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 8 November 2026.
The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 8 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 767 | 534 | 511 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -233 | -23 | -84 |
| Permanent Developer/Software Engineer jobs | 82 | 132 | 244 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the UK | 0.067% | 0.26% | 0.36% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.073% | 0.29% | 0.38% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 57 | 103 | 232 |
| 10th Percentile | £47,500 | - | £71,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £75,000 | £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 | £138,750 |
| 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% | +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 8 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title | 113,062 | 46,073 | 64,285 |
| % of permanent job adverts matching a recognised job title | 91.82% | 90.13% | 95.03% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 75,037 | 28,672 | 36,354 |
| 10th Percentile | £31,000 | £28,250 | £31,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,250 | £35,000 | £42,238 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £59,152 | £52,500 | £57,500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +12.67% | -8.70% | -4.17% |
| 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 8 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 8 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 | -201 | 80 | £125,000 | -3.85% | 12 |
| London | -139 | 52 | £125,000 | -3.85% | 2 |
| Work from Home | -112 | 50 | £125,000 | -3.85% | 9 |
| UK excluding London | -146 | 30 | £52,500 | -16.00% | 10 |
| North of England | -60 | 17 | £75,000 | +25.00% | 4 |
| Yorkshire | -24 | 13 | £75,000 | +25.00% | 2 |
| East of England | - | 5 | - | - | 3 |
| South East | -71 | 4 | £37,500 | -42.31% | 1 |
| North West | - | 4 | £65,000 | - | 2 |
| South West | - | 2 | £47,500 | - | 1 |
| West Midlands | - | 2 | £75,000 | - | 2 |
| Midlands | - | 2 | £75,000 | - | 2 |
Developer/Software Engineer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 8 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 | 98.8% | 81 |
| 2 | Python | 68.3% | 56 |
| 3 | AI | 56.1% | 46 |
| 4 | Investment Management | 54.9% | 45 |
| 5 | Azure | 50.0% | 41 |
| 6 | AWS | 43.9% | 36 |
| 7 | GCP | 36.6% | 30 |
| 8 | R | 35.4% | 29 |
| 9 | Amazon Bedrock | 32.9% | 27 |
| 9 | CrewAI | 32.9% | 27 |
| 9 | 32.9% | 27 | |
| 9 | LangChain | 32.9% | 27 |
| 9 | LangGraph | 32.9% | 27 |
| 9 | Pair Programming | 32.9% | 27 |
| 9 | pydantic | 32.9% | 27 |
| 16 | LLM | 29.3% | 24 |
| 17 | Java | 28.0% | 23 |
| 18 | .NET | 26.8% | 22 |
| 18 | C# | 26.8% | 22 |
| 20 | Quantitative Research | 22.0% | 18 |
| 21 | Full-Stack Development | 20.7% | 17 |
| 22 | Analytics | 19.5% | 16 |
| 23 | Anthropic Claude | 18.3% | 15 |
| 23 | ChatGPT | 18.3% | 15 |
| 23 | Microsoft Copilot | 18.3% | 15 |
| 26 | Agile | 15.9% | 13 |
| 26 | Asset Management | 15.9% | 13 |
| 26 | Quantitative Analysis | 15.9% | 13 |
| 29 | Claude Code | 13.4% | 11 |
| 29 | GitHub | 13.4% | 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 | 61.0% | 50 |
| 2 | Python Developer | 35.4% | 29 |
| 2 | Python Software Engineer | 35.4% | 29 |
| 4 | Artificial Intelligence Developer | 32.9% | 27 |
| 4 | Artificial Intelligence Engineer | 32.9% | 27 |
| 6 | Lead Software Developer | 20.7% | 17 |
| 6 | Lead Software Engineer | 20.7% | 17 |
| 8 | Full-Stack Developer | 18.3% | 15 |
| 8 | Full-Stack Software Engineer | 18.3% | 15 |
| 10 | Java Software Developer | 17.1% | 14 |
| 10 | Java Software Engineer | 17.1% | 14 |
| 10 | Lead Python Developer | 17.1% | 14 |
| 10 | Senior Software Developer | 17.1% | 14 |
| 10 | Senior Software Engineer | 17.1% | 14 |
| 15 | Quantitative Developer | 14.6% | 12 |
| 16 | Senior Full-Stack Developer | 13.4% | 11 |
| 16 | Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer | 13.4% | 11 |
| 18 | Java Quantitative Developer | 11.0% | 9 |
| 19 | .NET Software Developer | 7.3% | 6 |
| 19 | .NET Software Engineer | 7.3% | 6 |