Software Engineer Job Trends in the South West

Software Engineer
England > South West

The median Software Engineer salary in the South West is £65,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 24 July 2026.

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

6 months to
24 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 39 13
Rank change year-on-year +27 -26 +66
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 636 179 818
As % of all permanent jobs in the South West 7.51% 5.29% 9.27%
As % of the Job Titles category 7.94% 5.78% 9.68%
Number of salaries quoted 458 103 626
10th Percentile £45,000 £45,000 £39,250
25th Percentile £55,000 £52,500 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £65,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year - +13.04% -7.93%
75th Percentile £80,000 £82,625 £68,750
90th Percentile £90,000 £100,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £80,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -12.50% +33.33% -14.29%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
South West

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the South West. 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 West with a recognized job title 8,007 3,099 8,454
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.54% 91.58% 95.85%
Number of salaries quoted 5,464 2,094 6,248
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £28,500
25th Percentile £35,000 £33,013 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £50,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% - -4.76%
75th Percentile £70,000 £65,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £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 West

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 West.

Software Engineer job vacancy trend in the South West

Software Engineer
Salary Trend in the South West

Salary distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in the South West.

Salary distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in the South West

Software Engineer
Salary Histogram in the South West

Salary distribution for jobs citing Software Engineer in the South West over the 6 months to 24 July 2026.

Salary histogram for Software Engineer in the South West

Software Engineer
Job Locations in the South West

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 West region over the 6 months to 24 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
Gloucestershire +33 249 £75,000 - 55
Bristol +20 214 £70,000 - 33
Dorset +3 79 £50,000 -7.17% 13
Somerset -8 45 £55,000 -15.38% 14
Devon -4 28 £60,000 +33.33% 6
Wiltshire -3 18 £55,000 -15.38% 5
Cornwall - 2 - -
Software Engineer
England

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

For the 6 months to 24 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 West region featuring Software Engineer in the job title.

1 636 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 138 (21.70%) Security Cleared
3 113 (17.77%) C++
4 99 (15.57%) Java
5 95 (14.94%) Full-Stack Development
6 90 (14.15%) Agile
7 87 (13.68%) Python
8 86 (13.52%) CI/CD
9 77 (12.11%) SC Cleared
10 70 (11.01%) C#
11 60 (9.43%) DV Cleared
12 50 (7.86%) JavaScript
13 49 (7.70%) DevOps
14 48 (7.55%) Linux
15 47 (7.39%) Microservices
16 46 (7.23%) SDLC
17 41 (6.45%) WPF
18 40 (6.29%) Mentoring
19 39 (6.13%) Vue
20 38 (5.97%) Test Automation
21 37 (5.82%) Kubernetes
22 36 (5.66%) AI
22 36 (5.66%) AWS
23 34 (5.35%) Software Architecture
24 29 (4.56%) C
24 29 (4.56%) Containerisation
24 29 (4.56%) Docker
24 29 (4.56%) Embedded Software Development
25 27 (4.25%) Azure
26 26 (4.09%) Continuous Improvement

