Developer/Software Engineer Job Trends
Software Engineer/Developer
UK
The median Software Engineer/Developer salary in the UK is £122,500 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 14 November 2026.
The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 14 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 761 | 537 | 521 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -224 | -16 | -104 |
| Permanent Developer/Software Engineer jobs | 84 | 127 | 239 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the UK | 0.068% | 0.24% | 0.35% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.074% | 0.27% | 0.37% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 59 | 98 | 227 |
| 10th Percentile | £47,250 | - | £71,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £75,000 | £100,000 | £80,000 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £122,500 | £130,000 | £102,500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -5.77% | +26.83% | -6.82% |
| 75th Percentile | £142,500 | £137,500 | £138,750 |
| 90th Percentile | £172,500 | £142,500 | £165,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £60,000 | £62,500 | £55,000 |
| % change year-on-year | -4.00% | +13.64% | +4.76% |
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 14 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title | 113,211 | 47,633 | 64,486 |
| % of permanent job adverts matching a recognised job title | 91.78% | 89.91% | 94.87% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 74,692 | 29,457 | 36,303 |
| 10th Percentile | £31,250 | £28,250 | £31,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,485 | £35,000 | £42,500 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £60,000 | £52,500 | £57,500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +14.29% | -8.70% | -4.17% |
| 75th Percentile | £76,500 | £73,750 | £75,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £98,750 | £92,500 | £95,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £55,000 | £46,500 | £50,055 |
| % change year-on-year | +18.28% | -7.10% | -4.66% |
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 14 November 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 14 November 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 | -195 | 82 | £122,500 | -5.77% | 40 |
| London | -123 | 53 | £125,000 | -3.85% | 15 |
| Work from Home | -119 | 51 | £125,000 | -3.85% | 27 |
| UK excluding London | -164 | 30 | £60,000 | -4.00% | 30 |
| North of England | -90 | 15 | £75,000 | +25.00% | 15 |
| Yorkshire | -25 | 10 | £75,000 | +25.00% | 5 |
| East of England | - | 6 | - | - | 3 |
| North West | - | 5 | £70,000 | - | 7 |
| South East | -69 | 4 | £37,500 | -42.31% | 2 |
| South West | - | 3 | £47,500 | - | 2 |
| Midlands | - | 2 | £75,000 | - | 3 |
| West Midlands | - | 2 | £75,000 | - | 3 |
Developer/Software Engineer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 14 November 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 | 100.0% | 84 |
| 2 | Python | 69.0% | 58 |
| 3 | AI | 57.1% | 48 |
| 4 | Investment Management | 56.0% | 47 |
| 5 | Azure | 52.4% | 44 |
| 6 | AWS | 42.9% | 36 |
| 7 | GCP | 39.3% | 33 |
| 8 | R | 36.9% | 31 |
| 9 | Amazon Bedrock | 34.5% | 29 |
| 9 | CrewAI | 34.5% | 29 |
| 9 | 34.5% | 29 | |
| 9 | LangChain | 34.5% | 29 |
| 9 | LangGraph | 34.5% | 29 |
| 9 | Pair Programming | 34.5% | 29 |
| 9 | pydantic | 34.5% | 29 |
| 16 | LLM | 31.0% | 26 |
| 17 | Java | 28.6% | 24 |
| 18 | .NET | 25.0% | 21 |
| 18 | C# | 25.0% | 21 |
| 20 | Quantitative Research | 21.4% | 18 |
| 21 | Analytics | 19.0% | 16 |
| 21 | Full-Stack Development | 19.0% | 16 |
| 23 | Anthropic Claude | 17.9% | 15 |
| 23 | ChatGPT | 17.9% | 15 |
| 23 | Microsoft Copilot | 17.9% | 15 |
| 26 | Agile | 16.7% | 14 |
| 27 | Asset Management | 15.5% | 13 |
| 27 | Problem-Solving | 15.5% | 13 |
| 27 | Quantitative Analysis | 15.5% | 13 |
| 30 | Claude Code | 13.1% | 11 |
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 | 63.1% | 53 |
| 2 | Python Developer | 36.9% | 31 |
| 2 | Python Software Engineer | 36.9% | 31 |
| 4 | Artificial Intelligence Developer | 34.5% | 29 |
| 4 | Artificial Intelligence Engineer | 34.5% | 29 |
| 6 | Lead Software Developer | 20.2% | 17 |
| 6 | Lead Software Engineer | 20.2% | 17 |
| 8 | Java Software Developer | 17.9% | 15 |
| 8 | Java Software Engineer | 17.9% | 15 |
| 8 | Senior Software Developer | 17.9% | 15 |
| 8 | Senior Software Engineer | 17.9% | 15 |
| 12 | Full-Stack Developer | 16.7% | 14 |
| 12 | Full-Stack Software Engineer | 16.7% | 14 |
| 12 | Lead Python Developer | 16.7% | 14 |
| 15 | Quantitative Developer | 14.3% | 12 |
| 15 | Senior Full-Stack Developer | 14.3% | 12 |
| 15 | Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer | 14.3% | 12 |
| 18 | Java Quantitative Developer | 10.7% | 9 |
| 19 | .NET Software Developer | 4.8% | 4 |
| 19 | .NET Software Engineer | 4.8% | 4 |