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 11 August 2026.

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

6 months to
11 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 43 13
Rank change year-on-year +33 -30 +66
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 701 172 758
As % of all permanent jobs in the South West 7.82% 4.90% 9.43%
As % of the Job Titles category 8.32% 5.39% 9.86%
Number of salaries quoted 498 96 551
10th Percentile £45,000 £45,000 £40,000
25th Percentile £55,000 £52,500 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £65,000 £58,000
Median % change year-on-year - +12.07% -7.20%
75th Percentile £80,000 £82,500 £68,750
90th Percentile £90,000 £100,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £80,000 £62,500
% change year-on-year -12.50% +28.00% -10.71%

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 8,425 3,194 7,688
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.00% 91.07% 95.67%
Number of salaries quoted 5,747 2,145 5,511
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,250 £30,000
25th Percentile £35,375 £32,000 £38,572
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £49,300 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +6.49% -1.40% -8.41%
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 11 August 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 11 August 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 +32 286 £75,000 - 65
Bristol +23 223 £70,000 +7.69% 51
Dorset +2 81 £50,000 -7.17% 26
Somerset -1 50 £55,000 -15.38% 11
Devon +6 31 £60,000 +33.33% 2
Wiltshire +3 25 £55,000 -15.38% 16
Cornwall - 5 £55,000 - 2
Software Engineer
England

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

For the 6 months to 11 August 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.

1 701 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 149 (21.26%) Security Cleared
3 123 (17.55%) C++
4 105 (14.98%) Agile
5 102 (14.55%) Java
6 99 (14.12%) Full-Stack Development
7 97 (13.84%) Python
8 95 (13.55%) CI/CD
9 76 (10.84%) SC Cleared
10 74 (10.56%) C#
11 71 (10.13%) DV Cleared
12 54 (7.70%) JavaScript
12 54 (7.70%) Linux
13 52 (7.42%) Microservices
14 49 (6.99%) SDLC
15 47 (6.70%) DevOps
16 46 (6.56%) Test Automation
17 44 (6.28%) Mentoring
17 44 (6.28%) WPF
18 40 (5.71%) Vue
19 39 (5.56%) AI
20 38 (5.42%) AWS
21 37 (5.28%) Software Architecture
22 34 (4.85%) Embedded Software Development
23 32 (4.56%) C
24 30 (4.28%) Kubernetes
24 30 (4.28%) Rust
25 29 (4.14%) TypeScript
26 28 (3.99%) Continuous Improvement
26 28 (3.99%) Problem-Solving

