C++ Software Engineer Job Trends

Software Engineer - C++
UK

The median Software Engineer - C++ salary in the UK is £75,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 27 July 2026.

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

6 months to
27 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 439 609 518
Rank change year-on-year +170 -91 +162
Permanent jobs requiring a C++ Software Engineer 374 70 339
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.37% 0.14% 0.38%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.39% 0.16% 0.41%
Number of salaries quoted 301 52 281
10th Percentile £50,750 £51,875 £38,750
25th Percentile £60,000 - £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £75,000 £65,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +15.38% +8.33% +4.35%
75th Percentile £100,000 £107,188 £66,250
90th Percentile - £120,250 £75,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £65,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year - +8.33% +4.35%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies. 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 with a recognized job title 95,592 44,533 83,697
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.36% 90.08% 94.76%
Number of salaries quoted 65,383 26,478 58,009
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,500 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £37,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - - -8.33%
75th Percentile £75,000 £75,000 £71,250
90th Percentile £96,250 £96,250 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +5.00% - -5.66%

C++ Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'C++ Software Engineer' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

C++ Software Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

C++ Software Engineer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for C++ Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for C++ Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK

C++ Software Engineer
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing C++ Software Engineer over the 6 months to 27 July 2026.

Salary histogram for C++ Software Engineer in the UK

C++ Software Engineer
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing C++ Software Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 27 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
England +177 356 £75,000 +15.38% 45
UK excluding London +151 291 £65,000 - 36
South East +87 138 £65,000 - 13
London +42 80 £100,000 -3.61% 14
Work from Home +33 76 £80,000 +23.08% 20
South West -21 55 £60,000 -7.69% 7
East of England +23 43 £80,000 +23.08% 14
North of England -6 26 £90,000 +80.00% 1
North East - 22 £100,000 -
Midlands - 14 £45,000 -
Scotland +24 12 £75,000 - 2
East Midlands - 12 £45,000 -
North West -4 4 £70,000 +40.00% 1
Wales - 2 £35,000 - 2
West Midlands - 2 £70,000 -
Northern Ireland - 1 £65,000 -

C++ Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 27 July 2026, C++ 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 featuring C++ Software Engineer in the job title.

1 374 (100.00%) C++
2 365 (97.59%) Software Engineering
3 105 (28.07%) Python
4 86 (22.99%) Linux
5 70 (18.72%) Degree
6 65 (17.38%) AI
7 52 (13.90%) Low Latency
8 51 (13.64%) Computer Science
8 51 (13.64%) Computer Science Degree
9 48 (12.83%) Rust
10 43 (11.50%) C#
10 43 (11.50%) SDLC
11 37 (9.89%) Security Cleared
12 36 (9.63%) C
13 34 (9.09%) Mathematics
14 33 (8.82%) SC Cleared
15 32 (8.56%) Agile
16 27 (7.22%) OOP
17 25 (6.68%) Boost C++ Libraries
17 25 (6.68%) Embedded C++
18 24 (6.42%) AWS
18 24 (6.42%) Machine Learning
19 23 (6.15%) Technical Leadership
19 23 (6.15%) Workflow
20 22 (5.88%) Master's Degree
21 21 (5.61%) PhD
22 20 (5.35%) Data Science
22 20 (5.35%) Fintech
23 19 (5.08%) Multithreading
23 19 (5.08%) Problem-Solving

C++ Software Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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:

