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 17 May 2026.

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

6 months to
17 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 430 604 572
Rank change year-on-year +174 -32 +132
Permanent jobs requiring a C++ Software Engineer 306 55 331
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.33% 0.12% 0.34%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.36% 0.14% 0.36%
Number of salaries quoted 243 42 267
10th Percentile £52,500 £50,000 £41,250
25th Percentile £65,000 £58,125 £50,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £75,000 £65,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +15.38% +8.33% +2.13%
75th Percentile £100,000 £96,875 £66,250
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 85,551 39,541 91,790
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.32% 89.78% 94.62%
Number of salaries quoted 56,475 22,949 67,336
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,000 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £41,250 £38,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% +9.52% -12.50%
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £71,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -3.85% +4.00% -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 17 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 17 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 +175 295 £80,000 +23.08% 51
UK excluding London +123 215 £65,000 - 47
South East +83 121 £65,000 - 12
London +49 90 £100,000 -2.44% 11
Work from Home +53 53 £100,000 +54.46% 26
South West -15 38 £60,000 -7.69% 9
East of England -2 24 £100,000 +53.85% 10
Midlands - 14 £45,000 - 4
East Midlands - 12 £45,000 - 3
North of England - 8 £85,000 - 5
Scotland +1 7 £65,000 +18.18% 7
North West - 6 £70,000 - 2
North East - 2 £105,000 - 3
Wales - 2 £35,000 -
West Midlands - 2 £70,000 - 1
Northern Ireland -36 1 £65,000 -27.78%

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

For the 6 months to 17 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.

1 306 (100.00%) C++
2 297 (97.06%) Software Engineering
3 87 (28.43%) Python
4 58 (18.95%) Linux
5 56 (18.30%) Low Latency
6 47 (15.36%) Degree
7 37 (12.09%) SDLC
8 36 (11.76%) Computer Science
9 35 (11.44%) Computer Science Degree
10 33 (10.78%) Rust
11 32 (10.46%) Agile
12 31 (10.13%) C#
13 29 (9.48%) SC Cleared
13 29 (9.48%) Security Cleared
14 28 (9.15%) AI
15 26 (8.50%) Mathematics
15 26 (8.50%) Technical Leadership
16 24 (7.84%) Boost C++ Libraries
17 22 (7.19%) Multithreading
18 21 (6.86%) C
19 20 (6.54%) Fintech
19 20 (6.54%) OOP
20 18 (5.88%) High-Frequency Trading
20 18 (5.88%) QA
21 17 (5.56%) AWS
21 17 (5.56%) Git
21 17 (5.56%) Workflow
22 16 (5.23%) Continuous Integration
22 16 (5.23%) FIX Protocol
22 16 (5.23%) 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 17 (5.56%) AWS
2 14 (4.58%) GitHub
3 3 (0.98%) Azure
4 1 (0.33%) Azure DevOps
4 1 (0.33%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 16 (5.23%) Multicast
2 7 (2.29%) Wireless
3 4 (1.31%) Ethernet
4 3 (0.98%) DNS
4 3 (0.98%) HTTP
4 3 (0.98%) SMTP
4 3 (0.98%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.33%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.65%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 17 (5.56%) Git
2 16 (5.23%) JIRA
3 1 (0.33%) GDB
3 1 (0.33%) Jenkins
3 1 (0.33%) Visual Studio
3 1 (0.33%) WinDbg
General
1 52 (16.99%) Finance
2 19 (6.21%) Manufacturing
3 17 (5.56%) Aerospace
4 16 (5.23%) Banking
5 11 (3.59%) Automotive
6 7 (2.29%) Analytical Skills
6 7 (2.29%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 7 (2.29%) Social Skills
7 4 (1.31%) Aeronautics
8 2 (0.65%) Games
8 2 (0.65%) Military
8 2 (0.65%) Tech for Good
9 1 (0.33%) Influencing Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (7.84%) Boost C++ Libraries
2 16 (5.23%) FIX Protocol
2 16 (5.23%) pytest
3 14 (4.58%) Qt
4 13 (4.25%) Unreal Engine
5 6 (1.96%) OpenGL
6 5 (1.63%) RESTful
7 4 (1.31%) Middleware
7 4 (1.31%) ZeroMQ
8 2 (0.65%) Blazor
8 2 (0.65%) Django
8 2 (0.65%) Vue
9 1 (0.33%) .NET
9 1 (0.33%) React
9 1 (0.33%) REST
9 1 (0.33%) WebRTC
9 1 (0.33%) WinForms
Miscellaneous
1 39 (12.75%) Algorithms
2 17 (5.56%) Fixed Income
3 16 (5.23%) Derivative
3 16 (5.23%) Equities
4 12 (3.92%) Distributed Computing
4 12 (3.92%) Distributed Systems
5 11 (3.59%) Data Structures
5 11 (3.59%) Robotics
6 6 (1.96%) Augmented Reality
6 6 (1.96%) Distributed Architecture
6 6 (1.96%) Virtual Reality
7 5 (1.63%) Embedded Systems
8 4 (1.31%) Device Driver
9 3 (0.98%) CUDA
9 3 (0.98%) GNSS
9 3 (0.98%) Satnav
9 3 (0.98%) Self-Motivation
10 1 (0.33%) AI Agents
10 1 (0.33%) Greenfield Project
10 1 (0.33%) Hedge funds
Operating Systems
1 58 (18.95%) Linux
2 14 (4.58%) Windows
3 2 (0.65%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 297 (97.06%) Software Engineering
2 56 (18.30%) Low Latency
3 37 (12.09%) SDLC
4 36 (11.76%) Computer Science
5 32 (10.46%) Agile
6 28 (9.15%) AI
7 26 (8.50%) Mathematics
7 26 (8.50%) Technical Leadership
8 22 (7.19%) Multithreading
9 20 (6.54%) Fintech
9 20 (6.54%) OOP
10 18 (5.88%) High-Frequency Trading
11 17 (5.56%) Workflow
12 16 (5.23%) Continuous Integration
12 16 (5.23%) Process Improvement
13 15 (4.90%) Machine Learning
14 14 (4.58%) Problem-Solving
14 14 (4.58%) Ultra-Low Latency
15 13 (4.25%) Automated Trading
16 11 (3.59%) Data Science
Programming Languages
1 306 (100.00%) C++
2 87 (28.43%) Python
3 33 (10.78%) Rust
4 31 (10.13%) C#
5 21 (6.86%) C
6 11 (3.59%) Embedded C++
6 11 (3.59%) SQL
7 5 (1.63%) Java
7 5 (1.63%) JavaScript
8 4 (1.31%) Bash
8 4 (1.31%) TypeScript
9 3 (0.98%) Julia
10 1 (0.33%) Erlang
10 1 (0.33%) OCaml
10 1 (0.33%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 47 (15.36%) Degree
2 35 (11.44%) Computer Science Degree
3 29 (9.48%) SC Cleared
3 29 (9.48%) Security Cleared
4 16 (5.23%) Master's Degree
5 15 (4.90%) PhD
6 1 (0.33%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (5.88%) QA
System Software
1 1 (0.33%) Embedded Firmware
1 1 (0.33%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 2 (0.65%) Kubernetes
1 2 (0.65%) Terraform
Vendors
1 2 (0.65%) Apple