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 25 July 2026.

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

6 months to
25 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 21 95 28
Rank change year-on-year +74 -67 +43
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 958 245 978
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.96% 2.85% 6.51%
As % of the Job Titles category 6.23% 3.18% 6.92%
Number of salaries quoted 696 168 742
10th Percentile £45,000 £43,375 £38,750
25th Percentile £53,750 £53,438 £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 £80,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £80,000 £60,125
% change year-on-year -12.50% +33.06% -14.11%

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 15,372 7,696 14,141
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 95.61% 89.50% 94.15%
Number of salaries quoted 10,869 4,300 9,839
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,750 £37,500
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 £85,000 £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 25 July 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 25 July 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 +40 411 £67,500 +3.85% 36
Thames Valley +106 353 £65,000 - 54
Oxfordshire +21 169 £65,000 -3.70% 31
Surrey +18 112 £80,000 +6.67% 10
Berkshire +85 103 £65,000 +8.33% 16
Buckinghamshire +51 81 £81,250 +47.73% 7
Kent -15 31 £35,000 -44.00% 2
East Sussex +10 26 £65,000 -27.78%
West Sussex -6 21 £75,000 +11.11% 6
Sussex - 4 £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 25 July 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.

1 949 (99.06%) Software Engineering
2 255 (26.62%) C++
3 201 (20.98%) Python
4 198 (20.67%) C#
5 179 (18.68%) Degree
6 126 (13.15%) .NET
7 122 (12.73%) Agile
8 115 (12.00%) AWS
8 115 (12.00%) Security Cleared
9 94 (9.81%) Linux
10 90 (9.39%) AI
11 89 (9.29%) Computer Science Degree
12 88 (9.19%) Computer Science
13 87 (9.08%) Azure
14 86 (8.98%) C
15 82 (8.56%) SC Cleared
16 81 (8.46%) CI/CD
16 81 (8.46%) Full-Stack Development
17 75 (7.83%) DevOps
18 67 (6.99%) Problem-Solving
19 65 (6.78%) Docker
20 60 (6.26%) JavaScript
21 59 (6.16%) TypeScript
22 57 (5.95%) Mentoring
23 56 (5.85%) Git
23 56 (5.85%) Test Automation
24 55 (5.74%) SaaS
25 54 (5.64%) Containerisation
26 52 (5.43%) SDLC
26 52 (5.43%) 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 6 (0.63%) Apache
2 3 (0.31%) Confluence
3 1 (0.10%) ArchestrA
Applications
1 11 (1.15%) Lightworks
2 5 (0.52%) Simulink
3 4 (0.42%) Microsoft Office
4 3 (0.31%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.31%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.21%) AutoCAD
5 2 (0.21%) EPLAN
6 1 (0.10%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 1 (0.10%) Oracle Applications
Cloud Services
1 115 (12.00%) AWS
2 87 (9.08%) Azure
3 55 (5.74%) SaaS
4 37 (3.86%) GCP
