Programmer Job Trends

Programmer
UK

The median Programmer salary in the UK is £45,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 21 November 2025.

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

6 months to
21 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 525 418 501
Rank change year-on-year -107 +83 -65
Permanent jobs requiring a Programmer 141 369 216
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.26% 0.55% 0.42%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.29% 0.58% 0.44%
Number of salaries quoted 101 177 134
10th Percentile £35,000 - £23,108
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £24,550
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £40,000 £26,000
Median % change year-on-year +12.50% +53.85% -52.73%
75th Percentile £55,000 £50,000 £51,563
90th Percentile £70,000 £55,000 £66,778
UK excluding London median annual salary £45,000 £40,000 £29,994
% change year-on-year +12.50% +33.36% -40.01%

All Permanent IT Job Vacancies
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 48,105 63,733 49,629
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.16% 94.54% 95.38%
Number of salaries quoted 30,175 35,701 38,478
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,750 £31,250
25th Percentile £35,500 £42,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £53,048 £57,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -7.74% -4.17% -
75th Percentile £73,750 £76,000 £80,000
90th Percentile £92,500 £95,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £47,500 £51,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -7.77% -1.90% -

Programmer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Programmer job vacancy trend in the UK

Programmer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Programmer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Programmer job vacancies in the UK

Programmer
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Programmer over the 6 months to 21 November 2025.

Salary histogram for Programmer in the UK

Programmer
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Programmer within the UK over the 6 months to 21 November 2025. 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
England -81 127 £45,000 +12.50% 191
UK excluding London -82 123 £45,000 +12.50% 160
Midlands +7 29 £45,000 +28.57% 32
East of England +33 26 £45,000 - 27
North of England -75 24 £45,000 +12.50% 26
South East +46 23 £45,000 -25.00% 47
North West -44 23 £45,000 +12.50% 17
West Midlands +22 21 £45,000 +12.50% 19
Work from Home +71 18 £70,000 +27.27% 18
London +15 14 £70,000 +55.56% 64
South West +18 11 £40,000 -4.41% 14
East Midlands +3 8 £45,000 +28.57% 12
Wales +17 6 £40,000 - 9
Scotland +3 2 £57,500 +71.05% 8
Northern Ireland - 2 £28,000 - 1
Yorkshire -14 1 - - 7

Programmer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 21 November 2025, Programmer 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 Programmer in the job title.

1 25 (17.73%) CAD
2 9 (6.38%) SQL
3 8 (5.67%) DevOps
3 8 (5.67%) Kubernetes
4 7 (4.96%) Agile
4 7 (4.96%) Biometrics
5 6 (4.26%) Azure
5 6 (4.26%) Continuous Improvement
5 6 (4.26%) Degree
6 5 (3.55%) Computer Science
6 5 (3.55%) Linux
6 5 (3.55%) Mentoring
7 4 (2.84%) .NET
7 4 (2.84%) C#
7 4 (2.84%) CI/CD
7 4 (2.84%) Design Patterns
7 4 (2.84%) Docker
7 4 (2.84%) F#
7 4 (2.84%) Functional Programming
7 4 (2.84%) Git
7 4 (2.84%) GitHub
7 4 (2.84%) Haskell
7 4 (2.84%) JSON
7 4 (2.84%) Master's Degree
7 4 (2.84%) Mathematics
7 4 (2.84%) Microservices
7 4 (2.84%) OCaml
7 4 (2.84%) OpenShift
7 4 (2.84%) Pair Programming
7 4 (2.84%) PhD

Programmer 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:

