.7%135
6AI11.1%118
6Security Cleared11.1%118
8AWS10.5%111
9.NET10.4%110
10Linux9.9%105
11Agile9.6%102
12CI/CD9.4%100
13C9.1%96
14Azure7.6%81
15SC Cleared7.5%80
16Docker7.2%76
17JavaScript7.0%74
18Problem-Solving6.8%72
19DevOps6.7%71
20TypeScript6.6%70
21Full-Stack Development6.4%68
21Mentoring6.4%68
23Computer Science Degree6.2%66
24Computer Science5.8%62
24Java5.8%62
26Test Automation5.8%61
27Software Architecture5.5%58
28React5.3%56
29Git4.9%52
30Containerisation4.7%50

Software Engineer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East by Category

The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.

Job Titles

RankJob TitleShareJob Ads
1Senior Software Engineer25.7%272
2Embedded Software Engineer17.9%190
3C# Software Engineer11.6%123
4C++ Software Engineer11.4%121
5Lead Software Engineer10.4%110
6Principal Software Engineer6.4%68
7Python Software Engineer5.7%60
8.NET Software Engineer5.6%59
9Senior Embedded Software Engineer3.6%38
10AWS Software Engineer3.0%32
11C Software Engineer2.7%29
12Artificial Intelligence Engineer2.5%26
12Full-Stack Software Engineer2.5%26
14C/C++ Software Engineer2.2%23
14Embedded C Software Engineer2.2%23
14Senior C# Software Engineer2.2%23
17Embedded C++ Software Engineer2.1%22
18Azure Software Engineer1.9%20
19Senior C++ Software Engineer1.8%19
20DV Cleared Software Engineer1.7%18
342 Software Engineer jobs in the South East