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 17 August 2026.

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

6 months to
17 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 445 618 502
Rank change year-on-year +173 -116 +151
Permanent jobs requiring a C++ Software Engineer 383 69 328
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.36% 0.14% 0.40%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.38% 0.15% 0.42%
Number of salaries quoted 297 51 262
10th Percentile £50,450 £51,250 £37,175
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 £106,250 £65,000
90th Percentile - £111,250 £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 100,717 45,123 78,702
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.02% 89.93% 95.04%
Number of salaries quoted 68,844 26,712 52,410
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £56,350 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +2.45% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £75,000 £75,000 £72,000
90th Percentile £96,250 £95,000 £91,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £48,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +9.38% -4.00% -6.54%

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 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 17 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 +181 358 £70,000 +7.69% 31
UK excluding London +137 309 £65,000 - 30
South East +70 134 £65,000 - 8
Work from Home +30 90 £80,000 +23.08% 11
London -2 70 £100,000 -2.44% 2
South West -27 63 £60,000 -7.69% 14
East of England +26 51 £75,000 +15.38% 8
North of England -32 26 £90,000 +80.00%
North East - 22 £100,000 -
Scotland +16 15 £85,000 -
Midlands - 14 £45,000 - 1
East Midlands - 12 £45,000 - 1
Wales - 5 £35,000 - 1
North West -15 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 17 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.

