C++ Software Engineer Job Trends

Software Engineer - C++
UK

The median Software Engineer - C++ salary in the UK is £70,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 24 August 2026.

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

6 months to
24 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 442 614 499
Rank change year-on-year +172 -115 +161
Permanent jobs requiring a C++ Software Engineer 389 67 333
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 50 260
10th Percentile £50,675 £51,125 £36,950
25th Percentile £60,000 - £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £65,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.69% +8.33% +4.35%
75th Percentile £100,000 £105,938 £65,375
90th Percentile - £121,250 £72,500
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 101,876 44,986 79,362
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.93% 89.87% 95.10%
Number of salaries quoted 69,841 26,672 51,908
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 £75,000 £72,450
90th Percentile £96,250 £95,000 £91,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £54,292 £47,602 £50,000
% change year-on-year +14.05% -4.80% -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 24 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 24 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 +168 364 £70,000 +7.69% 31
UK excluding London +140 316 £65,000 - 30
South East +81 133 £65,000 -10.34% 7
Work from Home +48 90 £80,000 +23.08% 11
London +11 69 £100,000 -2.44% 2
South West -14 69 £60,000 -7.69% 11
East of England +20 53 £75,000 +15.38% 11
North of England -19 26 £90,000 +80.00%
North East - 22 £100,000 -
Scotland +22 15 £85,000 -
Midlands - 14 £45,000 - 2
East Midlands - 12 £45,000 - 2
Wales - 5 £35,000 - 1
North West -14 4 £70,000 +40.00%
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 24 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.