Application Platforms
1 1 (0.71%) Confluence
Applications
1 2 (1.42%) Fusion 360
2 1 (0.71%) Chatbot
2 1 (0.71%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Cloud Services
1 6 (4.26%) Azure
2 4 (2.84%) GitHub
2 4 (2.84%) OpenShift
3 2 (1.42%) Power Platform
4 1 (0.71%) Anthropic Claude
4 1 (0.71%) ChatGPT
4 1 (0.71%) Google Gemini
4 1 (0.71%) Microsoft Copilot
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (2.84%) SQL Server
2 3 (2.13%) UniData
3 2 (1.42%) Oracle Database
3 2 (1.42%) Relational Database
4 1 (0.71%) DB2
4 1 (0.71%) IMS/DB
Development Applications
1 4 (2.84%) Git
2 1 (0.71%) Gemini Tracker
2 1 (0.71%) JIRA
General
1 22 (15.60%) Aerospace
2 20 (14.18%) Manufacturing
3 9 (6.38%) Automotive
4 8 (5.67%) Finance
5 6 (4.26%) Pharmaceutical
6 5 (3.55%) Agriculture
7 4 (2.84%) Front Office
8 3 (2.13%) Electronics
8 3 (2.13%) Public Sector
8 3 (2.13%) Retail
8 3 (2.13%) Social Skills
8 3 (2.13%) Telecoms
9 2 (1.42%) Advertising
9 2 (1.42%) Analytical Skills
9 2 (1.42%) Games
9 2 (1.42%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 1 (0.71%) Banking
10 1 (0.71%) Military
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (2.84%) .NET
1 4 (2.84%) JSON
1 4 (2.84%) REST
1 4 (2.84%) Web Services
1 4 (2.84%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 4 (2.84%) BYOD
1 4 (2.84%) Derivative
1 4 (2.84%) Robotics
1 4 (2.84%) Self-Motivation
2 3 (2.13%) AS400
2 3 (2.13%) iSeries
3 2 (1.42%) VAX
4 1 (0.71%) Linux Command Line
4 1 (0.71%) Mainframe
4 1 (0.71%) Podcast
Operating Systems
1 5 (3.55%) Linux
2 1 (0.71%) VMS
2 1 (0.71%) Windows
2 1 (0.71%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 25 (17.73%) CAD
2 8 (5.67%) DevOps
3 7 (4.96%) Agile
3 7 (4.96%) Biometrics
4 6 (4.26%) Continuous Improvement
5 5 (3.55%) Computer Science
5 5 (3.55%) Mentoring
6 4 (2.84%) CI/CD
6 4 (2.84%) Design Patterns
6 4 (2.84%) Functional Programming
6 4 (2.84%) Mathematics
6 4 (2.84%) Microservices
6 4 (2.84%) Pair Programming
6 4 (2.84%) Physics
6 4 (2.84%) Risk Management
6 4 (2.84%) Software Engineering
7 3 (2.13%) Process Improvement
8 2 (1.42%) AI
8 2 (1.42%) Digital Innovation
8 2 (1.42%) Power Management
Programming Languages
1 9 (6.38%) SQL
2 4 (2.84%) C#
2 4 (2.84%) F#
2 4 (2.84%) Haskell
2 4 (2.84%) OCaml
2 4 (2.84%) Scala
3 3 (2.13%) COBOL
3 3 (2.13%) RPG
4 2 (1.42%) Python
5 1 (0.71%) Assembly Language
5 1 (0.71%) JCL
5 1 (0.71%) PL/1
5 1 (0.71%) REXX
Qualifications
1 6 (4.26%) Degree
2 4 (2.84%) Master's Degree
2 4 (2.84%) PhD
3 1 (0.71%) DV Cleared
3 1 (0.71%) SC Cleared
3 1 (0.71%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (0.71%) GDPR
System Software
1 4 (2.84%) Docker
Systems Management
1 8 (5.67%) Kubernetes
2 1 (0.71%) CA Endevor
Vendors
1 4 (2.84%) Trayport
2 3 (2.13%) Computacenter
3 2 (1.42%) Microsoft
3 2 (1.42%) Oracle
4 1 (0.71%) Google
4 1 (0.71%) IBM
4 1 (0.71%) OpenAI
4 1 (0.71%) Rockwell