C++ Software Engineer Job Trends

Software Engineer - C++
UK

The median Software Engineer - C++ salary in the UK is £68,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 31 August 2026.

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

6 months to
31 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 440 622 505
Rank change year-on-year +182 -117 +156
Permanent jobs requiring a C++ Software Engineer 391 66 325
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.36% 0.13% 0.40%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.38% 0.15% 0.42%
Number of salaries quoted 300 50 250
10th Percentile £50,000 £51,125 £36,350
25th Percentile £60,000 - £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £68,000 £65,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.62% +8.33% +4.35%
75th Percentile £100,000 £105,938 £66,500
90th Percentile - £121,375 £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 103,220 45,012 77,418
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.88% 89.83% 95.16%
Number of salaries quoted 70,861 26,764 49,481
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.55% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £75,000 £74,521 £72,500
90th Percentile £97,500 £95,000 £91,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £47,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year +15.79% -5.00% -4.76%

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 31 August 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 31 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
England +172 366 £68,000 +4.62% 57
UK excluding London +122 321 £65,000 - 36
South East +81 133 £65,000 -10.34% 8
Work from Home +38 89 £80,000 +23.08% 15
South West -15 69 £60,000 -7.69% 10
London -2 66 £100,000 -5.88% 19
East of England +39 58 £75,000 +15.38% 12
North of England -49 26 £90,000 +80.00% 4
North East - 22 £100,000 - 1
Scotland +13 15 £85,000 -
Midlands - 14 £45,000 - 2
East Midlands - 12 £45,000 - 2
Wales - 5 £35,000 - 1
North West -7 4 £70,000 +40.00% 3
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 31 August 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.

1 391 (100.00%) C++
2 382 (97.70%) Software Engineering
3 99 (25.32%) Linux
4 98 (25.06%) Python
5 72 (18.41%) Degree
6 65 (16.62%) AI
7 50 (12.79%) Computer Science Degree
8 49 (12.53%) Computer Science
8 49 (12.53%) Low Latency
9 45 (11.51%) C
10 43 (11.00%) C#
11 41 (10.49%) SDLC
11 41 (10.49%) Security Cleared
12 39 (9.97%) Rust
13 33 (8.44%) Agile
13 33 (8.44%) Mathematics
13 33 (8.44%) SC Cleared
14 29 (7.42%) Embedded C++
15 28 (7.16%) AWS
16 25 (6.39%) OOP
17 24 (6.14%) Data Science
17 24 (6.14%) Fintech
17 24 (6.14%) Machine Learning
17 24 (6.14%) Master's Degree
17 24 (6.14%) PhD
18 22 (5.63%) Boost C++ Libraries
19 20 (5.12%) Problem-Solving
19 20 (5.12%) Workflow
20 19 (4.86%) Software Architecture
21 18 (4.60%) Computational Fluid Dynamics

