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 23 April 2026.

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

6 months to
23 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 32 66 38
Rank change year-on-year +34 -28 +34
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 641 255 815
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 4.50% 3.69% 5.04%
As % of the Job Titles category 4.76% 4.38% 5.37%
Number of salaries quoted 475 191 637
10th Percentile £45,000 £40,000 £37,500
25th Percentile £51,250 £50,000 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £65,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - +18.18% -12.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £75,000 £66,250
90th Percentile £85,000 £87,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £75,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -6.67% +25.00% -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 13,455 5,816 15,183
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.46% 84.25% 93.82%
Number of salaries quoted 8,859 3,670 11,229
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,000 £27,123
25th Percentile £36,500 £40,000 £35,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £67,500 £68,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £83,750 £77,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £54,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +11.11% -10.49%

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 23 April 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 23 April 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 +44 302 £65,000 +8.33% 60
Hampshire +45 219 £65,000 - 76
Oxfordshire +25 167 £65,000 - 31
Buckinghamshire +20 74 £65,000 +8.33% 13
Surrey +5 72 £60,000 -7.69% 22
Berkshire +22 61 £57,500 +4.55% 16
East Sussex - 21 £65,000 - 11
Kent -55 15 £50,000 -20.00% 3
West Sussex -24 9 £65,000 +116.67% 4
Isle of Wight -6 3 £75,900 +16.77%
Software Engineer
England

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

For the 6 months to 23 April 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.

1 627 (97.82%) Software Engineering
2 172 (26.83%) C++
3 115 (17.94%) Degree
3 115 (17.94%) Python
4 108 (16.85%) C#
5 89 (13.88%) .NET
6 69 (10.76%) Agile
7 68 (10.61%) Full-Stack Development
8 65 (10.14%) Computer Science
9 64 (9.98%) Computer Science Degree
10 55 (8.58%) AWS
11 52 (8.11%) SaaS
12 46 (7.18%) Azure
12 46 (7.18%) C
12 46 (7.18%) Security Cleared
13 45 (7.02%) SQL
14 42 (6.55%) Linux
15 41 (6.40%) Continuous Improvement
16 38 (5.93%) SC Cleared
17 36 (5.62%) CI/CD
17 36 (5.62%) DevOps
17 36 (5.62%) Problem-Solving
18 35 (5.46%) Git
19 34 (5.30%) AI
20 33 (5.15%) JavaScript
21 31 (4.84%) Test Automation
22 30 (4.68%) Master's Degree
23 29 (4.52%) SQL Server
24 26 (4.06%) Docker
24 26 (4.06%) Firmware

