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 12 May 2026.

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

6 months to
12 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 90 36
Rank change year-on-year +65 -54 +29
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 735 234 873
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.12% 3.03% 5.31%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.39% 3.59% 5.66%
Number of salaries quoted 553 188 678
10th Percentile £45,000 £39,250 £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 £80,000 £75,000 £66,250
90th Percentile £89,000 £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 13,625 6,519 15,435
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.97% 84.48% 93.88%
Number of salaries quoted 9,316 3,659 11,291
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,500 £27,500
25th Percentile £37,500 £37,500 £36,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +10.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £68,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £83,750 £77,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £59,000 £54,000
% change year-on-year -6.78% +9.26% -11.18%

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 12 May 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 12 May 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 +64 327 £65,000 +8.33% 64
Hampshire +50 261 £65,000 - 87
Oxfordshire +26 181 £65,000 -3.70% 28
Surrey +27 90 £80,000 +23.08% 27
Buckinghamshire +42 81 £75,000 +25.00% 15
Berkshire +29 65 £60,000 +9.09% 21
East Sussex +8 27 £65,000 - 7
Kent -31 22 £45,000 -28.00% 7
West Sussex -25 5 £65,000 +116.67% 7
Isle of Wight -8 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 12 May 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.

1 721 (98.10%) Software Engineering
2 186 (25.31%) C++
3 134 (18.23%) C#
4 131 (17.82%) Degree
5 125 (17.01%) Python
6 111 (15.10%) .NET
7 88 (11.97%) Agile
8 78 (10.61%) Full-Stack Development
9 70 (9.52%) Computer Science Degree
10 68 (9.25%) Computer Science
11 65 (8.84%) AWS
12 64 (8.71%) SaaS
13 54 (7.35%) C
14 53 (7.21%) Linux
14 53 (7.21%) Security Cleared
15 46 (6.26%) Azure
15 46 (6.26%) Continuous Improvement
16 45 (6.12%) CI/CD
17 44 (5.99%) SC Cleared
18 41 (5.58%) AI
18 41 (5.58%) DevOps
18 41 (5.58%) SQL
19 40 (5.44%) JavaScript
20 37 (5.03%) Problem-Solving
20 37 (5.03%) Test Automation
21 36 (4.90%) Git
22 33 (4.49%) SDLC
23 31 (4.22%) Docker
23 31 (4.22%) Master's Degree
23 31 (4.22%) SQL Server

