Hardware Engineer Job Trends

Hardware Engineer
UK

The median Hardware Engineer salary in the UK is £60,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 14 June 2026.

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

6 months to
14 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 623 636 461
Rank change year-on-year +13 -175 +268
Permanent jobs requiring a Hardware Engineer 117 37 517
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.13% 0.083% 0.48%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.13% 0.093% 0.51%
Number of salaries quoted 82 21 352
10th Percentile £28,200 £25,000 £27,000
25th Percentile £39,875 £40,250 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £47,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +26.32% -5.00% +5.26%
75th Percentile £71,250 £67,500 £61,250
90th Percentile £75,000 £73,750 £67,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £60,000 £47,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year +26.32% -5.00% +5.26%

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 87,334 39,784 101,964
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.98% 89.45% 94.72%
Number of salaries quoted 59,870 22,508 73,554
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,822 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £39,000 £38,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% +9.52% -12.50%
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £98,750 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year - - -6.54%

Hardware Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Hardware Engineer' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Hardware Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Hardware Engineer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Hardware Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Hardware Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Hardware Engineer
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Hardware Engineer over the 6 months to 14 June 2026.

Salary histogram for Hardware Engineer in the UK

Hardware 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 Hardware Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 14 June 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
UK excluding London -13 99 £60,000 +26.32% 30
England +11 95 £60,000 +25.65% 25
South East +12 47 £60,000 -7.69% 9
Midlands -13 16 £75,000 +76.47% 1
West Midlands -6 15 £75,000 - 1
East of England - 12 £55,000 - 9
Work from Home +3 10 £75,000 +57.89% 6
South West -42 9 £30,000 -40.00% 6
North of England -39 7 £36,250 -27.50%
Scotland +20 5 £52,500 +105.88% 5
North West -7 5 £27,500 -45.00%
London - 4 £80,000 -
North East - 2 £45,000 -
Wales - 2 £80,000 -
East Midlands -30 1 £50,000 +17.65%
Northern Ireland - 1 £65,000 -

Hardware Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 14 June 2026, Hardware 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 Hardware Engineer in the job title.

1 36 (30.77%) Degree
2 17 (14.53%) BPSS Clearance
2 17 (14.53%) Coaching
3 14 (11.97%) HND
3 14 (11.97%) Security Cleared
4 13 (11.11%) Firmware
4 13 (11.11%) Mentor Graphics
5 12 (10.26%) MATLAB
5 12 (10.26%) Simulink
5 12 (10.26%) Validation
6 11 (9.40%) Problem-Solving
6 11 (9.40%) Prototyping
6 11 (9.40%) Schematic Capture
7 9 (7.69%) EMC
7 9 (7.69%) Mentoring
8 8 (6.84%) Break/Fix
9 7 (5.98%) C
9 7 (5.98%) Embedded Firmware
9 7 (5.98%) Python
10 6 (5.13%) Technical Leadership
11 5 (4.27%) ISO 9001
11 5 (4.27%) Project Delivery
11 5 (4.27%) Software Testing
12 4 (3.42%) Business Development
12 4 (3.42%) C++
12 4 (3.42%) Commercial Awareness
12 4 (3.42%) Continuous Improvement
12 4 (3.42%) Cost Management
12 4 (3.42%) Cybersecurity
12 4 (3.42%) DBS Check

Hardware 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:

Applications
1 12 (10.26%) Simulink
2 2 (1.71%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (1.71%) OrCAD
3 1 (0.85%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.85%) SOLIDWORKS
Cloud Services
1 3 (2.56%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 1 (0.85%) Structured Cabling
Development Applications
1 1 (0.85%) LabVIEW
General
1 59 (50.43%) Electronics
2 18 (15.38%) Manufacturing
3 15 (12.82%) Aerospace
4 9 (7.69%) Social Skills
5 6 (5.13%) Analytical Skills
6 5 (4.27%) Finance
7 4 (3.42%) Public Sector
8 3 (2.56%) Advertising
8 3 (2.56%) Health Technology
8 3 (2.56%) Wearables
9 2 (1.71%) Automotive
9 2 (1.71%) Presentation Skills
10 1 (0.85%) Documentation Skills
10 1 (0.85%) Marketing
10 1 (0.85%) Retail
Miscellaneous
1 22 (18.80%) Analogue Electronics
2 8 (6.84%) FPGA
3 4 (3.42%) Acoustics
3 4 (3.42%) IoT
4 3 (2.56%) Embedded Systems
4 3 (2.56%) Self-Motivation
5 2 (1.71%) Algorithms
5 2 (1.71%) Device Driver
5 2 (1.71%) Driving Licence
5 2 (1.71%) Robotics
5 2 (1.71%) VHDL
6 1 (0.85%) ARM Cortex
6 1 (0.85%) Data Centre
6 1 (0.85%) EPoS
Operating Systems
1 3 (2.56%) Linux
2 1 (0.85%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 17 (14.53%) Coaching
2 12 (10.26%) Validation
3 11 (9.40%) Problem-Solving
3 11 (9.40%) Prototyping
3 11 (9.40%) Schematic Capture
4 9 (7.69%) Mentoring
5 8 (6.84%) Break/Fix
6 6 (5.13%) Technical Leadership
7 5 (4.27%) Project Delivery
7 5 (4.27%) Software Testing
8 4 (3.42%) Business Development
8 4 (3.42%) Commercial Awareness
8 4 (3.42%) Continuous Improvement
8 4 (3.42%) Cost Management
8 4 (3.42%) Line Management
8 4 (3.42%) People Management
8 4 (3.42%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 4 (3.42%) Strategic Planning
8 4 (3.42%) Test Automation
8 4 (3.42%) Test Strategy
Programming Languages
1 12 (10.26%) MATLAB
2 7 (5.98%) C
2 7 (5.98%) Python
3 4 (3.42%) C++
3 4 (3.42%) Embedded C
4 2 (1.71%) C#
4 2 (1.71%) Embedded C++
Qualifications
1 36 (30.77%) Degree
2 17 (14.53%) BPSS Clearance
3 14 (11.97%) HND
3 14 (11.97%) Security Cleared
4 4 (3.42%) DBS Check
5 2 (1.71%) Master's Degree
5 2 (1.71%) SC Cleared
6 1 (0.85%) HNC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 5 (4.27%) ISO 9001
2 4 (3.42%) ISO 14001
3 2 (1.71%) DO-254
4 1 (0.85%) ISO 13485
4 1 (0.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 1 (0.85%) PCI DSS
4 1 (0.85%) QA
System Software
1 13 (11.11%) Firmware
2 7 (5.98%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 4 (3.42%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 13 (11.11%) Mentor Graphics
2 9 (7.69%) EMC
3 3 (2.56%) Microsoft