Cloud Services
1 24 (6.42%) AWS
2 11 (2.94%) GitHub
3 7 (1.87%) Azure
4 3 (0.80%) Amazon EKS
5 2 (0.53%) SaaS
6 1 (0.27%) Azure DevOps
6 1 (0.27%) GCP
6 1 (0.27%) GitHub Actions
6 1 (0.27%) GitHub Copilot
6 1 (0.27%) Microsoft 365
6 1 (0.27%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 15 (4.01%) Multicast
2 7 (1.87%) Ethernet
3 1 (0.27%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (1.87%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 16 (4.28%) JIRA
2 12 (3.21%) Git
3 4 (1.07%) Jenkins
3 4 (1.07%) Visual Studio
4 2 (0.53%) CMake
4 2 (0.53%) Rational DOORS
5 1 (0.27%) GDB
5 1 (0.27%) Valgrind
5 1 (0.27%) WinDbg
General
1 52 (13.90%) Finance
2 21 (5.61%) Manufacturing
3 16 (4.28%) Aerospace
4 15 (4.01%) Banking
5 13 (3.48%) Automotive
6 9 (2.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 9 (2.41%) Social Skills
7 3 (0.80%) Analytical Skills
7 3 (0.80%) Military
8 2 (0.53%) Aviation
8 2 (0.53%) Electronics
8 2 (0.53%) Games
9 1 (0.27%) Documentation Skills
9 1 (0.27%) Influencing Skills
9 1 (0.27%) Tech for Good
9 1 (0.27%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (6.68%) Boost C++ Libraries
2 15 (4.01%) FIX Protocol
2 15 (4.01%) pytest
2 15 (4.01%) Unreal Engine
3 7 (1.87%) Django
3 7 (1.87%) Vue
4 6 (1.60%) OpenGL
4 6 (1.60%) RESTful
5 5 (1.34%) Qt
6 2 (0.53%) .NET
6 2 (0.53%) Blazor
6 2 (0.53%) GraphQL
6 2 (0.53%) Middleware
6 2 (0.53%) QML
6 2 (0.53%) STL
6 2 (0.53%) Yocto
6 2 (0.53%) ZeroMQ
7 1 (0.27%) Bootstrap
7 1 (0.27%) REST
7 1 (0.27%) WebRTC
Miscellaneous
1 41 (10.96%) Algorithms
2 18 (4.81%) Distributed Computing
2 18 (4.81%) Robotics
3 15 (4.01%) Derivative
3 15 (4.01%) Equities
3 15 (4.01%) Fixed Income
4 13 (3.48%) Distributed Systems
5 12 (3.21%) Data Structures
6 9 (2.41%) Cyber Threat
7 8 (2.14%) Embedded Systems
8 7 (1.87%) Device Driver
8 7 (1.87%) Distributed Architecture
9 6 (1.60%) Augmented Reality
9 6 (1.60%) Virtual Reality
10 4 (1.07%) Hedge funds
11 1 (0.27%) AI Agents
11 1 (0.27%) Client/Server
11 1 (0.27%) FPGA
11 1 (0.27%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 86 (22.99%) Linux
2 10 (2.67%) Windows
3 2 (0.53%) Embedded Linux
3 2 (0.53%) Robot Operating System
Processes & Methodologies
1 365 (97.59%) Software Engineering
2 65 (17.38%) AI
3 52 (13.90%) Low Latency
4 51 (13.64%) Computer Science
5 43 (11.50%) SDLC
6 34 (9.09%) Mathematics
7 32 (8.56%) Agile
8 27 (7.22%) OOP
9 24 (6.42%) Machine Learning
10 23 (6.15%) Technical Leadership
10 23 (6.15%) Workflow
11 20 (5.35%) Data Science
11 20 (5.35%) Fintech
12 19 (5.08%) Multithreading
12 19 (5.08%) Problem-Solving
13 17 (4.55%) Software Architecture
14 16 (4.28%) Physics
15 15 (4.01%) Continuous Integration
15 15 (4.01%) High-Frequency Trading
15 15 (4.01%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 374 (100.00%) C++
2 105 (28.07%) Python
3 48 (12.83%) Rust
4 43 (11.50%) C#
5 36 (9.63%) C
6 25 (6.68%) Embedded C++
7 10 (2.67%) SQL
7 10 (2.67%) TypeScript
8 7 (1.87%) JavaScript
9 5 (1.34%) Java
10 4 (1.07%) Julia
11 3 (0.80%) Embedded C
12 2 (0.53%) Bash
13 1 (0.27%) Ada
13 1 (0.27%) Erlang
13 1 (0.27%) Fortran
13 1 (0.27%) OCaml
13 1 (0.27%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 70 (18.72%) Degree
2 51 (13.64%) Computer Science Degree
3 37 (9.89%) Security Cleared
4 33 (8.82%) SC Cleared
5 22 (5.88%) Master's Degree
6 21 (5.61%) PhD
7 4 (1.07%) DV Cleared
8 2 (0.53%) BPSS Clearance
8 2 (0.53%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (4.55%) QA
2 1 (0.27%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 9 (2.41%) Docker
2 1 (0.27%) Embedded Firmware
2 1 (0.27%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 7 (1.87%) Kubernetes
2 2 (0.53%) Terraform
Vendors
1 3 (0.80%) Microsoft
2 1 (0.27%) IBM
2 1 (0.27%) Intel