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 30 May 2026.

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

6 months to
30 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 21 110 32
Rank change year-on-year +89 -78 +34
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 817 212 952
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.65% 2.73% 5.56%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.93% 3.21% 5.91%
Number of salaries quoted 613 161 736
10th Percentile £45,000 £35,500 £37,500
25th Percentile £52,500 £48,250 £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 £90,000 £87,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £77,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -9.09% +28.33% -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 13,772 6,604 16,108
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 95.27% 84.95% 94.00%
Number of salaries quoted 9,508 3,489 11,664
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £27,500
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 £55,500 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -3.48% +9.52% -13.65%

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 30 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 30 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 +85 354 £65,000 +8.33% 50
Hampshire +55 297 £65,000 - 73
Oxfordshire +29 188 £65,000 - 28
Surrey +28 104 £80,000 +23.08% 13
Buckinghamshire +52 90 £80,000 +33.33% 7
Berkshire +55 76 £60,000 +15.38% 15
East Sussex +16 30 £65,000 - 3
Kent -24 25 £45,000 -28.00% 11
West Sussex -24 7 £65,000 +116.67% 4
Software Engineer
England

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

For the 6 months to 30 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.

1 803 (98.29%) Software Engineering
2 218 (26.68%) C++
3 167 (20.44%) C#
4 166 (20.32%) Degree
5 151 (18.48%) Python
6 131 (16.03%) .NET
7 107 (13.10%) Agile
8 88 (10.77%) AWS
9 86 (10.53%) Computer Science Degree
10 82 (10.04%) Full-Stack Development
11 80 (9.79%) Computer Science
12 70 (8.57%) Linux
13 68 (8.32%) C
13 68 (8.32%) SaaS
14 67 (8.20%) Azure
15 64 (7.83%) Security Cleared
16 61 (7.47%) DevOps
17 59 (7.22%) CI/CD
18 55 (6.73%) JavaScript
19 51 (6.24%) AI
20 50 (6.12%) Continuous Improvement
21 48 (5.88%) Problem-Solving
22 46 (5.63%) Git
22 46 (5.63%) SC Cleared
22 46 (5.63%) Test Automation
23 45 (5.51%) SQL
24 44 (5.39%) Docker
25 43 (5.26%) TypeScript
26 42 (5.14%) Containerisation
26 42 (5.14%) Master's Degree

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 (10.77%) AWS
2 68 (8.32%) SaaS
3 67 (8.20%) 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 17 (2.08%) 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
3 3 (0.37%) Pinecone
4 2 (0.24%) MySQL
4 2 (0.24%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.12%) Elasticsearch
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle Reports
5 1 (0.12%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 46 (5.63%) Git
2 20 (2.45%) GitLab
3 19 (2.33%) Visual Studio Code
4 8 (0.98%) 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 (7.22%) Social Skills
2 48 (5.88%) Electronics
3 41 (5.02%) Manufacturing
4 26 (3.18%) Aerospace
5 21 (2.57%) Finance
6 20 (2.45%) Aviation
7 11 (1.35%) Games
7 11 (1.35%) Military
7 11 (1.35%) Pharmaceutical
8 9 (1.10%) Telecoms
9 8 (0.98%) Analytical Skills
9 8 (0.98%) Public Sector
10 5 (0.61%) 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
1 131 (16.03%) .NET
2 37 (4.53%) React
3 21 (2.57%) HTML
4 20 (2.45%) CSS
5 18 (2.20%) Vue
6 17 (2.08%) AngularJS
7 16 (1.96%) REST
7 16 (1.96%) WPF
8 15 (1.84%) 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%) Qt
14 6 (0.73%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 49 (6.00%) Algorithms
2 31 (3.79%) Embedded Systems
3 21 (2.57%) Client/Server
4 20 (2.45%) IoT
5 19 (2.33%) Distributed Systems
6 18 (2.20%) Product Ownership
7 15 (1.84%) Distributed Computing
7 15 (1.84%) Robotics
8 13 (1.59%) Smart Energy
9 12 (1.47%) Cloud Native
10 11 (1.35%) Legacy Systems
11 10 (1.22%) Self-Motivation
12 9 (1.10%) Data Structures
13 6 (0.73%) AI Agents
14 5 (0.61%) Video Conferencing
15 4 (0.49%) Driving Licence
15 4 (0.49%) Management Information System
15 4 (0.49%) SCADA
16 3 (0.37%) CUDA
16 3 (0.37%) Smart Home
Operating Systems
1 70 (8.57%) Linux
2 17 (2.08%) Windows
3 11 (1.35%) Android
4 5 (0.61%) Embedded Linux
5 1 (0.12%) Robot Operating System
5 1 (0.12%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 803 (98.29%) Software Engineering
2 107 (13.10%) Agile
3 82 (10.04%) Full-Stack Development
4 80 (9.79%) Computer Science
5 61 (7.47%) DevOps
6 59 (7.22%) CI/CD
7 51 (6.24%) AI
8 50 (6.12%) Continuous Improvement
9 48 (5.88%) Problem-Solving
10 46 (5.63%) Test Automation
11 42 (5.14%) Containerisation
12 38 (4.65%) Mentoring
13 37 (4.53%) Machine Learning
13 37 (4.53%) SDLC
14 36 (4.41%) Code Quality
15 34 (4.16%) Software Architecture
16 31 (3.79%) Embedded Software Development
17 28 (3.43%) Microservices
18 27 (3.30%) Software Testing
19 24 (2.94%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 218 (26.68%) C++
2 167 (20.44%) C#
3 151 (18.48%) Python
4 68 (8.32%) C
5 55 (6.73%) JavaScript
6 45 (5.51%) SQL
7 43 (5.26%) TypeScript
8 28 (3.43%) Rust
9 27 (3.30%) Java
10 10 (1.22%) Go
10 10 (1.22%) PHP
11 6 (0.73%) PL/SQL
11 6 (0.73%) Ruby
12 4 (0.49%) Apex Code
12 4 (0.49%) Julia
12 4 (0.49%) MATLAB
13 3 (0.37%) Uniface
14 2 (0.24%) Shell Script
15 1 (0.12%) T-SQL
15 1 (0.12%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 166 (20.32%) Degree
2 86 (10.53%) Computer Science Degree
3 64 (7.83%) Security Cleared
4 46 (5.63%) SC Cleared
5 42 (5.14%) 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 (3.43%) 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 44 (5.39%) Docker
2 40 (4.90%) Firmware
3 14 (1.71%) Hyper-V
3 14 (1.71%) KVM
3 14 (1.71%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (1.35%) Embedded Firmware
5 6 (0.73%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 25 (3.06%) 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