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 4 August 2026.

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

6 months to
4 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 96 26
Rank change year-on-year +74 -70 +44
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 985 255 937
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.94% 2.93% 6.71%
As % of the Job Titles category 6.22% 3.27% 7.10%
Number of salaries quoted 704 165 699
10th Percentile £45,000 £45,000 £40,000
25th Percentile £55,000 £55,000 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £65,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year - +23.81% -12.50%
75th Percentile £83,750 £80,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £77,500
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 15,834 7,796 13,193
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 95.47% 89.71% 94.46%
Number of salaries quoted 11,196 4,365 8,917
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £29,750
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £38,500
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 £87,200 £81,250 £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 4 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 4 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 +35 425 £65,000 - 49
Thames Valley +109 361 £67,500 +3.85% 82
Oxfordshire +26 170 £65,000 -3.70% 37
Surrey +11 113 £80,000 +6.67% 13
Berkshire +94 111 £65,000 +8.33% 31
Buckinghamshire +49 80 £82,500 +50.00% 14
Kent -12 31 £35,000 -44.00% 4
East Sussex +10 26 £65,000 -27.78% 2
West Sussex +2 24 £75,000 +9.09% 7
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 4 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.

1 977 (99.19%) Software Engineering
2 258 (26.19%) C++
3 208 (21.12%) Python
4 202 (20.51%) C#
5 177 (17.97%) Degree
6 127 (12.89%) .NET
7 124 (12.59%) Agile
8 120 (12.18%) Security Cleared
9 119 (12.08%) AWS
10 99 (10.05%) Linux
11 96 (9.75%) AI
12 95 (9.64%) Azure
13 89 (9.04%) CI/CD
14 88 (8.93%) C
14 88 (8.93%) Computer Science Degree
15 86 (8.73%) SC Cleared
16 85 (8.63%) Computer Science
17 83 (8.43%) Full-Stack Development
18 77 (7.82%) DevOps
19 73 (7.41%) Docker
20 71 (7.21%) Problem-Solving
21 63 (6.40%) JavaScript
22 61 (6.19%) Mentoring
22 61 (6.19%) TypeScript
23 60 (6.09%) Test Automation
24 59 (5.99%) Git
25 58 (5.89%) Containerisation
26 57 (5.79%) SDLC
27 55 (5.58%) SaaS
27 55 (5.58%) 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 (0.71%) Apache
2 3 (0.30%) Confluence
3 1 (0.10%) ArchestrA
Applications
1 12 (1.22%) Lightworks
2 5 (0.51%) Simulink
3 4 (0.41%) 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 4 (0.41%) Oracle Applications
Cloud Services
1 119 (12.08%) AWS
2 95 (9.64%) Azure
3 55 (5.58%) SaaS
4 40 (4.06%) GCP
5 18 (1.83%) Azure DevOps
6 15 (1.52%) Serverless
7 14 (1.42%) GitHub
8 12 (1.22%) Firebase
9 7 (0.71%) Anthropic Claude
9 7 (0.71%) Cloud Run
10 6 (0.61%) PaaS
11 5 (0.51%) Azure Functions
11 5 (0.51%) Figma
12 4 (0.41%) Amazon EKS
12 4 (0.41%) AWS Lambda
12 4 (0.41%) GitHub Actions
13 3 (0.30%) Azure Key Vault
13 3 (0.30%) Azure Monitor
14 2 (0.20%) Azure App Service
14 2 (0.20%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 19 (1.93%) Wireless
2 12 (1.22%) TCP/IP
3 10 (1.02%) ATM
4 9 (0.91%) MQTT
5 6 (0.61%) 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 32 (3.25%) SQL Server
2 21 (2.13%) PostgreSQL
3 11 (1.12%) MySQL
4 8 (0.81%) MongoDB
5 7 (0.71%) Pinecone
5 7 (0.71%) Relational Database
6 3 (0.30%) Elasticsearch
6 3 (0.30%) Redis
7 2 (0.20%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.20%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.20%) RDBMS
8 1 (0.10%) Electronic Patient Records
8 1 (0.10%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 59 (5.99%) Git
2 20 (2.03%) GitLab
3 19 (1.93%) Visual Studio Code
4 8 (0.81%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.71%) JIRA
6 6 (0.61%) CMake
6 6 (0.61%) Yeoman
7 4 (0.41%) 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%) NUnit
8 3 (0.30%) PetaLinux
8 3 (0.30%) Visual Studio
