Hardware Engineer Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Hardware Engineer
UK > UK excluding London

The median Hardware Engineer salary in the UK excluding London is £47,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 12 January 2026.

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

6 months to
12 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 404 422 406
Rank change year-on-year +18 -16 +207
Permanent jobs requiring a Hardware Engineer 102 129 157
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.24% 0.36% 0.45%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.27% 0.39% 0.47%
Number of salaries quoted 34 65 106
10th Percentile £26,000 £43,000 £26,250
25th Percentile £27,063 £45,000 £27,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £47,000 £55,000 £46,250
Median % change year-on-year -14.55% +18.92% +23.33%
75th Percentile £64,063 £70,000 £57,500
90th Percentile £75,000 £75,000 £67,500
UK median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £45,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +22.22% +20.00%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK excluding London

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the UK excluding London. 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 UK excluding London with a recognized job title 37,950 33,421 33,069
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.43% 92.92% 95.34%
Number of salaries quoted 23,124 16,269 25,086
10th Percentile £28,000 £31,250 £27,500
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £36,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £65,000 £68,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £82,500 £78,750
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -4.17%

Hardware Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Hardware Engineer' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Hardware Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Hardware Engineer
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for Hardware Engineer job vacancies in the UK excluding London.

Salary distribution trend for Hardware Engineer job vacancies in the UK excluding London

Hardware Engineer
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Hardware Engineer in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 12 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Hardware Engineer in the UK excluding London

Hardware Engineer
Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Hardware Engineer within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 12 January 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
North of England +18 24 £75,000 +57.89% 26
South West +29 19 £26,000 -50.00% 20
South East -12 18 £53,500 -14.40% 32
North West +37 15 £75,000 +57.89% 9
Midlands +15 13 £45,000 -28.00% 20
Scotland +11 10 £26,150 - 11
East of England +1 9 £60,000 +9.09% 24
Yorkshire -7 9 - - 13
East Midlands -2 8 £45,000 -10.00% 15
West Midlands +13 5 £57,500 -23.33% 5
Northern Ireland - 5 - - 3
Wales - 4 - - 6
Hardware Engineer
UK

Hardware Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London

For the 6 months to 12 January 2026, Hardware 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 UK excluding London region featuring Hardware Engineer in the job title.

1 44 (43.14%) Cybersecurity
2 13 (12.75%) Validation
3 11 (10.78%) Problem-Solving
4 10 (9.80%) Degree
5 9 (8.82%) BPSS Clearance
6 8 (7.84%) Break/Fix
6 8 (7.84%) Security Cleared
7 6 (5.88%) Customer Service
7 6 (5.88%) HNC
8 5 (4.90%) Collaborative Working
8 5 (4.90%) Linux
8 5 (4.90%) Project Delivery
9 4 (3.92%) 5G
9 4 (3.92%) Agile
9 4 (3.92%) B2B
9 4 (3.92%) C
9 4 (3.92%) C++
9 4 (3.92%) Customer Engagement
9 4 (3.92%) EMC
9 4 (3.92%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
9 4 (3.92%) Master's Degree
9 4 (3.92%) Microsoft
9 4 (3.92%) Performance Analysis
9 4 (3.92%) Performance Testing
9 4 (3.92%) Requirements Analysis
9 4 (3.92%) Requirements Gathering
9 4 (3.92%) SC Cleared
9 4 (3.92%) SD-WAN
9 4 (3.92%) Stakeholder Management
9 4 (3.92%) Test Assurance

Hardware Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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:

Applications
1 3 (2.94%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.98%) AutoCAD
2 1 (0.98%) EPLAN
2 1 (0.98%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.98%) OrCAD
Cloud Services
1 1 (0.98%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 4 (3.92%) 5G
1 4 (3.92%) SD-WAN
1 4 (3.92%) WAN
2 3 (2.94%) Structured Cabling
3 2 (1.96%) SAN
4 1 (0.98%) Bluetooth
4 1 (0.98%) Ethernet
4 1 (0.98%) GSM
4 1 (0.98%) RS-232
4 1 (0.98%) RS-485
4 1 (0.98%) UWB
4 1 (0.98%) Wireless
Development Applications
1 2 (1.96%) Rational DOORS
General
1 13 (12.75%) Analytical Skills
2 10 (9.80%) Electronics
3 7 (6.86%) Public Sector
3 7 (6.86%) Social Skills
4 6 (5.88%) Avionics
5 4 (3.92%) Documentation Skills
6 3 (2.94%) Aerospace
7 2 (1.96%) Health Technology
7 2 (1.96%) Legal
7 2 (1.96%) Wearables
8 1 (0.98%) Manufacturing
Miscellaneous
1 5 (4.90%) Self-Driving Car
2 4 (3.92%) Data Centre
2 4 (3.92%) GNSS
3 3 (2.94%) Analytical Mindset
3 3 (2.94%) Driving Licence
3 3 (2.94%) Self-Motivation
4 2 (1.96%) Smartphone
5 1 (0.98%) 3D Printing
5 1 (0.98%) Acoustics
5 1 (0.98%) Analogue Electronics
5 1 (0.98%) Arduino
5 1 (0.98%) Embedded Systems
5 1 (0.98%) Fibre Optics
5 1 (0.98%) FPGA
5 1 (0.98%) Renewable Energy
5 1 (0.98%) Robotics
5 1 (0.98%) Verilog
5 1 (0.98%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 5 (4.90%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 44 (43.14%) Cybersecurity
2 13 (12.75%) Validation
3 11 (10.78%) Problem-Solving
4 8 (7.84%) Break/Fix
5 6 (5.88%) Customer Service
6 5 (4.90%) Collaborative Working
6 5 (4.90%) Project Delivery
7 4 (3.92%) Agile
7 4 (3.92%) B2B
7 4 (3.92%) Customer Engagement
7 4 (3.92%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
7 4 (3.92%) Performance Analysis
7 4 (3.92%) Performance Testing
7 4 (3.92%) Requirements Analysis
7 4 (3.92%) Requirements Gathering
7 4 (3.92%) Stakeholder Management
7 4 (3.92%) Test Assurance
7 4 (3.92%) Test Automation
7 4 (3.92%) Virtual Environments
8 3 (2.94%) Coaching
Programming Languages
1 4 (3.92%) C
1 4 (3.92%) C++
2 1 (0.98%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 10 (9.80%) Degree
2 9 (8.82%) BPSS Clearance
3 8 (7.84%) Security Cleared
4 6 (5.88%) HNC
5 4 (3.92%) Master's Degree
5 4 (3.92%) SC Cleared
6 2 (1.96%) A+ Certification
6 2 (1.96%) CCNA
6 2 (1.96%) Cisco Certification
6 2 (1.96%) HND
6 2 (1.96%) MCSE
6 2 (1.96%) Microsoft Certification
6 2 (1.96%) Network+ Certification
7 1 (0.98%) Chartered Engineer
7 1 (0.98%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (0.98%) SLA
System Software
1 1 (0.98%) Embedded Firmware
1 1 (0.98%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 1 (0.98%) BMC PATROL
Vendors
1 4 (3.92%) EMC
1 4 (3.92%) Microsoft
2 2 (1.96%) Dell
2 2 (1.96%) Siemens