C++ Software Engineer Job Trends

Software Engineer - C++
UK

The median Software Engineer - C++ salary in the UK is £72,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 3 August 2026.

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

6 months to
3 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 441 626 525
Rank change year-on-year +185 -101 +148
Permanent jobs requiring a C++ Software Engineer 380 69 322
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.37% 0.14% 0.39%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.39% 0.15% 0.41%
Number of salaries quoted 300 51 265
10th Percentile £50,750 £51,250 £37,700
25th Percentile £60,000 - £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £72,000 £65,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.77% +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 97,698 44,800 78,990
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.23% 90.07% 94.90%
Number of salaries quoted 66,827 26,689 53,699
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,500 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £37,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - - -8.33%
75th Percentile £75,000 £75,000 £71,915
90th Percentile £96,250 £95,000 £90,844
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +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 3 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 3 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 +191 358 £74,000 +13.85% 55
UK excluding London +135 301 £65,000 - 44
South East +96 141 £65,000 - 11
Work from Home +50 81 £80,000 +23.08% 25
London +12 76 £100,000 -2.44% 14
South West -29 56 £60,000 -7.69% 12
East of England +15 45 £80,000 +23.08% 15
North of England -13 26 £90,000 +80.00% 1
North East - 22 £100,000 -
Scotland +22 14 £85,000 - 2
Midlands - 14 £45,000 - 4
East Midlands - 12 £45,000 - 4
North West +2 4 £70,000 +40.00% 1
Wales - 4 £35,000 - 1
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 3 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.

1 380 (100.00%) C++
2 371 (97.63%) Software Engineering
3 103 (27.11%) Python
4 89 (23.42%) Linux
5 70 (18.42%) Degree
6 66 (17.37%) AI
7 51 (13.42%) Computer Science
7 51 (13.42%) Computer Science Degree
7 51 (13.42%) Low Latency
8 48 (12.63%) Rust
9 44 (11.58%) C#
10 41 (10.79%) SDLC
11 38 (10.00%) C
12 35 (9.21%) Security Cleared
13 32 (8.42%) Agile
13 32 (8.42%) Mathematics
14 31 (8.16%) SC Cleared
15 27 (7.11%) Embedded C++
15 27 (7.11%) OOP
16 25 (6.58%) AWS
16 25 (6.58%) Machine Learning
17 24 (6.32%) Boost C++ Libraries
18 23 (6.05%) Master's Degree
19 22 (5.79%) Fintech
19 22 (5.79%) PhD
19 22 (5.79%) Workflow
20 20 (5.26%) Data Science
20 20 (5.26%) Multithreading
20 20 (5.26%) Problem-Solving
20 20 (5.26%) Technical Leadership

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 25 (6.58%) AWS
2 10 (2.63%) GitHub
3 8 (2.11%) Azure
4 4 (1.05%) Amazon EKS
5 2 (0.53%) 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 14 (3.68%) Multicast
2 7 (1.84%) Ethernet
3 1 (0.26%) LTE
3 1 (0.26%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (1.84%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 15 (3.95%) JIRA
2 13 (3.42%) Git
3 6 (1.58%) Jenkins
4 4 (1.05%) CMake
4 4 (1.05%) Visual Studio
5 2 (0.53%) GDB
5 2 (0.53%) Rational DOORS
6 1 (0.26%) Valgrind
6 1 (0.26%) WinDbg
General
1 54 (14.21%) Finance
2 22 (5.79%) Manufacturing
3 16 (4.21%) Aerospace
4 14 (3.68%) Banking
5 13 (3.42%) Automotive
6 10 (2.63%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 7 (1.84%) Social Skills
8 4 (1.05%) Electronics
8 4 (1.05%) Military
9 3 (0.79%) Analytical Skills
10 2 (0.53%) Aviation
11 1 (0.26%) Documentation Skills
11 1 (0.26%) Tech for Good
11 1 (0.26%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (6.32%) Boost C++ Libraries
2 14 (3.68%) FIX Protocol
2 14 (3.68%) pytest
3 13 (3.42%) Unreal Engine
4 8 (2.11%) Django
4 8 (2.11%) Vue
5 6 (1.58%) OpenGL
5 6 (1.58%) RESTful
6 5 (1.32%) Qt
7 4 (1.05%) Yocto
8 3 (0.79%) GraphQL
9 2 (0.53%) .NET
9 2 (0.53%) Blazor
9 2 (0.53%) Middleware
9 2 (0.53%) QML
9 2 (0.53%) STL
9 2 (0.53%) ZeroMQ
10 1 (0.26%) CSS
10 1 (0.26%) HTML
10 1 (0.26%) WinForms
Miscellaneous
1 42 (11.05%) Algorithms
2 18 (4.74%) Distributed Computing
3 14 (3.68%) Derivative
3 14 (3.68%) Equities
3 14 (3.68%) Fixed Income
4 13 (3.42%) Data Structures
4 13 (3.42%) Distributed Systems
4 13 (3.42%) Robotics
5 9 (2.37%) Cyber Threat
6 8 (2.11%) Embedded Systems
7 7 (1.84%) Device Driver
7 7 (1.84%) Distributed Architecture
8 6 (1.58%) Augmented Reality
8 6 (1.58%) Virtual Reality
9 4 (1.05%) 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 89 (23.42%) Linux
2 12 (3.16%) Windows
3 4 (1.05%) Embedded Linux
4 2 (0.53%) Robot Operating System
Processes & Methodologies
1 371 (97.63%) Software Engineering
2 66 (17.37%) AI
3 51 (13.42%) Computer Science
3 51 (13.42%) Low Latency
4 41 (10.79%) SDLC
5 32 (8.42%) Agile
5 32 (8.42%) Mathematics
6 27 (7.11%) OOP
7 25 (6.58%) Machine Learning
8 22 (5.79%) Fintech
8 22 (5.79%) Workflow
9 20 (5.26%) Data Science
9 20 (5.26%) Multithreading
9 20 (5.26%) Problem-Solving
9 20 (5.26%) Technical Leadership
10 19 (5.00%) Software Architecture
11 17 (4.47%) CI/CD
12 16 (4.21%) Physics
13 15 (3.95%) Continuous Integration
13 15 (3.95%) Finite Element Analysis
Programming Languages
1 380 (100.00%) C++
2 103 (27.11%) Python
3 48 (12.63%) Rust
4 44 (11.58%) C#
5 38 (10.00%) C
6 27 (7.11%) Embedded C++
7 11 (2.89%) TypeScript
8 10 (2.63%) SQL
9 7 (1.84%) JavaScript
10 5 (1.32%) Java
11 4 (1.05%) Julia
12 3 (0.79%) Bash
12 3 (0.79%) Embedded C
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 70 (18.42%) Degree
2 51 (13.42%) Computer Science Degree
3 35 (9.21%) Security Cleared
4 31 (8.16%) SC Cleared
5 23 (6.05%) Master's Degree
6 22 (5.79%) PhD
7 5 (1.32%) DV Cleared
8 3 (0.79%) BPSS Clearance
9 2 (0.53%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (4.21%) QA
2 1 (0.26%) AUTOSAR
2 1 (0.26%) ISO 9001
2 1 (0.26%) MISRA
2 1 (0.26%) MISRA C
System Software
1 13 (3.42%) Docker
2 1 (0.26%) Embedded Firmware
2 1 (0.26%) Firmware
2 1 (0.26%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 8 (2.11%) Kubernetes
2 2 (0.53%) Terraform
Vendors
1 3 (0.79%) Microsoft
2 1 (0.26%) IBM
2 1 (0.26%) Intel