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 2 June 2026.

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

6 months to
2 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 108 32
Rank change year-on-year +86 -76 +41
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 818 209 992
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.68% 2.67% 5.70%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.96% 3.14% 6.06%
Number of salaries quoted 613 159 769
10th Percentile £45,000 £35,200 £37,500
25th Percentile £52,500 £47,875 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £65,000 £53,500
Median % change year-on-year - +21.50% -14.40%
75th Percentile £80,000 £75,000 £66,250
90th Percentile £90,000 £87,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £77,500 £60,000
% change year-on-year -9.68% +29.17% -14.29%

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 13,732 6,661 16,378
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 95.30% 85.01% 94.06%
Number of salaries quoted 9,484 3,521 11,849
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,000 £27,750
25th Percentile £37,500 £36,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year - +5.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £81,250 £77,500
England median annual salary £56,000 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -2.61% +9.52% -12.91%

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 2 June 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 2 June 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
Thames Valley +82 355 £65,000 +8.33% 66
Hampshire +54 296 £65,000 +1.96% 95
Oxfordshire +32 189 £65,000 - 39
Surrey +27 104 £80,000 +23.08% 23
Buckinghamshire +48 90 £80,000 +33.33% 8
Berkshire +61 76 £58,750 +12.98% 19
East Sussex +17 31 £62,500 - 2
Kent -24 25 £45,000 -28.00% 17
West Sussex -22 7 £65,000 +116.67% 7
Software Engineer
England

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

For the 6 months to 2 June 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.

1 804 (98.29%) Software Engineering
2 217 (26.53%) C++
3 167 (20.42%) C#
4 165 (20.17%) Degree
5 150 (18.34%) Python
6 130 (15.89%) .NET
7 106 (12.96%) Agile
8 88 (10.76%) AWS
9 85 (10.39%) Computer Science Degree
10 81 (9.90%) Full-Stack Development
11 79 (9.66%) Computer Science
12 70 (8.56%) Linux
13 69 (8.44%) C
14 68 (8.31%) SaaS
15 67 (8.19%) Azure
16 63 (7.70%) Security Cleared
17 61 (7.46%) DevOps
18 59 (7.21%) CI/CD
19 54 (6.60%) JavaScript
20 50 (6.11%) AI
20 50 (6.11%) Continuous Improvement
21 47 (5.75%) Problem-Solving
22 46 (5.62%) Git
22 46 (5.62%) Test Automation
23 45 (5.50%) SC Cleared
24 44 (5.38%) SQL
24 44 (5.38%) TypeScript
25 43 (5.26%) Docker
26 42 (5.13%) Master's Degree
27 41 (5.01%) Containerisation