5 15 (1.57%) Azure DevOps
6 14 (1.46%) GitHub
7 13 (1.36%) Serverless
8 11 (1.15%) Firebase
9 6 (0.63%) Anthropic Claude
9 6 (0.63%) Cloud Run
9 6 (0.63%) PaaS
10 5 (0.52%) Figma
11 4 (0.42%) AWS Lambda
11 4 (0.42%) Azure Functions
11 4 (0.42%) GitHub Actions
12 3 (0.31%) Amazon EKS
12 3 (0.31%) Azure Monitor
13 2 (0.21%) Amazon S3
13 2 (0.21%) Azure Key Vault
13 2 (0.21%) WhatsApp
Communications & Networking
1 18 (1.88%) Wireless
2 10 (1.04%) TCP/IP
3 8 (0.84%) ATM
3 8 (0.84%) MQTT
4 5 (0.52%) Wireshark
5 3 (0.31%) Ethernet
5 3 (0.31%) Software-Defined Radio
6 1 (0.10%) Broadband
6 1 (0.10%) HTTP
6 1 (0.10%) Internet
6 1 (0.10%) LAN
6 1 (0.10%) Multicast
6 1 (0.10%) Software-Defined Networking
6 1 (0.10%) VoIP
6 1 (0.10%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 33 (3.44%) SQL Server
2 19 (1.98%) PostgreSQL
3 10 (1.04%) MySQL
4 7 (0.73%) MongoDB
5 6 (0.63%) Pinecone
6 4 (0.42%) Relational Database
7 3 (0.31%) Elasticsearch
7 3 (0.31%) Redis
8 2 (0.21%) NoSQL
9 1 (0.10%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.10%) Electronic Patient Records
9 1 (0.10%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 56 (5.85%) Git
2 20 (2.09%) GitLab
2 20 (2.09%) Visual Studio Code
3 7 (0.73%) JIRA
4 6 (0.63%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.63%) Yeoman
5 4 (0.42%) CMake
6 3 (0.31%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.31%) Eclipse
6 3 (0.31%) Eclipse RCP
6 3 (0.31%) JUnit
6 3 (0.31%) PetaLinux
6 3 (0.31%) Rational Rhapsody
6 3 (0.31%) Visual Studio
7 2 (0.21%) NUnit
7 2 (0.21%) Postman
7 2 (0.21%) SpecFlow
8 1 (0.10%) Storybook
8 1 (0.10%) Toad
8 1 (0.10%) utPLSQL
General
1 70 (7.31%) Manufacturing
2 69 (7.20%) Social Skills
3 62 (6.47%) Electronics
4 33 (3.44%) Aerospace
5 30 (3.13%) Finance
6 29 (3.03%) Aviation
7 19 (1.98%) Analytical Skills
8 17 (1.77%) Telecoms
9 14 (1.46%) Pharmaceutical
10 13 (1.36%) Military
11 12 (1.25%) Games
12 10 (1.04%) Automotive
13 9 (0.94%) Public Sector
14 6 (0.63%) Law
15 5 (0.52%) Organisational Skills
16 4 (0.42%) Digital Health
16 4 (0.42%) Health Technology
17 3 (0.31%) Banking
18 2 (0.21%) Documentation Skills
18 2 (0.21%) Tech for Good
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 126 (13.15%) .NET
2 46 (4.80%) React
3 30 (3.13%) CSS
4 29 (3.03%) HTML
5 22 (2.30%) Vue
6 21 (2.19%) Django
7 20 (2.09%) Unreal Engine
8 19 (1.98%) AngularJS
9 17 (1.77%) Node.js
9 17 (1.77%) WPF
10 16 (1.67%) REST
11 13 (1.36%) ASP.NET
11 13 (1.36%) JSON
11 13 (1.36%) WebSockets
12 11 (1.15%) XML
13 8 (0.84%) .NET Core
13 8 (0.84%) Blazor
14 7 (0.73%) Qt
15 6 (0.63%) RESTful
15 6 (0.63%) Yocto
Miscellaneous
1 49 (5.11%) Algorithms
2 33 (3.44%) Robotics
3 32 (3.34%) Embedded Systems
4 25 (2.61%) Product Ownership
5 19 (1.98%) Cloud Native
6 18 (1.88%) Distributed Computing
7 17 (1.77%) Distributed Systems
8 16 (1.67%) Client/Server
8 16 (1.67%) IoT
9 13 (1.36%) Self-Motivation
10 12 (1.25%) AI Agents