1 389 (100.00%) C++
2 380 (97.69%) Software Engineering
3 98 (25.19%) Linux
3 98 (25.19%) Python
4 69 (17.74%) Degree
5 67 (17.22%) AI
6 49 (12.60%) Computer Science Degree
6 49 (12.60%) Low Latency
7 48 (12.34%) Computer Science
8 45 (11.57%) C
9 42 (10.80%) C#
10 41 (10.54%) SDLC
10 41 (10.54%) Security Cleared
11 40 (10.28%) Rust
12 33 (8.48%) Agile
12 33 (8.48%) Mathematics
12 33 (8.48%) SC Cleared
13 29 (7.46%) Embedded C++
14 26 (6.68%) AWS
15 25 (6.43%) OOP
16 24 (6.17%) Data Science
16 24 (6.17%) Fintech
16 24 (6.17%) Machine Learning
17 23 (5.91%) Boost C++ Libraries
17 23 (5.91%) Master's Degree
17 23 (5.91%) PhD
18 21 (5.40%) Workflow
19 19 (4.88%) Problem-Solving
19 19 (4.88%) Software Architecture
20 17 (4.37%) 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 26 (6.68%) AWS
2 9 (2.31%) GitHub
3 7 (1.80%) Azure
4 4 (1.03%) Amazon EKS
5 2 (0.51%) SaaS
6 1 (0.26%) Azure DevOps
6 1 (0.26%) GCP
6 1 (0.26%) GitHub Actions
6 1 (0.26%) GitHub Copilot
6 1 (0.26%) Microsoft 365
6 1 (0.26%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 13 (3.34%) Multicast
2 7 (1.80%) Ethernet
3 1 (0.26%) 5G
3 1 (0.26%) LTE
3 1 (0.26%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (2.06%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 14 (3.60%) Git
1 14 (3.60%) JIRA
2 7 (1.80%) Jenkins
3 5 (1.29%) CMake
4 4 (1.03%) Visual Studio
5 2 (0.51%) GDB
5 2 (0.51%) Rational DOORS
6 1 (0.26%) Valgrind
6 1 (0.26%) WinDbg
General
1 51 (13.11%) Finance
2 21 (5.40%) Manufacturing
3 18 (4.63%) Aerospace
4 14 (3.60%) Automotive
5 13 (3.34%) Banking
6 12 (3.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 7 (1.80%) Social Skills
8 6 (1.54%) Tech for Good
9 4 (1.03%) Electronics
9 4 (1.03%) Military
10 3 (0.77%) Analytical Skills
11 2 (0.51%) Aviation
12 1 (0.26%) Documentation Skills
12 1 (0.26%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (5.91%) Boost C++ Libraries
2 13 (3.34%) FIX Protocol
2 13 (3.34%) pytest
3 9 (2.31%) Django
3 9 (2.31%) Vue
4 7 (1.80%) RESTful
5 6 (1.54%) OpenGL
5 6 (1.54%) Unreal Engine
6 4 (1.03%) Yocto
7 3 (0.77%) GraphQL
8 2 (0.51%) .NET
8 2 (0.51%) Middleware
8 2 (0.51%) QML
8 2 (0.51%) Qt
8 2 (0.51%) STL
8 2 (0.51%) ZeroMQ
9 1 (0.26%) CSS
9 1 (0.26%) HTML
9 1 (0.26%) REST
9 1 (0.26%) WinForms
Miscellaneous
1 36 (9.25%) Algorithms
2 20 (5.14%) Distributed Computing
3 17 (4.37%) Robotics
4 13 (3.34%) Derivative
4 13 (3.34%) Equities
4 13 (3.34%) Fixed Income
5 10 (2.57%) Cyber Threat
6 9 (2.31%) Data Structures
7 8 (2.06%) Distributed Architecture
7 8 (2.06%) Distributed Systems
7 8 (2.06%) Embedded Systems
8 7 (1.80%) Device Driver
9 6 (1.54%) Augmented Reality
9 6 (1.54%) Virtual Reality
10 4 (1.03%) 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 98 (25.19%) Linux
2 16 (4.11%) Windows
3 4 (1.03%) Embedded Linux
4 2 (0.51%) Robot Operating System
Processes & Methodologies
1 380 (97.69%) Software Engineering
2 67 (17.22%) AI
3 49 (12.60%) Low Latency
4 48 (12.34%) Computer Science
5 41 (10.54%) SDLC
6 33 (8.48%) Agile
6 33 (8.48%) Mathematics
7 25 (6.43%) OOP
8 24 (6.17%) Data Science
8 24 (6.17%) Fintech
8 24 (6.17%) Machine Learning
9 21 (5.40%) Workflow
10 19 (4.88%) Problem-Solving
10 19 (4.88%) Software Architecture
11 17 (4.37%) Computational Fluid Dynamics
11 17 (4.37%) Finite Element Analysis
12 16 (4.11%) CI/CD
12 16 (4.11%) Physics
12 16 (4.11%) Technical Leadership
13 15 (3.86%) Continuous Integration
Programming Languages
1 389 (100.00%) C++
2 98 (25.19%) Python
3 45 (11.57%) C
4 42 (10.80%) C#
5 40 (10.28%) Rust
6 29 (7.46%) Embedded C++
7 11 (2.83%) TypeScript
8 10 (2.57%) SQL
9 7 (1.80%) JavaScript
10 5 (1.29%) Embedded C
10 5 (1.29%) Java
11 3 (0.77%) Bash
11 3 (0.77%) Julia
12 1 (0.26%) Ada
12 1 (0.26%) Erlang
12 1 (0.26%) Fortran
12 1 (0.26%) OCaml
12 1 (0.26%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 69 (17.74%) Degree
2 49 (12.60%) Computer Science Degree
3 41 (10.54%) Security Cleared
4 33 (8.48%) SC Cleared
5 23 (5.91%) Master's Degree
5 23 (5.91%) PhD
6 11 (2.83%) DV Cleared
7 5 (1.29%) BPSS Clearance
8 2 (0.51%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (3.60%) 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 14 (3.60%) Docker
2 2 (0.51%) Virtual Machines
3 1 (0.26%) Embedded Firmware
3 1 (0.26%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 9 (2.31%) Kubernetes
Vendors
1 3 (0.77%) Microsoft
2 1 (0.26%) Atlassian
2 1 (0.26%) IBM
2 1 (0.26%) Intel