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 4 (0.49%) Apache
2 2 (0.24%) Confluence
3 1 (0.12%) ArchestrA
3 1 (0.12%) Kinematics
Applications
1 2 (0.24%) AutoCAD
1 2 (0.24%) EPLAN
2 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Project
2 1 (0.12%) Simulink
Cloud Services
1 88 (10.76%) AWS
2 68 (8.31%) SaaS
3 67 (8.19%) Azure
4 27 (3.30%) GCP
5 12 (1.47%) Azure DevOps
6 10 (1.22%) Serverless
7 8 (0.98%) GitHub
8 7 (0.86%) Stripe
9 6 (0.73%) PaaS
10 5 (0.61%) Figma
11 4 (0.49%) AWS Lambda
12 3 (0.37%) Azure Functions
12 3 (0.37%) Azure Monitor
12 3 (0.37%) Firebase
13 2 (0.24%) Amazon S3
13 2 (0.24%) Anthropic Claude
13 2 (0.24%) Cloud Run
13 2 (0.24%) GitHub Copilot
14 1 (0.12%) Adobe Analytics
14 1 (0.12%) Google Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 16 (1.96%) Wireless
2 8 (0.98%) TCP/IP
3 4 (0.49%) Software-Defined Radio
3 4 (0.49%) Wireshark
4 3 (0.37%) MQTT
5 1 (0.12%) Broadband
5 1 (0.12%) Internet
5 1 (0.12%) Modbus
5 1 (0.12%) Multicast
5 1 (0.12%) Software-Defined Networking
5 1 (0.12%) SpaceWire
Database & Business Intelligence
1 35 (4.28%) SQL Server
2 9 (1.10%) PostgreSQL
3 3 (0.37%) MongoDB
4 2 (0.24%) MySQL
4 2 (0.24%) NoSQL
4 2 (0.24%) Pinecone
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 46 (5.62%) Git
2 20 (2.44%) GitLab
3 19 (2.32%) Visual Studio Code
4 7 (0.86%) Visual Studio
5 6 (0.73%) Yeoman
6 3 (0.37%) JIRA
6 3 (0.37%) Rational Rhapsody
7 2 (0.24%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.24%) Claude Code
7 2 (0.24%) JUnit
7 2 (0.24%) Postman
7 2 (0.24%) SpecFlow
8 1 (0.12%) CMake
8 1 (0.12%) NUnit
8 1 (0.12%) Toad
8 1 (0.12%) utPLSQL
General
1 59 (7.21%) Social Skills
2 48 (5.87%) Electronics
3 42 (5.13%) Manufacturing
4 26 (3.18%) Aerospace
5 21 (2.57%) Finance
6 20 (2.44%) Aviation
7 11 (1.34%) Games
7 11 (1.34%) Military
7 11 (1.34%) Pharmaceutical
8 10 (1.22%) Telecoms
9 8 (0.98%) Analytical Skills
9 8 (0.98%) Public Sector
10 6 (0.73%) Automotive
11 3 (0.37%) Organisational Skills
11 3 (0.37%) Tech for Good
12 1 (0.12%) Documentation Skills
12 1 (0.12%) Health Technology
12 1 (0.12%) Influencing Skills
12 1 (0.12%) Law
12 1 (0.12%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 130 (15.89%) .NET
2 37 (4.52%) React
3 21 (2.57%) HTML
4 20 (2.44%) CSS
5 18 (2.20%) Vue
6 17 (2.08%) AngularJS
6 17 (2.08%) WPF
7 16 (1.96%) REST
8 15 (1.83%) Unreal Engine
9 14 (1.71%) Django
10 12 (1.47%) WebSockets
11 10 (1.22%) .NET Core
11 10 (1.22%) Node.js
12 9 (1.10%) ASP.NET
12 9 (1.10%) JSON
13 7 (0.86%) Laravel
13 7 (0.86%) Middleware
13 7 (0.86%) XML
14 6 (0.73%) .NET Framework
14 6 (0.73%) OpenGL ES
Miscellaneous
1 49 (5.99%) Algorithms
2 31 (3.79%) Embedded Systems
3 21 (2.57%) Client/Server
4 20 (2.44%) IoT
5 18 (2.20%) Distributed Systems
5 18 (2.20%) Product Ownership
6 15 (1.83%) Distributed Computing
6 15 (1.83%) Robotics
7 13 (1.59%) Smart Energy
8 12 (1.47%) Cloud Native
9 11 (1.34%) Legacy Systems
10 10 (1.22%) Self-Motivation
11 9 (1.10%) Data Structures
12 5 (0.61%) AI Agents
12 5 (0.61%) Video Conferencing
13 4 (0.49%) Driving Licence
13 4 (0.49%) Management Information System
13 4 (0.49%) SCADA
14 3 (0.37%) CUDA
14 3 (0.37%) Smart Home
Operating Systems
1 70 (8.56%) Linux
2 17 (2.08%) Windows
3 11 (1.34%) Android
4 5 (0.61%) Embedded Linux
5 1 (0.12%) Robot Operating System
5 1 (0.12%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 804 (98.29%) Software Engineering
2 106 (12.96%) Agile
3 81 (9.90%) Full-Stack Development
4 79 (9.66%) Computer Science
5 61 (7.46%) DevOps
6 59 (7.21%) CI/CD
7 50 (6.11%) AI
7 50 (6.11%) Continuous Improvement
8 47 (5.75%) Problem-Solving
9 46 (5.62%) Test Automation
10 41 (5.01%) Containerisation
11 37 (4.52%) Mentoring
11 37 (4.52%) SDLC
12 36 (4.40%) Code Quality
12 36 (4.40%) Machine Learning
13 34 (4.16%) Software Architecture
14 31 (3.79%) Embedded Software Development
15 27 (3.30%) Microservices
15 27 (3.30%) Software Testing
16 24 (2.93%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 217 (26.53%) C++
2 167 (20.42%) C#
3 150 (18.34%) Python
4 69 (8.44%) C
5 54 (6.60%) JavaScript
6 44 (5.38%) SQL
6 44 (5.38%) TypeScript
7 28 (3.42%) Rust
8 27 (3.30%) Java
9 10 (1.22%) Go
9 10 (1.22%) PHP
10 6 (0.73%) PL/SQL
10 6 (0.73%) Ruby
11 4 (0.49%) Apex Code
11 4 (0.49%) Julia
11 4 (0.49%) MATLAB
12 3 (0.37%) Uniface
13 2 (0.24%) Shell Script
14 1 (0.12%) T-SQL
14 1 (0.12%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 165 (20.17%) Degree
2 85 (10.39%) Computer Science Degree
3 63 (7.70%) Security Cleared
4 45 (5.50%) SC Cleared
5 42 (5.13%) Master's Degree
6 22 (2.69%) PhD
7 9 (1.10%) DV Cleared
8 8 (0.98%) Azure Certification
9 3 (0.37%) BPSS Clearance
9 3 (0.37%) HNC
9 3 (0.37%) HND
10 2 (0.24%) AWS Certification
10 2 (0.24%) Microsoft Certification
10 2 (0.24%) NVQ Level 3
10 2 (0.24%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (3.42%) QA
2 4 (0.49%) ISO 9001
3 3 (0.37%) DO-178B
4 2 (0.24%) GDPR
5 1 (0.12%) ECSS
System Software
1 43 (5.26%) Docker
2 40 (4.89%) Firmware
3 14 (1.71%) Hyper-V
3 14 (1.71%) KVM
3 14 (1.71%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (1.34%) Embedded Firmware
5 6 (0.73%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 24 (2.93%) Kubernetes
2 9 (1.10%) Terraform
3 3 (0.37%) Ansible
4 1 (0.12%) Podman
4 1 (0.12%) Puppet
Vendors
1 14 (1.71%) VMware
2 12 (1.47%) Oracle
3 9 (1.10%) Microsoft
3 9 (1.10%) Salesforce
4 7 (0.86%) HubSpot
5 3 (0.37%) Allen-Bradley
5 3 (0.37%) Siemens
5 3 (0.37%) Wonderware
6 2 (0.24%) NVIDIA
7 1 (0.12%) Adobe
7 1 (0.12%) Google
7 1 (0.12%) Typelevel
7 1 (0.12%) Xamarin