Software Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South West 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 9 (1.42%) Apache
2 2 (0.31%) Apache Spark
3 1 (0.16%) CMS
3 1 (0.16%) Confluence
3 1 (0.16%) OpenStack
Cloud Services
1 36 (5.66%) AWS
2 27 (4.25%) Azure
3 15 (2.36%) GCP
4 10 (1.57%) SaaS
5 9 (1.42%) Firebase
6 8 (1.26%) GitHub
7 7 (1.10%) Azure AKS
8 6 (0.94%) OpenShift
9 4 (0.63%) Anthropic Claude
9 4 (0.63%) Cloud Run
10 3 (0.47%) Serverless
11 2 (0.31%) Amazon EKS
11 2 (0.31%) Amazon S3
11 2 (0.31%) AWS CloudFormation
11 2 (0.31%) AWS Lambda
12 1 (0.16%) Azure Cosmos DB
12 1 (0.16%) Cloud Functions
12 1 (0.16%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.73%) Wireless
2 8 (1.26%) Ethernet
3 3 (0.47%) Broadband
3 3 (0.47%) RS-485
4 2 (0.31%) AMQP
4 2 (0.31%) Network Security
4 2 (0.31%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.16%) Modbus
5 1 (0.16%) MQTT
5 1 (0.16%) Profibus
5 1 (0.16%) RS-232
5 1 (0.16%) Software-Defined Radio
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (1.89%) MongoDB
2 11 (1.73%) Elasticsearch
3 10 (1.57%) PostgreSQL
4 8 (1.26%) Big Data
4 8 (1.26%) SQL Server
5 7 (1.10%) MySQL
6 4 (0.63%) Hadoop
6 4 (0.63%) MariaDB
7 3 (0.47%) NoSQL
7 3 (0.47%) Pinecone
7 3 (0.47%) Redis
8 2 (0.31%) Cloudera CDH
9 1 (0.16%) Apache Cassandra
9 1 (0.16%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.16%) Metadata
9 1 (0.16%) Relational Database
9 1 (0.16%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 26 (4.09%) Git
2 17 (2.67%) GitLab
3 11 (1.73%) JIRA
4 9 (1.42%) Jenkins
5 8 (1.26%) SonarQube
6 7 (1.10%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.47%) Visual Studio
8 2 (0.31%) Gradle
8 2 (0.31%) JUnit
8 2 (0.31%) LabVIEW
8 2 (0.31%) Mockito
8 2 (0.31%) Subversion
8 2 (0.31%) Visual Studio Code
9 1 (0.16%) Bitbucket
9 1 (0.16%) CircleCI
9 1 (0.16%) Claude Code
9 1 (0.16%) Cypress.io
9 1 (0.16%) GoogleTest
9 1 (0.16%) Rational DOORS
9 1 (0.16%) Valgrind
General
1 26 (4.09%) Aerospace
2 18 (2.83%) Electronics
3 15 (2.36%) Social Skills
4 14 (2.20%) Automotive
5 12 (1.89%) Finance
6 11 (1.73%) Manufacturing
7 10 (1.57%) Analytical Skills
8 5 (0.79%) Aviation
8 5 (0.79%) Pharmaceutical
8 5 (0.79%) Public Sector
8 5 (0.79%) Social Housing
8 5 (0.79%) Tech for Good
9 4 (0.63%) Military
10 2 (0.31%) Avionics
10 2 (0.31%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 2 (0.31%) Presentation Skills
10 2 (0.31%) Wearables
11 1 (0.16%) Games
11 1 (0.16%) Law
11 1 (0.16%) Marketing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 41 (6.45%) WPF
2 39 (6.13%) Vue
3 25 (3.93%) Spring
4 19 (2.99%) React
5 18 (2.83%) Spring Boot
6 17 (2.67%) REST
7 15 (2.36%) Node.js
8 14 (2.20%) AngularJS
9 13 (2.04%) HTML
10 12 (1.89%) .NET
11 10 (1.57%) RESTful
12 9 (1.42%) .NET Framework
13 8 (1.26%) Elastic Stack
14 7 (1.10%) .NET Core
14 7 (1.10%) Apache NiFi
14 7 (1.10%) Dapper ORM
14 7 (1.10%) Entity Framework
14 7 (1.10%) FastAPI
15 6 (0.94%) Django
15 6 (0.94%) gRPC
Miscellaneous
1 25 (3.93%) Embedded Systems
2 22 (3.46%) Cloud Native
3 20 (3.14%) Legacy Systems