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 75 (7.61%) Manufacturing
2 67 (6.80%) Electronics
2 67 (6.80%) Social Skills
3 36 (3.65%) Aerospace
4 34 (3.45%) Aviation
5 32 (3.25%) Finance
6 21 (2.13%) Analytical Skills
7 17 (1.73%) Telecoms
8 14 (1.42%) Pharmaceutical
9 13 (1.32%) Military
10 12 (1.22%) Games
10 12 (1.22%) Public Sector
11 10 (1.02%) Automotive
12 6 (0.61%) Law
12 6 (0.61%) Organisational Skills
13 4 (0.41%) Digital Health
13 4 (0.41%) Health Technology
14 3 (0.30%) Banking
15 2 (0.20%) Documentation Skills
16 1 (0.10%) Advertising
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 127 (12.89%) .NET
2 49 (4.97%) React
3 31 (3.15%) CSS
4 30 (3.05%) HTML
5 24 (2.44%) Django
6 23 (2.34%) Vue
7 20 (2.03%) AngularJS
8 18 (1.83%) Node.js
8 18 (1.83%) REST
9 17 (1.73%) WPF
10 16 (1.62%) Unreal Engine
11 14 (1.42%) ASP.NET
11 14 (1.42%) JSON
11 14 (1.42%) WebSockets
12 12 (1.22%) XML
13 8 (0.81%) .NET Core
13 8 (0.81%) Blazor
13 8 (0.81%) Yocto
14 7 (0.71%) Kafka
14 7 (0.71%) Qt
Miscellaneous
1 50 (5.08%) Algorithms
2 34 (3.45%) Robotics
3 33 (3.35%) Embedded Systems
4 25 (2.54%) Product Ownership
5 21 (2.13%) Cloud Native
6 18 (1.83%) Distributed Computing
6 18 (1.83%) Distributed Systems
7 16 (1.62%) IoT
8 15 (1.52%) Client/Server
9 13 (1.32%) AI Agents
9 13 (1.32%) Self-Motivation
10 12 (1.22%) Data Structures
11 7 (0.71%) Life Science
12 6 (0.61%) Legacy Systems
12 6 (0.61%) Management Information System
12 6 (0.61%) Smart Energy
13 5 (0.51%) Video Conferencing
14 4 (0.41%) Driving Licence
14 4 (0.41%) FPGA
14 4 (0.41%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 99 (10.05%) Linux
2 23 (2.34%) Windows
3 10 (1.02%) Embedded Linux
4 5 (0.51%) 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
1 977 (99.19%) Software Engineering
2 124 (12.59%) Agile
3 96 (9.75%) AI
4 89 (9.04%) CI/CD
5 85 (8.63%) Computer Science
6 83 (8.43%) Full-Stack Development
7 77 (7.82%) DevOps
8 71 (7.21%) Problem-Solving
9 61 (6.19%) Mentoring
10 60 (6.09%) Test Automation
11 58 (5.89%) Containerisation
12 57 (5.79%) SDLC
13 55 (5.58%) Software Architecture
14 49 (4.97%) Machine Learning
15 47 (4.77%) Continuous Improvement
16 43 (4.37%) Code Quality
17 41 (4.16%) Microservices
18 38 (3.86%) Software Testing
19 33 (3.35%) Embedded Software Development
20 29 (2.94%) Data Science
Programming Languages
1 258 (26.19%) C++
2 208 (21.12%) Python
3 202 (20.51%) C#
4 88 (8.93%) C
5 63 (6.40%) JavaScript
6 61 (6.19%) TypeScript
7 45 (4.57%) Java
8 44 (4.47%) SQL
9 32 (3.25%) Rust
10 15 (1.52%) Go
11 11 (1.12%) Ada
12 8 (0.81%) PHP
13 7 (0.71%) MATLAB
13 7 (0.71%) Ruby
14 6 (0.61%) PL/SQL
14 6 (0.61%) T-SQL
15 4 (0.41%) Apex Code
15 4 (0.41%) Bash
15 4 (0.41%) Embedded C++
15 4 (0.41%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 177 (17.97%) Degree
2 120 (12.18%) Security Cleared
3 88 (8.93%) Computer Science Degree
4 86 (8.73%) SC Cleared
5 45 (4.57%) Master's Degree
6 31 (3.15%) DV Cleared
7 24 (2.44%) PhD
8 8 (0.81%) Azure Certification
9 7 (0.71%) BPSS Clearance
10 3 (0.30%) HNC
10 3 (0.30%) HND
11 2 (0.20%) AWS Certification
11 2 (0.20%) Microsoft Certification
11 2 (0.20%) Numerate Degree
11 2 (0.20%) NVQ Level 3
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (2.44%) QA
2 4 (0.41%) DO-178B
3 3 (0.30%) ECSS
3 3 (0.30%) GAMP
4 2 (0.20%) GDPR
4 2 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 1 (0.10%) AUTOSAR
5 1 (0.10%) ISO 9001
5 1 (0.10%) MISRA
5 1 (0.10%) MISRA C
System Software
1 73 (7.41%) Docker
2 35 (3.55%) Firmware
3 11 (1.12%) Embedded Firmware
3 11 (1.12%) KVM
3 11 (1.12%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (1.02%) Hyper-V
5 8 (0.81%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.20%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 40 (4.06%) Kubernetes
2 16 (1.62%) Terraform
3 12 (1.22%) Ansible
4 6 (0.61%) Podman
5 2 (0.20%) Puppet
Vendors
1 14 (1.42%) Oracle
2 13 (1.32%) Microsoft
3 11 (1.12%) VMware
4 9 (0.91%) Salesforce
5 4 (0.41%) 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%) 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