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 (0.27%) Confluence
2 1 (0.14%) Apache
2 1 (0.14%) ArchestrA
2 1 (0.14%) CMS
2 1 (0.14%) Kinematics
Applications
1 2 (0.27%) AutoCAD
1 2 (0.27%) EPLAN
2 1 (0.14%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.14%) Microsoft Project
2 1 (0.14%) Simulink
Cloud Services
1 65 (8.84%) AWS
2 64 (8.71%) SaaS
3 46 (6.26%) Azure
4 20 (2.72%) GCP
5 8 (1.09%) Azure DevOps
5 8 (1.09%) Stripe
6 7 (0.95%) GitHub
7 6 (0.82%) Serverless
8 5 (0.68%) Figma
9 3 (0.41%) AWS Lambda
9 3 (0.41%) Azure Functions
9 3 (0.41%) Azure Monitor
10 2 (0.27%) GitHub Copilot
10 2 (0.27%) PaaS
11 1 (0.14%) Adobe Analytics
11 1 (0.14%) Amazon EKS
11 1 (0.14%) Amazon S3
11 1 (0.14%) Azure Key Vault
11 1 (0.14%) Google Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 19 (2.59%) Wireless
2 5 (0.68%) TCP/IP
3 3 (0.41%) Software-Defined Radio
4 1 (0.14%) Broadband
4 1 (0.14%) Internet
4 1 (0.14%) Modbus
4 1 (0.14%) Multicast
4 1 (0.14%) Software-Defined Networking
4 1 (0.14%) SpaceWire
4 1 (0.14%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (4.22%) SQL Server
2 7 (0.95%) PostgreSQL
3 3 (0.41%) MongoDB
4 2 (0.27%) MySQL
5 1 (0.14%) Elasticsearch
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Reports
5 1 (0.14%) Pinecone
5 1 (0.14%) Relational Database
5 1 (0.14%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 36 (4.90%) Git
2 19 (2.59%) Visual Studio Code
3 17 (2.31%) GitLab
4 7 (0.95%) Visual Studio
5 5 (0.68%) Yeoman
6 3 (0.41%) JIRA
6 3 (0.41%) Rational Rhapsody
7 2 (0.27%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.27%) Claude Code
7 2 (0.27%) Postman
7 2 (0.27%) SpecFlow
8 1 (0.14%) CMake
8 1 (0.14%) JUnit
8 1 (0.14%) NUnit
8 1 (0.14%) Toad
8 1 (0.14%) utPLSQL
General
1 45 (6.12%) Social Skills
2 41 (5.58%) Electronics
3 32 (4.35%) Manufacturing
4 19 (2.59%) Aerospace
5 16 (2.18%) Aviation
6 14 (1.90%) Finance
7 11 (1.50%) Military
7 11 (1.50%) Pharmaceutical
8 8 (1.09%) Analytical Skills
8 8 (1.09%) Public Sector
9 7 (0.95%) Games
10 6 (0.82%) Telecoms
11 5 (0.68%) Tech for Good
12 2 (0.27%) Automotive
13 1 (0.14%) Health Technology
13 1 (0.14%) Influencing Skills
13 1 (0.14%) Marketing
13 1 (0.14%) Organisational Skills
13 1 (0.14%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 111 (15.10%) .NET
2 24 (3.27%) React
3 15 (2.04%) Unreal Engine
3 15 (2.04%) Vue
4 14 (1.90%) AngularJS
4 14 (1.90%) HTML
5 13 (1.77%) CSS
5 13 (1.77%) REST
6 12 (1.63%) WPF
7 8 (1.09%) Django
7 8 (1.09%) Laravel
8 7 (0.95%) Middleware
9 6 (0.82%) .NET Core
9 6 (0.82%) ASP.NET
9 6 (0.82%) DirectX
9 6 (0.82%) Node.js
9 6 (0.82%) OpenGL
9 6 (0.82%) OpenGL ES
9 6 (0.82%) Vulkan
9 6 (0.82%) WebSockets
Miscellaneous
1 38 (5.17%) Algorithms
2 27 (3.67%) Embedded Systems
3 23 (3.13%) IoT
4 17 (2.31%) Client/Server
4 17 (2.31%) Distributed Systems
4 17 (2.31%) Smart Energy
5 14 (1.90%) Product Ownership
6 11 (1.50%) Cloud Native
7 10 (1.36%) Distributed Computing
7 10 (1.36%) Legacy Systems
8 7 (0.95%) Robotics
8 7 (0.95%) Self-Motivation
9 5 (0.68%) Video Conferencing
10 4 (0.54%) Driving Licence
10 4 (0.54%) Management Information System
10 4 (0.54%) SCADA
11 3 (0.41%) AI Agents
11 3 (0.41%) CUDA
11 3 (0.41%) Data Structures
11 3 (0.41%) Smart Home
Operating Systems
1 53 (7.21%) Linux
2 13 (1.77%) Android
3 7 (0.95%) Windows
4 4 (0.54%) Embedded Linux
5 1 (0.14%) Robot Operating System
5 1 (0.14%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 721 (98.10%) Software Engineering
2 88 (11.97%) Agile
3 78 (10.61%) Full-Stack Development
4 68 (9.25%) Computer Science
5 46 (6.26%) Continuous Improvement
6 45 (6.12%) CI/CD
7 41 (5.58%) AI
7 41 (5.58%) DevOps
8 37 (5.03%) Problem-Solving
8 37 (5.03%) Test Automation
9 33 (4.49%) SDLC
10 30 (4.08%) Containerisation
10 30 (4.08%) Mentoring
11 29 (3.95%) Code Quality
12 28 (3.81%) Embedded Software Development
13 27 (3.67%) Software Architecture
14 24 (3.27%) Machine Learning
15 23 (3.13%) Software Testing
16 21 (2.86%) Data Science
17 19 (2.59%) Storage Management
Programming Languages
1 186 (25.31%) C++
2 134 (18.23%) C#
3 125 (17.01%) Python
4 54 (7.35%) C
5 41 (5.58%) SQL
6 40 (5.44%) JavaScript
7 29 (3.95%) TypeScript
8 26 (3.54%) Rust
9 21 (2.86%) Java
10 11 (1.50%) PHP
11 8 (1.09%) Ruby
12 6 (0.82%) PL/SQL
13 5 (0.68%) Go
14 4 (0.54%) Apex Code
15 3 (0.41%) MATLAB
15 3 (0.41%) Uniface
16 2 (0.27%) Ada
16 2 (0.27%) Ada 95
16 2 (0.27%) Julia
17 1 (0.14%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 131 (17.82%) Degree
2 70 (9.52%) Computer Science Degree
3 53 (7.21%) Security Cleared
4 44 (5.99%) SC Cleared
5 31 (4.22%) Master's Degree
6 15 (2.04%) PhD
7 5 (0.68%) Azure Certification
7 5 (0.68%) BPSS Clearance
8 4 (0.54%) DV Cleared
9 3 (0.41%) HNC
9 3 (0.41%) HND
10 2 (0.27%) Chartered Engineer
10 2 (0.27%) Microsoft Certification
10 2 (0.27%) NVQ Level 3
10 2 (0.27%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.54%) QA
2 4 (0.54%) ISO 9001
3 3 (0.41%) DO-178B
4 2 (0.27%) GDPR
4 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 12207
5 1 (0.14%) ECSS
System Software
1 31 (4.22%) Docker
2 30 (4.08%) Firmware
3 13 (1.77%) Hyper-V
3 13 (1.77%) KVM
3 13 (1.77%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.82%) Embedded Firmware
4 6 (0.82%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 13 (1.77%) Kubernetes
2 4 (0.54%) Terraform
Vendors
1 13 (1.77%) VMware
2 11 (1.50%) Oracle
3 8 (1.09%) HubSpot
3 8 (1.09%) Microsoft
4 6 (0.82%) Salesforce
5 3 (0.41%) Allen-Bradley
5 3 (0.41%) Siemens
5 3 (0.41%) Wonderware
6 1 (0.14%) Adobe
6 1 (0.14%) Google
6 1 (0.14%) NVIDIA
6 1 (0.14%) Typelevel