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 (1.28%) Apache
2 2 (0.29%) Apache Spark
3 1 (0.14%) Confluence
3 1 (0.14%) OpenStack
Cloud Services
1 38 (5.42%) AWS
2 23 (3.28%) Azure
3 14 (2.00%) GCP
4 9 (1.28%) Firebase
5 8 (1.14%) GitHub
6 7 (1.00%) OpenShift
7 6 (0.86%) SaaS
8 4 (0.57%) Anthropic Claude
8 4 (0.57%) Cloud Run
9 3 (0.43%) Azure AKS
9 3 (0.43%) Serverless
10 2 (0.29%) Amazon EKS
10 2 (0.29%) Amazon S3
10 2 (0.29%) AWS CloudFormation
10 2 (0.29%) AWS Lambda
11 1 (0.14%) Azure Cosmos DB
11 1 (0.14%) Cloud Functions
11 1 (0.14%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.57%) Wireless
2 10 (1.43%) Ethernet
3 3 (0.43%) Broadband
3 3 (0.43%) RS-485
4 2 (0.29%) AMQP
4 2 (0.29%) Network Security
4 2 (0.29%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.14%) Modbus
5 1 (0.14%) MQTT
5 1 (0.14%) Profibus
5 1 (0.14%) RS-232
5 1 (0.14%) Software-Defined Radio
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (1.57%) MongoDB
2 8 (1.14%) Elasticsearch
3 7 (1.00%) Big Data
3 7 (1.00%) PostgreSQL
4 5 (0.71%) MySQL
4 5 (0.71%) SQL Server
5 4 (0.57%) Hadoop
5 4 (0.57%) MariaDB
6 3 (0.43%) Pinecone
6 3 (0.43%) Redis
7 2 (0.29%) Cloudera CDH
7 2 (0.29%) Metadata
7 2 (0.29%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.29%) Relational Database
8 1 (0.14%) Data Warehouse
8 1 (0.14%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 27 (3.85%) Git
2 18 (2.57%) GitLab
3 11 (1.57%) JIRA
4 9 (1.28%) Jenkins
5 8 (1.14%) SonarQube
6 7 (1.00%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.43%) LabVIEW
7 3 (0.43%) Rational DOORS
7 3 (0.43%) Visual Studio
8 2 (0.29%) Gradle
8 2 (0.29%) JUnit
8 2 (0.29%) Mockito
8 2 (0.29%) Subversion
8 2 (0.29%) Visual Studio Code
9 1 (0.14%) Bitbucket
9 1 (0.14%) CircleCI
9 1 (0.14%) Claude Code
9 1 (0.14%) Cypress.io
9 1 (0.14%) GoogleTest
9 1 (0.14%) Valgrind
General
1 31 (4.42%) Aerospace
2 21 (3.00%) Finance
3 20 (2.85%) Electronics
4 18 (2.57%) Social Skills
5 17 (2.43%) Automotive
6 14 (2.00%) Manufacturing
7 10 (1.43%) Analytical Skills
8 8 (1.14%) Public Sector
9 7 (1.00%) Aviation
9 7 (1.00%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 7 (1.00%) Military
10 6 (0.86%) Pharmaceutical
11 4 (0.57%) Avionics
11 4 (0.57%) Law
11 4 (0.57%) Social Housing
11 4 (0.57%) Tech for Good
12 2 (0.29%) Banking
12 2 (0.29%) Games
12 2 (0.29%) Legal
12 2 (0.29%) Wearables
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (6.28%) WPF
2 40 (5.71%) Vue
3 27 (3.85%) Spring
4 23 (3.28%) Spring Boot
5 22 (3.14%) React
6 15 (2.14%) AngularJS
7 13 (1.85%) REST
8 12 (1.71%) HTML
9 11 (1.57%) .NET
9 11 (1.57%) Node.js
9 11 (1.57%) RESTful
10 8 (1.14%) Elastic Stack
11 7 (1.00%) Apache NiFi
11 7 (1.00%) FastAPI
12 6 (0.86%) CSS
12 6 (0.86%) Django
12 6 (0.86%) gRPC
13 5 (0.71%) .NET Framework
13 5 (0.71%) Kafka
14 3 (0.43%) CSS3
Miscellaneous
1 29 (4.14%) Cloud Native
1 29 (4.14%) Embedded Systems
2 24 (3.42%) Legacy Systems
3 23 (3.28%) Public Cloud
4 18 (2.57%) Algorithms
4 18 (2.57%) Distributed Systems
5 9 (1.28%) AI Agents
6 7 (1.00%) Device Driver
7 6 (0.86%) ARM Cortex
7 6 (0.86%) IoT
7 6 (0.86%) Robotics
8 5 (0.71%) Data Structures
8 5 (0.71%) Operational Technology
9 4 (0.57%) Smart Home
10 3 (0.43%) Fat Client
10 3 (0.43%) Onboarding
10 3 (0.43%) Thin Client
11 2 (0.29%) Management Information System
11 2 (0.29%) PKI
11 2 (0.29%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 54 (7.70%) Linux
2 21 (3.00%) Android
3 17 (2.43%) Windows
4 6 (0.86%) FreeRTOS
5 5 (0.71%) Windows Server
6 4 (0.57%) Unix
7 2 (0.29%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.29%) CentOS
7 2 (0.29%) Debian
7 2 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.29%) SafeRTOS
7 2 (0.29%) Ubuntu
7 2 (0.29%) Windows 10
7 2 (0.29%) Windows Server 2019
8 1 (0.14%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 701 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 105 (14.98%) Agile
3 99 (14.12%) Full-Stack Development
4 95 (13.55%) CI/CD
5 52 (7.42%) Microservices
6 49 (6.99%) SDLC
7 47 (6.70%) DevOps
8 46 (6.56%) Test Automation
9 44 (6.28%) Mentoring
10 39 (5.56%) AI
11 37 (5.28%) Software Architecture
12 34 (4.85%) Embedded Software Development
13 28 (3.99%) Continuous Improvement
13 28 (3.99%) Problem-Solving
14 26 (3.71%) Containerisation
15 25 (3.57%) Open Source
16 23 (3.28%) Clean Code
17 21 (3.00%) Data Pipeline
17 21 (3.00%) Site Reliability Engineering
18 20 (2.85%) Platform Engineering
Programming Languages
1 123 (17.55%) C++
2 102 (14.55%) Java
3 97 (13.84%) Python
4 74 (10.56%) C#
5 54 (7.70%) JavaScript
6 32 (4.56%) C
7 30 (4.28%) Rust
8 29 (4.14%) TypeScript
9 22 (3.14%) Embedded C++
10 18 (2.57%) Go
11 17 (2.43%) Kotlin
12 14 (2.00%) SQL
13 9 (1.28%) Bash
13 9 (1.28%) PHP
14 7 (1.00%) Scala
15 4 (0.57%) Embedded C
15 4 (0.57%) MATLAB
16 3 (0.43%) PowerShell
17 2 (0.29%) Ada
17 2 (0.29%) Ada 95
Qualifications
1 149 (21.26%) Security Cleared
2 76 (10.84%) SC Cleared
3 71 (10.13%) DV Cleared
4 19 (2.71%) Degree
5 6 (0.86%) Computer Science Degree
6 5 (0.71%) CEH
6 5 (0.71%) OSCP
7 3 (0.43%) BPSS Clearance
8 2 (0.29%) HND
8 2 (0.29%) Master's Degree
8 2 (0.29%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (1.14%) Accessibility
2 5 (0.71%) QA
3 2 (0.29%) MIL-STD-1553
4 1 (0.14%) DO-178B
4 1 (0.14%) DO-254
4 1 (0.14%) HAZOP
4 1 (0.14%) IEC 61508
4 1 (0.14%) IEC 62304
4 1 (0.14%) ISO 26262
4 1 (0.14%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 25 (3.57%) Docker
2 23 (3.28%) Firmware
3 4 (0.57%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 30 (4.28%) Kubernetes
2 13 (1.85%) Ansible
3 11 (1.57%) Terraform
4 7 (1.00%) Grafana
4 7 (1.00%) Kibana
4 7 (1.00%) logstash
5 3 (0.43%) Plesk
5 3 (0.43%) SCCM
5 3 (0.43%) SCOM
5 3 (0.43%) SCOrch
6 2 (0.29%) Microsoft Intune
6 2 (0.29%) Puppet
7 1 (0.14%) Podman
Vendors
1 6 (0.86%) Intel
2 5 (0.71%) Microsoft
3 4 (0.57%) Google
3 4 (0.57%) OpenAI
3 4 (0.57%) Peregrine
4 3 (0.43%) Salesforce
5 2 (0.29%) Atlassian
5 2 (0.29%) Red Hat
5 2 (0.29%) SaltStack
5 2 (0.29%) Typelevel
5 2 (0.29%) VMware
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle
6 1 (0.14%) TOWER Software