1 383 (100.00%) C++
2 374 (97.65%) Software Engineering
3 99 (25.85%) Python
4 94 (24.54%) Linux
5 69 (18.02%) Degree
6 67 (17.49%) AI
7 50 (13.05%) Low Latency
8 49 (12.79%) Computer Science Degree
9 48 (12.53%) Computer Science
10 43 (11.23%) C#
10 43 (11.23%) Rust
11 42 (10.97%) C
12 40 (10.44%) SDLC
13 39 (10.18%) Security Cleared
14 33 (8.62%) Agile
14 33 (8.62%) Mathematics
14 33 (8.62%) SC Cleared
15 28 (7.31%) Embedded C++
16 26 (6.79%) AWS
17 25 (6.53%) OOP
18 24 (6.27%) Machine Learning
19 23 (6.01%) Boost C++ Libraries
19 23 (6.01%) Data Science
19 23 (6.01%) Fintech
19 23 (6.01%) Master's Degree
19 23 (6.01%) PhD
20 21 (5.48%) Workflow
21 19 (4.96%) Problem-Solving
21 19 (4.96%) Software Architecture
22 17 (4.44%) 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 (6.79%) AWS
2 9 (2.35%) GitHub
3 7 (1.83%) Azure
4 4 (1.04%) Amazon EKS
5 2 (0.52%) 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 (3.39%) Multicast
2 7 (1.83%) Ethernet
3 1 (0.26%) LTE
3 1 (0.26%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (2.09%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 14 (3.66%) Git
1 14 (3.66%) JIRA
2 7 (1.83%) Jenkins
3 5 (1.31%) CMake
4 4 (1.04%) Visual Studio
5 2 (0.52%) GDB
5 2 (0.52%) Rational DOORS
6 1 (0.26%) Valgrind
6 1 (0.26%) WinDbg
General
1 51 (13.32%) Finance
2 21 (5.48%) Manufacturing
3 18 (4.70%) Aerospace
4 14 (3.66%) Automotive
5 13 (3.39%) Banking
6 12 (3.13%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 7 (1.83%) Social Skills
8 4 (1.04%) Electronics
8 4 (1.04%) Military
9 3 (0.78%) Analytical Skills
9 3 (0.78%) Tech for Good
10 2 (0.52%) Aviation
11 1 (0.26%) Documentation Skills
11 1 (0.26%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (6.01%) Boost C++ Libraries
2 13 (3.39%) FIX Protocol
2 13 (3.39%) pytest
3 9 (2.35%) Django
3 9 (2.35%) Vue
4 8 (2.09%) Unreal Engine
5 6 (1.57%) OpenGL
5 6 (1.57%) RESTful
6 4 (1.04%) Yocto
7 3 (0.78%) GraphQL
8 2 (0.52%) .NET
8 2 (0.52%) Middleware
8 2 (0.52%) QML
8 2 (0.52%) Qt
8 2 (0.52%) STL
8 2 (0.52%) ZeroMQ
9 1 (0.26%) Bootstrap
9 1 (0.26%) CSS
9 1 (0.26%) HTML
9 1 (0.26%) WebRTC
Miscellaneous
1 37 (9.66%) Algorithms
2 20 (5.22%) Distributed Computing
3 15 (3.92%) Robotics
4 13 (3.39%) Derivative
4 13 (3.39%) Equities
4 13 (3.39%) Fixed Income
5 10 (2.61%) Cyber Threat
5 10 (2.61%) Data Structures
6 8 (2.09%) Distributed Systems
6 8 (2.09%) Embedded Systems
7 7 (1.83%) Device Driver
7 7 (1.83%) Distributed Architecture
8 6 (1.57%) Augmented Reality
8 6 (1.57%) Virtual Reality
9 4 (1.04%) Hedge funds
10 1 (0.26%) AI Agents
10 1 (0.26%) Client/Server
10 1 (0.26%) FPGA
10 1 (0.26%) Greenfield Project
10 1 (0.26%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 94 (24.54%) Linux
2 16 (4.18%) Windows
3 4 (1.04%) Embedded Linux
4 2 (0.52%) Robot Operating System
Processes & Methodologies
1 374 (97.65%) Software Engineering
2 67 (17.49%) AI
3 50 (13.05%) Low Latency
4 48 (12.53%) Computer Science
5 40 (10.44%) SDLC
6 33 (8.62%) Agile
6 33 (8.62%) Mathematics
7 25 (6.53%) OOP
8 24 (6.27%) Machine Learning
9 23 (6.01%) Data Science
9 23 (6.01%) Fintech
10 21 (5.48%) Workflow
11 19 (4.96%) Problem-Solving
11 19 (4.96%) Software Architecture
12 17 (4.44%) Computational Fluid Dynamics
12 17 (4.44%) Finite Element Analysis
13 16 (4.18%) CI/CD
13 16 (4.18%) Physics
13 16 (4.18%) Technical Leadership
14 15 (3.92%) High-Frequency Trading
Programming Languages
1 383 (100.00%) C++
2 99 (25.85%) Python
3 43 (11.23%) C#
3 43 (11.23%) Rust
4 42 (10.97%) C
5 28 (7.31%) Embedded C++
6 11 (2.87%) TypeScript
7 10 (2.61%) SQL
8 7 (1.83%) JavaScript
9 5 (1.31%) Java
10 4 (1.04%) Embedded C
11 3 (0.78%) Bash
11 3 (0.78%) 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 (18.02%) Degree
2 49 (12.79%) Computer Science Degree
3 39 (10.18%) Security Cleared
4 33 (8.62%) SC Cleared
5 23 (6.01%) Master's Degree
5 23 (6.01%) PhD
6 9 (2.35%) DV Cleared
7 5 (1.31%) BPSS Clearance
8 2 (0.52%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (3.66%) QA
2 2 (0.52%) AUTOSAR
2 2 (0.52%) MISRA
2 2 (0.52%) MISRA C
3 1 (0.26%) Accessibility
3 1 (0.26%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 14 (3.66%) Docker
2 2 (0.52%) Virtual Machines
3 1 (0.26%) Embedded Firmware
3 1 (0.26%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 9 (2.35%) Kubernetes
2 1 (0.26%) Terraform
Vendors
1 3 (0.78%) Microsoft
2 1 (0.26%) Atlassian
2 1 (0.26%) IBM
2 1 (0.26%) Intel