11 11 (1.15%) Data Structures
12 7 (0.73%) Life Science
13 6 (0.63%) Legacy Systems
13 6 (0.63%) Management Information System
13 6 (0.63%) Smart Energy
14 5 (0.52%) Video Conferencing
15 4 (0.42%) Driving Licence
15 4 (0.42%) FPGA
15 4 (0.42%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 94 (9.81%) Linux
2 21 (2.19%) Windows
3 8 (0.84%) Embedded Linux
4 5 (0.52%) Debian
5 4 (0.42%) Android
6 3 (0.31%) FreeRTOS
6 3 (0.31%) Gentoo
7 2 (0.21%) Robot Operating System
8 1 (0.10%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 949 (99.06%) Software Engineering
2 122 (12.73%) Agile
3 90 (9.39%) AI
4 88 (9.19%) Computer Science
5 81 (8.46%) CI/CD
5 81 (8.46%) Full-Stack Development
6 75 (7.83%) DevOps
7 67 (6.99%) Problem-Solving
8 57 (5.95%) Mentoring
9 56 (5.85%) Test Automation
10 54 (5.64%) Containerisation
11 52 (5.43%) SDLC
11 52 (5.43%) Software Architecture
12 48 (5.01%) Machine Learning
13 43 (4.49%) Continuous Improvement
14 40 (4.18%) Code Quality
15 39 (4.07%) Microservices
16 37 (3.86%) Software Testing
17 33 (3.44%) Embedded Software Development
18 29 (3.03%) Data Science
Programming Languages
1 255 (26.62%) C++
2 201 (20.98%) Python
3 198 (20.67%) C#
4 86 (8.98%) C
5 60 (6.26%) JavaScript
6 59 (6.16%) TypeScript
7 41 (4.28%) Java
7 41 (4.28%) SQL
8 30 (3.13%) Rust
9 11 (1.15%) Go
10 9 (0.94%) Ada
11 8 (0.84%) PHP
12 7 (0.73%) MATLAB
12 7 (0.73%) Ruby
13 6 (0.63%) PL/SQL
14 4 (0.42%) Apex Code
14 4 (0.42%) Julia
14 4 (0.42%) T-SQL
14 4 (0.42%) VB.NET
15 3 (0.31%) Bash
Qualifications
1 179 (18.68%) Degree
2 115 (12.00%) Security Cleared
3 89 (9.29%) Computer Science Degree
4 82 (8.56%) SC Cleared
5 46 (4.80%) Master's Degree
6 28 (2.92%) DV Cleared
7 24 (2.51%) PhD
8 8 (0.84%) Azure Certification
9 5 (0.52%) BPSS Clearance
10 3 (0.31%) HNC
10 3 (0.31%) HND
11 2 (0.21%) AWS Certification
11 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Certification
11 2 (0.21%) NVQ Level 3
12 1 (0.10%) Numerate Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (2.51%) QA
2 3 (0.31%) DO-178B
2 3 (0.31%) ECSS
2 3 (0.31%) GAMP
3 2 (0.21%) GDPR
3 2 (0.21%) ISO 9001
4 1 (0.10%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 65 (6.78%) Docker
2 36 (3.76%) Firmware
3 11 (1.15%) Embedded Firmware
3 11 (1.15%) KVM
3 11 (1.15%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (1.04%) Hyper-V
5 7 (0.73%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.10%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 37 (3.86%) Kubernetes
2 15 (1.57%) Terraform
3 11 (1.15%) Ansible
4 5 (0.52%) Podman
5 1 (0.10%) Puppet
Vendors
1 12 (1.25%) Microsoft
1 12 (1.25%) Oracle
2 11 (1.15%) VMware
3 9 (0.94%) Salesforce
4 4 (0.42%) Google
5 3 (0.31%) Allen-Bradley
5 3 (0.31%) Siemens
5 3 (0.31%) Wonderware
5 3 (0.31%) Xilinx
6 2 (0.21%) Atlassian
6 2 (0.21%) Yahoo!
7 1 (0.10%) Adobe
7 1 (0.10%) IBM
7 1 (0.10%) NVIDIA
7 1 (0.10%) Typelevel
7 1 (0.10%) Xamarin