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 13 May 2026.

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

6 months to
13 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 438 607 569
Rank change year-on-year +169 -38 +136
Permanent jobs requiring a C++ Software Engineer 294 56 327
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.33% 0.13% 0.34%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.35% 0.14% 0.36%
Number of salaries quoted 232 43 262
10th Percentile £52,500 £50,000 £41,250
25th Percentile £65,000 £58,750 £50,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £65,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.69% +8.33% -
75th Percentile £100,000 £96,250 £66,438
90th Percentile - £111,250 £82,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £65,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year - +8.33% -

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 83,861 38,850 91,176
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.26% 89.47% 94.56%
Number of salaries quoted 55,212 22,832 66,939
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,000 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £41,250 £38,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,670 £52,686
Median % change year-on-year -4.63% +9.46% -12.19%
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £71,250
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -4.76% +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 13 May 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 13 May 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 +183 283 £80,000 +23.08% 50
UK excluding London +98 208 £65,000 - 44
South East +83 117 £65,000 - 14
London +57 85 £100,000 -2.44% 13
Work from Home +41 51 £80,000 +23.32% 26
South West -19 36 £60,000 -7.69% 8
East of England +7 24 £100,000 +53.85% 8
Midlands - 14 £45,000 - 2
East Midlands - 12 £45,000 - 1
Scotland +7 7 £65,000 +18.18% 8
North of England - 7 £70,000 - 6
North West - 6 £70,000 -
Wales - 2 £35,000 -
West Midlands - 2 £70,000 - 1
Northern Ireland -37 1 £65,000 -27.78%
North East - 1 £110,000 - 6

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

For the 6 months to 13 May 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.

1 294 (100.00%) C++
2 285 (96.94%) Software Engineering
3 79 (26.87%) Python
4 54 (18.37%) Low Latency
5 53 (18.03%) Linux
6 44 (14.97%) Degree
7 36 (12.24%) SDLC
8 35 (11.90%) Computer Science
9 33 (11.22%) Computer Science Degree
10 32 (10.88%) Rust
11 29 (9.86%) Agile
11 29 (9.86%) SC Cleared
11 29 (9.86%) Security Cleared
12 27 (9.18%) AI
12 27 (9.18%) C#
13 25 (8.50%) Mathematics
14 24 (8.16%) Technical Leadership
15 23 (7.82%) Boost C++ Libraries
16 22 (7.48%) Multithreading
17 19 (6.46%) C
17 19 (6.46%) Fintech
17 19 (6.46%) OOP
18 18 (6.12%) High-Frequency Trading
19 17 (5.78%) QA
20 16 (5.44%) Git
20 16 (5.44%) Workflow
21 15 (5.10%) AWS
21 15 (5.10%) Continuous Integration
21 15 (5.10%) FIX Protocol
21 15 (5.10%) JIRA

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 15 (5.10%) AWS
2 13 (4.42%) GitHub
3 3 (1.02%) Azure
4 1 (0.34%) Azure DevOps
4 1 (0.34%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 15 (5.10%) Multicast
2 8 (2.72%) Wireless
3 4 (1.36%) Ethernet
4 3 (1.02%) DNS
4 3 (1.02%) HTTP
4 3 (1.02%) SMTP
4 3 (1.02%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.34%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.34%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 16 (5.44%) Git
2 15 (5.10%) JIRA
3 1 (0.34%) GDB
3 1 (0.34%) Jenkins
3 1 (0.34%) Visual Studio
3 1 (0.34%) WinDbg
General
1 47 (15.99%) Finance
2 18 (6.12%) Manufacturing
3 16 (5.44%) Aerospace
4 15 (5.10%) Banking
5 10 (3.40%) Automotive
6 7 (2.38%) Analytical Skills
7 6 (2.04%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 6 (2.04%) Social Skills
8 4 (1.36%) Aeronautics
9 2 (0.68%) Games
9 2 (0.68%) Military
9 2 (0.68%) Tech for Good
10 1 (0.34%) Influencing Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (7.82%) Boost C++ Libraries
2 15 (5.10%) FIX Protocol
2 15 (5.10%) pytest
3 14 (4.76%) Qt
4 13 (4.42%) Unreal Engine
5 6 (2.04%) OpenGL
6 5 (1.70%) RESTful
7 4 (1.36%) Middleware
7 4 (1.36%) ZeroMQ
8 2 (0.68%) Blazor
9 1 (0.34%) .NET
9 1 (0.34%) Django
9 1 (0.34%) React
9 1 (0.34%) REST
9 1 (0.34%) Vue
9 1 (0.34%) WebRTC
9 1 (0.34%) WinForms
Miscellaneous
1 38 (12.93%) Algorithms
2 16 (5.44%) Fixed Income
3 15 (5.10%) Derivative
3 15 (5.10%) Equities
4 12 (4.08%) Distributed Systems
5 11 (3.74%) Data Structures
5 11 (3.74%) Robotics
6 10 (3.40%) Distributed Computing
7 6 (2.04%) Augmented Reality
7 6 (2.04%) Distributed Architecture
7 6 (2.04%) Virtual Reality
8 5 (1.70%) Embedded Systems
9 4 (1.36%) Device Driver
10 3 (1.02%) CUDA
10 3 (1.02%) GNSS
10 3 (1.02%) Satnav
10 3 (1.02%) Self-Motivation
11 1 (0.34%) AI Agents
11 1 (0.34%) Greenfield Project
11 1 (0.34%) Hedge funds
Operating Systems
1 53 (18.03%) Linux
2 13 (4.42%) Windows
3 2 (0.68%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 285 (96.94%) Software Engineering
2 54 (18.37%) Low Latency
3 36 (12.24%) SDLC
4 35 (11.90%) Computer Science
5 29 (9.86%) Agile
6 27 (9.18%) AI
7 25 (8.50%) Mathematics
8 24 (8.16%) Technical Leadership
9 22 (7.48%) Multithreading
10 19 (6.46%) Fintech
10 19 (6.46%) OOP
11 18 (6.12%) High-Frequency Trading
12 16 (5.44%) Workflow
13 15 (5.10%) Continuous Integration
13 15 (5.10%) Process Improvement
14 14 (4.76%) Problem-Solving
14 14 (4.76%) Ultra-Low Latency
15 13 (4.42%) Automated Trading
15 13 (4.42%) Machine Learning
16 11 (3.74%) CI/CD
Programming Languages
1 294 (100.00%) C++
2 79 (26.87%) Python
3 32 (10.88%) Rust
4 27 (9.18%) C#
5 19 (6.46%) C
6 10 (3.40%) SQL
7 9 (3.06%) Embedded C++
8 5 (1.70%) Java
9 4 (1.36%) Bash
9 4 (1.36%) JavaScript
10 3 (1.02%) TypeScript
11 2 (0.68%) Julia
12 1 (0.34%) Erlang
12 1 (0.34%) OCaml
12 1 (0.34%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 44 (14.97%) Degree
2 33 (11.22%) Computer Science Degree
3 29 (9.86%) SC Cleared
3 29 (9.86%) Security Cleared
4 14 (4.76%) Master's Degree
5 13 (4.42%) PhD
6 1 (0.34%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (5.78%) QA
System Software
1 1 (0.34%) Embedded Firmware
1 1 (0.34%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 2 (0.68%) Terraform
2 1 (0.34%) Kubernetes
Vendors
1 2 (0.68%) Apple