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 2 (0.31%) Confluence
1 2 (0.31%) IIS
2 1 (0.16%) CMS
2 1 (0.16%) Kinematics
Applications
1 2 (0.31%) AutoCAD
1 2 (0.31%) EPLAN
2 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Project
2 1 (0.16%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 1 (0.16%) Q-Pulse
Cloud Services
1 55 (8.58%) AWS
2 52 (8.11%) SaaS
3 46 (7.18%) Azure
4 19 (2.96%) GCP
5 9 (1.40%) GitHub
6 8 (1.25%) Azure DevOps
6 8 (1.25%) Stripe
7 5 (0.78%) Figma
8 4 (0.62%) Serverless
9 2 (0.31%) AWS Lambda
9 2 (0.31%) Azure Functions
9 2 (0.31%) Azure Monitor
9 2 (0.31%) GitHub Actions
9 2 (0.31%) GitHub Copilot
10 1 (0.16%) Adobe Analytics
10 1 (0.16%) Amazon EKS
10 1 (0.16%) Azure Key Vault
10 1 (0.16%) Google Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 19 (2.96%) Wireless
2 3 (0.47%) ATM
2 3 (0.47%) Software-Defined Radio
3 2 (0.31%) SpaceWire
4 1 (0.16%) Broadband
4 1 (0.16%) HTTP
4 1 (0.16%) Internet
4 1 (0.16%) Modbus
4 1 (0.16%) Multicast
4 1 (0.16%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (4.52%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.78%) PostgreSQL
3 3 (0.47%) Elasticsearch
4 2 (0.31%) Azure SQL Database
4 2 (0.31%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 1 (0.16%) Apache Cassandra
5 1 (0.16%) MongoDB
5 1 (0.16%) Oracle Reports
5 1 (0.16%) Pinecone
5 1 (0.16%) Relational Database
5 1 (0.16%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 35 (5.46%) Git
2 16 (2.50%) GitLab
2 16 (2.50%) Visual Studio Code
3 7 (1.09%) Visual Studio
4 2 (0.31%) Bitbucket
4 2 (0.31%) Claude Code
4 2 (0.31%) JIRA
4 2 (0.31%) Postman
4 2 (0.31%) SpecFlow
4 2 (0.31%) Yeoman
5 1 (0.16%) Appium
5 1 (0.16%) CMake
5 1 (0.16%) JUnit
5 1 (0.16%) Katalon Studio
5 1 (0.16%) NUnit
5 1 (0.16%) REST Assured
5 1 (0.16%) Selenium
5 1 (0.16%) Toad
5 1 (0.16%) utPLSQL
General
1 37 (5.77%) Social Skills
2 32 (4.99%) Electronics
3 22 (3.43%) Manufacturing
4 15 (2.34%) Aerospace
5 11 (1.72%) Finance
6 10 (1.56%) Aviation
6 10 (1.56%) Pharmaceutical
7 7 (1.09%) Analytical Skills
8 6 (0.94%) Games
8 6 (0.94%) Military
8 6 (0.94%) Public Sector
9 5 (0.78%) Tech for Good
9 5 (0.78%) Telecoms
10 2 (0.31%) Automotive
11 1 (0.16%) Health Technology
11 1 (0.16%) Influencing Skills
11 1 (0.16%) Marketing
11 1 (0.16%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 89 (13.88%) .NET
2 20 (3.12%) React
3 13 (2.03%) Unreal Engine
4 12 (1.87%) REST
5 10 (1.56%) HTML
5 10 (1.56%) Vue
6 9 (1.40%) AngularJS
6 9 (1.40%) CSS
7 8 (1.25%) ASP.NET
7 8 (1.25%) Laravel
8 7 (1.09%) .NET Framework
8 7 (1.09%) Django
8 7 (1.09%) Middleware
9 6 (0.94%) DirectX
9 6 (0.94%) OpenGL
9 6 (0.94%) OpenGL ES
9 6 (0.94%) Qt
9 6 (0.94%) Vulkan
10 5 (0.78%) Web Services
10 5 (0.78%) WebSockets
Miscellaneous
1 30 (4.68%) Algorithms
2 22 (3.43%) IoT
3 20 (3.12%) Smart Energy
4 19 (2.96%) Embedded Systems
5 18 (2.81%) Distributed Systems
6 15 (2.34%) Client/Server
7 11 (1.72%) Product Ownership
8 10 (1.56%) Legacy Systems
9 9 (1.40%) Distributed Computing
10 8 (1.25%) Cloud Native
11 7 (1.09%) Self-Motivation
12 5 (0.78%) Robotics
12 5 (0.78%) Video Conferencing
13 4 (0.62%) Management Information System
14 3 (0.47%) AI Agents
14 3 (0.47%) CUDA
14 3 (0.47%) Driving Licence
14 3 (0.47%) SCADA
14 3 (0.47%) Smart Home
15 2 (0.31%) Self-Driving Car
Operating Systems
1 42 (6.55%) Linux
2 13 (2.03%) Android
3 5 (0.78%) Windows
4 3 (0.47%) Embedded Linux
5 2 (0.31%) VxWorks
6 1 (0.16%) Robot Operating System
Processes & Methodologies
1 627 (97.82%) Software Engineering
2 69 (10.76%) Agile
3 68 (10.61%) Full-Stack Development
4 65 (10.14%) Computer Science
5 41 (6.40%) Continuous Improvement
6 36 (5.62%) CI/CD
6 36 (5.62%) DevOps
6 36 (5.62%) Problem-Solving
7 34 (5.30%) AI
8 31 (4.84%) Test Automation
9 25 (3.90%) Containerisation
9 25 (3.90%) Embedded Software Development
9 25 (3.90%) SDLC
10 24 (3.74%) Software Testing
11 23 (3.59%) Code Quality
12 22 (3.43%) Scrum
13 20 (3.12%) Energy Management
13 20 (3.12%) Machine Learning
13 20 (3.12%) Storage Management
14 19 (2.96%) TDD
Programming Languages
1 172 (26.83%) C++
2 115 (17.94%) Python
3 108 (16.85%) C#
4 46 (7.18%) C
5 45 (7.02%) SQL
6 33 (5.15%) JavaScript
7 26 (4.06%) Rust
8 24 (3.74%) Java
9 23 (3.59%) TypeScript
10 12 (1.87%) PHP
11 8 (1.25%) Ruby
12 7 (1.09%) PL/SQL
13 4 (0.62%) Apex Code
13 4 (0.62%) Go
14 3 (0.47%) Delphi
14 3 (0.47%) MATLAB
14 3 (0.47%) Uniface
15 2 (0.31%) Ada
15 2 (0.31%) Embedded C++
15 2 (0.31%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 115 (17.94%) Degree
2 64 (9.98%) Computer Science Degree
3 46 (7.18%) Security Cleared
4 38 (5.93%) SC Cleared
5 30 (4.68%) Master's Degree
6 14 (2.18%) PhD
7 4 (0.62%) DV Cleared
8 3 (0.47%) HNC
8 3 (0.47%) HND
8 3 (0.47%) Microsoft Certification
9 2 (0.31%) Azure Certification
9 2 (0.31%) BPSS Clearance
9 2 (0.31%) Chartered Engineer
9 2 (0.31%) NVQ Level 3
9 2 (0.31%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (3.90%) QA
2 4 (0.62%) ECSS
2 4 (0.62%) ISO 9001
3 2 (0.31%) GDPR
3 2 (0.31%) ISO/IEC 12207
4 1 (0.16%) Data Quality
System Software
1 26 (4.06%) Docker
1 26 (4.06%) Firmware
2 13 (2.03%) Hyper-V
2 13 (2.03%) KVM
2 13 (2.03%) VMware Infrastructure
3 5 (0.78%) Virtual Machines
4 4 (0.62%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 14 (2.18%) Kubernetes
2 3 (0.47%) Terraform
Vendors
1 13 (2.03%) VMware
2 10 (1.56%) Oracle
3 8 (1.25%) HubSpot
3 8 (1.25%) Microsoft
4 4 (0.62%) Salesforce
5 3 (0.47%) Allen-Bradley
5 3 (0.47%) Siemens
5 3 (0.47%) Wonderware
6 2 (0.31%) Sage
6 2 (0.31%) Xamarin
7 1 (0.16%) Adobe
7 1 (0.16%) Google
7 1 (0.16%) NVIDIA
7 1 (0.16%) Typelevel