Software Engineer Job Trends in the South East

Software Engineer
England > South East

The median Software Engineer salary in the South East is £67,500 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 30 October 2026.

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

6 months to
30 Oct 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 23 105 20
Rank change year-on-year +82 -85 +47
Permanent Software Engineer jobs 1,087 209 904
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.27% 2.34% 7.96%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.69% 2.58% 8.24%
Number of salaries quoted 696 120 490
10th Percentile £45,000 £35,875 £40,000
25th Percentile £55,000 £54,286 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,500 £65,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.85% +18.18% -8.33%
75th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £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% -6.46%

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
30 Oct 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Permanent job adverts in the South East matching a recognised job title 19,105 8,101 10,972
% of permanent job adverts matching a recognised job title 92.69% 90.62% 96.64%
Number of salaries quoted 13,100 4,692 6,129
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 £80,000 £82,500
England median annual salary £59,490 £53,500 £57,500
% change year-on-year +11.20% -6.96% -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 30 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 30 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 +36 432 £65,000 - 45
Thames Valley +113 391 £70,000 +24.05% 27
Oxfordshire +37 176 £65,000 -7.14% 12
Berkshire +86 138 £75,000 +25.00% 12
Surrey -13 84 £87,500 -2.78% 9
Buckinghamshire +42 77 £80,000 +128.57% 3
West Sussex - 39 £75,000 - 5
Kent +8 34 £40,000 -36.00% 5
East Sussex +11 25 £65,000 -24.64% 3
Isle of Wight +4 10 £54,500 -19.85% 5
Middlesex +14 5 £66,000 - 3
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 30 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%1,087
2C++22.8%248
3C#17.2%187
4Python16.7%181
5Degree12.1%132
6AI11.3%123
7Security Cleared10.9%118
8AWS10.5%114
9Linux10.2%111
10.NET9.8%107
11CI/CD9.0%98
12Agile8.9%97
13C8.6%93
14Azure7.4%80
15SC Cleared7.2%78
16JavaScript7.0%76
17Docker6.9%75
18TypeScript6.7%73
19DevOps6.6%72
19Problem-Solving6.6%72
21Full-Stack Development6.3%69
22Computer Science Degree6.1%66
23Java6.0%65
23Mentoring6.0%65
25Computer Science5.8%63
25Test Automation5.8%63
27React5.2%56
28Software Architecture4.9%53
29SQL4.7%51
30Git4.6%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 Engineer25.5%277
2Embedded Software Engineer17.3%188
3C++ Software Engineer11.2%122
4C# Software Engineer11.0%120
5Lead Software Engineer10.1%110
6Principal Software Engineer6.5%71
7Python Software Engineer5.9%64
8.NET Software Engineer5.1%55
9Senior Embedded Software Engineer3.4%37
10AWS Software Engineer3.1%34
11C Software Engineer2.6%28
12Artificial Intelligence Engineer2.4%26
13Full-Stack Software Engineer2.1%23
14C/C++ Software Engineer2.0%22
14Senior C# Software Engineer2.0%22
16DV Cleared Software Engineer1.8%20
16Embedded C Software Engineer1.8%20
18Azure Software Engineer1.7%19
18Embedded C++ Software Engineer1.7%19
18Senior C++ Software Engineer1.7%19
130 Software Engineer jobs in the South East