Developer/Software Engineer Job Trends
Software Engineer/Developer
UK
The median Software Engineer/Developer salary in the UK is £125,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 24 October 2026.
The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 24 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 745 | 527 | 494 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -218 | -33 | -66 |
| Permanent Developer/Software Engineer jobs | 70 | 146 | 273 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the UK | 0.058% | 0.30% | 0.40% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.063% | 0.33% | 0.42% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 47 | 117 | 259 |
| 10th Percentile | £47,500 | - | £71,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £57,750 | £100,000 | £80,000 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £125,000 | £130,000 | £105,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -3.85% | +23.81% | -3.45% |
| 75th Percentile | £142,500 | £137,500 | £142,500 |
| 90th Percentile | £172,500 | £142,500 | £165,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £50,000 | £62,500 | £60,000 |
| % change year-on-year | -20.00% | +4.17% | +6.67% |
All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job adverts matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all permanent IT job adverts they make up.
| 6 months to 24 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title | 111,477 | 44,406 | 65,669 |
| % of permanent job adverts matching a recognised job title | 92.18% | 89.83% | 95.30% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 75,138 | 26,267 | 37,427 |
| 10th Percentile | £30,500 | £28,177 | £31,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,250 | £35,000 | £41,591 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £59,300 | £52,500 | £56,500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +12.95% | -7.08% | -5.83% |
| 75th Percentile | £76,250 | £73,750 | £75,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £98,750 | £93,750 | £95,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £55,000 | £45,390 | £50,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +21.17% | -9.22% | -4.76% |
Developer/Software Engineer Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent Developer/Software Engineer job postings relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.
Developer/Software Engineer Salary Trend
Salary distribution trend for Developer/Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK.
Developer/Software Engineer Salary Histogram
Salary distribution for Developer/Software Engineer jobs over the 6 months to 24 October 2026.
Developer/Software Engineer Top 12 Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in Developer/Software Engineer jobs within the UK over the 6 months to 24 October 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Salary Past 6 Months |
Median Salary % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -213 | 68 | £125,000 | -3.85% | 26 |
| London | -152 | 45 | £125,000 | -3.85% | 8 |
| Work from Home | -131 | 44 | £125,000 | -3.85% | 12 |
| UK excluding London | -120 | 25 | £50,000 | -20.00% | 23 |
| North of England | -52 | 15 | £50,000 | -16.67% | 6 |
| Yorkshire | -24 | 12 | £50,000 | -16.67% | 2 |
| South East | -66 | 5 | £55,000 | -15.38% | 5 |
| North West | - | 3 | £65,000 | - | 3 |
| West Midlands | - | 2 | £75,000 | - | 2 |
| East of England | - | 2 | - | - | 3 |
| Midlands | - | 2 | £75,000 | - | 3 |
| South West | - | 1 | £47,500 | - | 2 |
Developer/Software Engineer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 24 October 2026, Developer/Software Engineer job ads cited 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 Developer/Software Engineer job ads.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Software Engineering | 95.7% | 67 |
| 2 | Python | 67.1% | 47 |
| 3 | AI | 55.7% | 39 |
| 4 | Investment Management | 54.3% | 38 |
| 5 | AWS | 51.4% | 36 |
| 6 | Azure | 47.1% | 33 |
| 7 | GCP | 35.7% | 25 |
| 7 | R | 35.7% | 25 |
| 9 | Amazon Bedrock | 32.9% | 23 |
| 9 | CrewAI | 32.9% | 23 |
| 9 | 32.9% | 23 | |
| 9 | LangChain | 32.9% | 23 |
| 9 | LangGraph | 32.9% | 23 |
| 9 | Pair Programming | 32.9% | 23 |
| 9 | pydantic | 32.9% | 23 |
| 16 | .NET | 28.6% | 20 |
| 16 | C# | 28.6% | 20 |
| 16 | LLM | 28.6% | 20 |
| 19 | Full-Stack Development | 22.9% | 16 |
| 20 | Analytics | 21.4% | 15 |
| 20 | Java | 21.4% | 15 |
| 22 | Quantitative Research | 20.0% | 14 |
| 23 | Anthropic Claude | 18.6% | 13 |
| 23 | ChatGPT | 18.6% | 13 |
| 23 | Microsoft Copilot | 18.6% | 13 |
| 26 | Agile | 15.7% | 11 |
| 26 | Asset Management | 15.7% | 11 |
| 26 | Microservices | 15.7% | 11 |
| 29 | Claude Code | 12.9% | 9 |
| 29 | Continuous Improvement | 12.9% | 9 |
Developer/Software Engineer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Software Developer | 61.4% | 43 |
| 2 | Python Developer | 35.7% | 25 |
| 2 | Python Software Engineer | 35.7% | 25 |
| 4 | Artificial Intelligence Developer | 32.9% | 23 |
| 4 | Artificial Intelligence Engineer | 32.9% | 23 |
| 6 | Lead Software Developer | 24.3% | 17 |
| 6 | Lead Software Engineer | 24.3% | 17 |
| 8 | Lead Python Developer | 20.0% | 14 |
| 9 | Full-Stack Developer | 17.1% | 12 |
| 9 | Full-Stack Software Engineer | 17.1% | 12 |
| 9 | Quantitative Developer | 17.1% | 12 |
| 12 | Senior Software Developer | 14.3% | 10 |
| 12 | Senior Software Engineer | 14.3% | 10 |
| 14 | .NET Software Developer | 12.9% | 9 |
| 14 | .NET Software Engineer | 12.9% | 9 |
| 14 | Java Quantitative Developer | 12.9% | 9 |
| 14 | Java Software Developer | 12.9% | 9 |
| 14 | Java Software Engineer | 12.9% | 9 |
| 19 | C# .NET Developer | 11.4% | 8 |
| 19 | C# Software Developer | 11.4% | 8 |