4 16 (2.52%) Algorithms
4 16 (2.52%) Public Cloud
5 15 (2.36%) Distributed Systems
6 9 (1.42%) AI Agents
7 7 (1.10%) Device Driver
8 6 (0.94%) ARM Cortex
9 5 (0.79%) IoT
9 5 (0.79%) Operational Technology
9 5 (0.79%) Smart Home
10 3 (0.47%) Fat Client
10 3 (0.47%) Self-Motivation
10 3 (0.47%) Thin Client
11 2 (0.31%) Analogue Electronics
11 2 (0.31%) Driving Licence
11 2 (0.31%) Greenfield Project
11 2 (0.31%) Onboarding
11 2 (0.31%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 48 (7.55%) Linux
2 18 (2.83%) Android
3 15 (2.36%) Windows
4 6 (0.94%) FreeRTOS
5 5 (0.79%) Windows Server
6 2 (0.31%) CentOS
6 2 (0.31%) Debian
6 2 (0.31%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 2 (0.31%) SafeRTOS
6 2 (0.31%) Ubuntu
6 2 (0.31%) Unix
6 2 (0.31%) Windows 10
6 2 (0.31%) Windows Server 2019
7 1 (0.16%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 636 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 95 (14.94%) Full-Stack Development
3 90 (14.15%) Agile
4 86 (13.52%) CI/CD
5 49 (7.70%) DevOps
6 47 (7.39%) Microservices
7 46 (7.23%) SDLC
8 40 (6.29%) Mentoring
9 38 (5.97%) Test Automation
10 36 (5.66%) AI
11 34 (5.35%) Software Architecture
12 29 (4.56%) Containerisation
12 29 (4.56%) Embedded Software Development
13 26 (4.09%) Continuous Improvement
14 25 (3.93%) Problem-Solving
15 24 (3.77%) Site Reliability Engineering
16 23 (3.62%) Platform Engineering
17 20 (3.14%) Clean Code
18 19 (2.99%) Migration
19 18 (2.83%) Open Source
Programming Languages
1 113 (17.77%) C++
2 99 (15.57%) Java
3 87 (13.68%) Python
4 70 (11.01%) C#
5 50 (7.86%) JavaScript
6 29 (4.56%) C
7 26 (4.09%) TypeScript
8 24 (3.77%) Rust
9 22 (3.46%) Embedded C++
10 17 (2.67%) Go
11 16 (2.52%) Kotlin
12 15 (2.36%) SQL
13 10 (1.57%) Bash
14 9 (1.42%) PHP
15 6 (0.94%) Scala
16 4 (0.63%) Embedded C
16 4 (0.63%) MATLAB
16 4 (0.63%) PowerShell
17 1 (0.16%) Assembly Language
17 1 (0.16%) Fortran
Qualifications
1 138 (21.70%) Security Cleared
2 77 (12.11%) SC Cleared
3 60 (9.43%) DV Cleared
4 16 (2.52%) Degree
5 5 (0.79%) CEH
5 5 (0.79%) Computer Science Degree
5 5 (0.79%) OSCP
6 3 (0.47%) BPSS Clearance
7 2 (0.31%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 5 (0.79%) Accessibility
2 3 (0.47%) QA
3 1 (0.16%) DO-178B
3 1 (0.16%) DO-254
3 1 (0.16%) HAZOP
3 1 (0.16%) IEC 61508
3 1 (0.16%) IEC 62304
3 1 (0.16%) ISO 26262
3 1 (0.16%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 29 (4.56%) Docker
2 23 (3.62%) Firmware
3 4 (0.63%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 37 (5.82%) Kubernetes
2 14 (2.20%) Terraform
3 13 (2.04%) Ansible
4 7 (1.10%) Grafana
4 7 (1.10%) Kibana
4 7 (1.10%) logstash
5 3 (0.47%) Plesk
5 3 (0.47%) SCCM
5 3 (0.47%) SCOM
5 3 (0.47%) SCOrch
6 2 (0.31%) Microsoft Intune
6 2 (0.31%) Podman
6 2 (0.31%) Puppet
Vendors
1 6 (0.94%) Intel
2 5 (0.79%) Microsoft
3 4 (0.63%) Google
3 4 (0.63%) OpenAI
3 4 (0.63%) Peregrine
4 3 (0.47%) Oracle
5 2 (0.31%) Atlassian
5 2 (0.31%) Red Hat
5 2 (0.31%) SaltStack
5 2 (0.31%) Typelevel
5 2 (0.31%) VMware
6 1 (0.16%) Salesforce
6 1 (0.16%) TOWER Software