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 28 (7.16%) AWS
2 8 (2.05%) Azure
2 8 (2.05%) GitHub
3 4 (1.02%) Amazon EKS
4 2 (0.51%) SaaS
5 1 (0.26%) Azure DevOps
5 1 (0.26%) GCP
5 1 (0.26%) GitHub Actions
5 1 (0.26%) GitHub Copilot
5 1 (0.26%) Microsoft 365
5 1 (0.26%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 12 (3.07%) Multicast
2 7 (1.79%) Ethernet
3 1 (0.26%) 5G
3 1 (0.26%) LTE
3 1 (0.26%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (2.30%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 14 (3.58%) Git
2 13 (3.32%) JIRA
3 7 (1.79%) Jenkins
4 5 (1.28%) CMake
5 4 (1.02%) Visual Studio
6 2 (0.51%) GDB
6 2 (0.51%) Rational DOORS
7 1 (0.26%) Valgrind
7 1 (0.26%) WinDbg
General
1 50 (12.79%) Finance
2 21 (5.37%) Manufacturing
3 19 (4.86%) Aerospace
4 15 (3.84%) Automotive
5 12 (3.07%) Banking
5 12 (3.07%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 8 (2.05%) Social Skills
7 7 (1.79%) Tech for Good
8 4 (1.02%) Electronics
8 4 (1.02%) Military
9 3 (0.77%) Analytical Skills
10 2 (0.51%) Aviation
11 1 (0.26%) Documentation Skills
11 1 (0.26%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (5.63%) Boost C++ Libraries
2 12 (3.07%) FIX Protocol
2 12 (3.07%) pytest
3 10 (2.56%) Django
3 10 (2.56%) Vue
4 8 (2.05%) RESTful
5 6 (1.53%) OpenGL
6 5 (1.28%) Unreal Engine
7 4 (1.02%) Yocto
8 3 (0.77%) GraphQL
9 2 (0.51%) .NET
9 2 (0.51%) Middleware
9 2 (0.51%) QML
9 2 (0.51%) Qt
9 2 (0.51%) STL
9 2 (0.51%) ZeroMQ
10 1 (0.26%) Bootstrap
10 1 (0.26%) CSS
10 1 (0.26%) HTML
10 1 (0.26%) Terraform
Miscellaneous
1 35 (8.95%) Algorithms
2 21 (5.37%) Distributed Computing
3 17 (4.35%) Robotics
4 12 (3.07%) Derivative
4 12 (3.07%) Equities
4 12 (3.07%) Fixed Income
5 10 (2.56%) Cyber Threat
6 9 (2.30%) Data Structures
6 9 (2.30%) Distributed Architecture
7 8 (2.05%) Distributed Systems
7 8 (2.05%) Embedded Systems
8 7 (1.79%) Device Driver
9 6 (1.53%) Augmented Reality
9 6 (1.53%) Virtual Reality
10 4 (1.02%) Hedge funds
11 1 (0.26%) AI Agents
11 1 (0.26%) Client/Server
11 1 (0.26%) FPGA
11 1 (0.26%) Greenfield Project
11 1 (0.26%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 99 (25.32%) Linux
2 18 (4.60%) Windows
3 4 (1.02%) Embedded Linux
4 2 (0.51%) Robot Operating System
Processes & Methodologies
1 382 (97.70%) Software Engineering
2 65 (16.62%) AI
3 49 (12.53%) Computer Science
3 49 (12.53%) Low Latency
4 41 (10.49%) SDLC
5 33 (8.44%) Agile
5 33 (8.44%) Mathematics
6 25 (6.39%) OOP
7 24 (6.14%) Data Science
7 24 (6.14%) Fintech
7 24 (6.14%) Machine Learning
8 20 (5.12%) Problem-Solving
8 20 (5.12%) Workflow
9 19 (4.86%) Software Architecture
10 18 (4.60%) Computational Fluid Dynamics
10 18 (4.60%) Finite Element Analysis
11 17 (4.35%) CI/CD
12 16 (4.09%) Physics
13 15 (3.84%) Requirements Management
13 15 (3.84%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 391 (100.00%) C++
2 98 (25.06%) Python
3 45 (11.51%) C
4 43 (11.00%) C#
5 39 (9.97%) Rust
6 29 (7.42%) Embedded C++
7 12 (3.07%) TypeScript
8 10 (2.56%) SQL
9 9 (2.30%) JavaScript
10 6 (1.53%) Java
11 5 (1.28%) Embedded C
12 3 (0.77%) Bash
12 3 (0.77%) Julia
13 1 (0.26%) Ada
13 1 (0.26%) Erlang
13 1 (0.26%) Fortran
13 1 (0.26%) OCaml
13 1 (0.26%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 72 (18.41%) Degree
2 50 (12.79%) Computer Science Degree
3 41 (10.49%) Security Cleared
4 33 (8.44%) SC Cleared
5 24 (6.14%) Master's Degree
5 24 (6.14%) PhD
6 11 (2.81%) DV Cleared
7 5 (1.28%) BPSS Clearance
8 2 (0.51%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (3.32%) QA
2 2 (0.51%) AUTOSAR
2 2 (0.51%) MISRA
2 2 (0.51%) MISRA C
3 1 (0.26%) Accessibility
3 1 (0.26%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 15 (3.84%) Docker
2 2 (0.51%) Virtual Machines
3 1 (0.26%) Embedded Firmware
3 1 (0.26%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 11 (2.81%) Kubernetes
Vendors
1 3 (0.77%) Microsoft
2 1 (0.26%) Atlassian
2 1 (0.26%) IBM
2 1 (0.26%) Intel