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 3 November 2026.
The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 3 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 757 | 525 | 497 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -232 | -28 | -76 |
| Permanent Developer/Software Engineer jobs | 80 | 135 | 257 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the UK | 0.065% | 0.27% | 0.38% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.071% | 0.30% | 0.40% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 55 | 106 | 245 |
| 10th Percentile | £47,500 | - | £71,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £67,500 | £100,000 | £80,000 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £125,000 | £130,000 | £105,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -3.85% | +23.81% | -4.55% |
| 75th Percentile | £142,500 | £137,500 | £142,500 |
| 90th Percentile | £172,500 | £142,500 | £165,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £52,500 | £62,500 | £55,000 |
| % change year-on-year | -16.00% | +13.64% | +2.33% |
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 3 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title | 112,410 | 45,291 | 64,369 |
| % of permanent job adverts matching a recognised job title | 91.90% | 90.17% | 95.05% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 74,978 | 27,544 | 36,398 |
| 10th Percentile | £31,000 | £28,250 | £31,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,250 | £35,000 | £42,027 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £59,000 | £52,500 | £57,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +12.38% | -7.89% | -5.00% |
| 75th Percentile | £76,250 | £73,750 | £75,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £97,500 | £92,500 | £95,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £55,000 | £46,000 | £50,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +19.57% | -8.00% | -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 3 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 3 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 | -190 | 78 | £125,000 | -3.85% | 18 |
| Work from Home | -117 | 50 | £125,000 | -3.85% | 9 |
| London | -151 | 50 | £125,000 | -3.85% | 1 |
| UK excluding London | -133 | 30 | £52,500 | -16.00% | 18 |
| North of England | -56 | 17 | £57,500 | -4.17% | 6 |
| Yorkshire | -26 | 13 | £50,000 | -16.67% | 3 |
| South East | -66 | 6 | £46,250 | -28.85% | 2 |
| North West | - | 4 | £65,000 | - | 3 |
| East of England | - | 4 | - | - | 5 |
| Midlands | - | 2 | £75,000 | - | 3 |
| West 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 3 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 | 97.5% | 78 |
| 2 | Python | 67.5% | 54 |
| 3 | AI | 55.0% | 44 |
| 4 | Investment Management | 53.8% | 43 |
| 5 | AWS | 46.3% | 37 |
| 5 | Azure | 46.3% | 37 |
| 7 | GCP | 33.8% | 27 |
| 7 | R | 33.8% | 27 |
| 9 | Amazon Bedrock | 31.3% | 25 |
| 9 | CrewAI | 31.3% | 25 |
| 9 | 31.3% | 25 | |
| 9 | LangChain | 31.3% | 25 |
| 9 | LangGraph | 31.3% | 25 |
| 9 | Pair Programming | 31.3% | 25 |
| 9 | pydantic | 31.3% | 25 |
| 16 | .NET | 28.8% | 23 |
| 16 | C# | 28.8% | 23 |
| 18 | Java | 27.5% | 22 |
| 18 | LLM | 27.5% | 22 |
| 20 | Full-Stack Development | 22.5% | 18 |
| 20 | Quantitative Research | 22.5% | 18 |
| 22 | Analytics | 20.0% | 16 |
| 23 | Anthropic Claude | 18.8% | 15 |
| 23 | ChatGPT | 18.8% | 15 |
| 23 | Microsoft Copilot | 18.8% | 15 |
| 26 | Asset Management | 16.3% | 13 |
| 26 | Quantitative Analysis | 16.3% | 13 |
| 28 | Agile | 15.0% | 12 |
| 29 | Claude Code | 13.8% | 11 |
| 29 | GitHub | 13.8% | 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 | 58.8% | 47 |
| 2 | Python Developer | 33.8% | 27 |
| 2 | Python Software Engineer | 33.8% | 27 |
| 4 | Artificial Intelligence Developer | 31.3% | 25 |
| 4 | Artificial Intelligence Engineer | 31.3% | 25 |
| 6 | Lead Software Developer | 21.3% | 17 |
| 6 | Lead Software Engineer | 21.3% | 17 |
| 8 | Full-Stack Developer | 17.5% | 14 |
| 8 | Full-Stack Software Engineer | 17.5% | 14 |
| 8 | Lead Python Developer | 17.5% | 14 |
| 11 | Java Software Developer | 16.3% | 13 |
| 11 | Java Software Engineer | 16.3% | 13 |
| 13 | Quantitative Developer | 15.0% | 12 |
| 13 | Senior Software Developer | 15.0% | 12 |
| 13 | Senior Software Engineer | 15.0% | 12 |
| 16 | .NET Software Developer | 11.3% | 9 |
| 16 | .NET Software Engineer | 11.3% | 9 |
| 16 | Java Quantitative Developer | 11.3% | 9 |
| 16 | Senior Full-Stack Developer | 11.3% | 9 |
| 16 | Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer | 11.3% | 9 |