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 7 November 2025.

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

6 months to
7 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 549 392 520
Rank change year-on-year -157 +128 -94
Permanent jobs requiring a Programmer 117 398 221
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.23% 0.58% 0.42%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.26% 0.62% 0.44%
Number of salaries quoted 86 199 133
10th Percentile £35,000 £30,000 £23,108
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £24,400
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 £55,000
90th Percentile £75,000 £55,250 £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 45,700 64,689 50,755
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.10% 95.04% 95.50%
Number of salaries quoted 28,478 36,679 39,389
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,250 £31,500
25th Percentile £35,000 £42,219 £42,631
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £57,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.70% -4.17% -
75th Percentile £73,750 £75,000 £80,000
90th Percentile £92,500 £95,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £46,000 £50,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -8.00% -4.76% -

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 7 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 7 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 -131 105 £45,000 +12.50% 186
UK excluding London -130 99 £45,000 +12.50% 149
Midlands -19 26 £45,000 +28.57% 26
North of England -100 25 £45,000 +12.50% 36
North West -60 24 £45,000 +12.50% 24
Work from Home +39 20 £70,000 +27.27% 47
East of England +30 19 £50,000 +11.11% 26
West Midlands +11 18 £45,000 +28.57% 19
London +9 14 £70,000 +55.56% 65
South East +8 12 £45,000 -37.93% 36
South West +25 9 £40,000 -8.46% 11
East Midlands -9 8 £45,000 +28.57% 7
Wales +12 4 £40,000 - 10
Scotland -11 2 £57,500 +71.05% 9
Northern Ireland - 2 £28,000 - 1
Yorkshire -12 1 - - 10

Programmer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 7 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 (21.37%) CAD
2 12 (10.26%) SQL
3 10 (8.55%) DevOps
3 10 (8.55%) Kubernetes
4 8 (6.84%) Agile
4 8 (6.84%) Azure
5 7 (5.98%) Biometrics
6 6 (5.13%) .NET
6 6 (5.13%) C#
6 6 (5.13%) CI/CD
6 6 (5.13%) Continuous Improvement
6 6 (5.13%) Degree
6 6 (5.13%) Design Patterns
6 6 (5.13%) Docker
6 6 (5.13%) Git
6 6 (5.13%) GitHub
6 6 (5.13%) JSON
6 6 (5.13%) Linux
6 6 (5.13%) Microservices
6 6 (5.13%) REST
6 6 (5.13%) SQL Server
6 6 (5.13%) Trayport
6 6 (5.13%) Web Services
6 6 (5.13%) XML
7 5 (4.27%) Computer Science
8 4 (3.42%) F#
8 4 (3.42%) Functional Programming
8 4 (3.42%) Haskell
8 4 (3.42%) Master's Degree
8 4 (3.42%) Mathematics

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 (0.85%) Confluence
Applications
1 1 (0.85%) Chatbot
1 1 (0.85%) Fusion 360
1 1 (0.85%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (0.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Cloud Services
1 8 (6.84%) Azure
2 6 (5.13%) GitHub
3 4 (3.42%) OpenShift
4 2 (1.71%) Power Platform
5 1 (0.85%) Anthropic Claude
5 1 (0.85%) ChatGPT
5 1 (0.85%) Google Gemini
5 1 (0.85%) Microsoft Copilot
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (5.13%) SQL Server
2 3 (2.56%) Relational Database
2 3 (2.56%) UniData
3 2 (1.71%) Oracle Database
4 1 (0.85%) DB2
4 1 (0.85%) IMS/DB
Development Applications
1 6 (5.13%) Git
2 1 (0.85%) Gemini Tracker
2 1 (0.85%) JIRA
General
1 15 (12.82%) Manufacturing
2 14 (11.97%) Aerospace
3 8 (6.84%) Finance
4 6 (5.13%) Front Office
4 6 (5.13%) Pharmaceutical
5 3 (2.56%) Electronics
5 3 (2.56%) Public Sector
5 3 (2.56%) Retail
5 3 (2.56%) Social Skills
6 2 (1.71%) Advertising
6 2 (1.71%) Agriculture
6 2 (1.71%) Analytical Skills
6 2 (1.71%) Automotive
6 2 (1.71%) Games
6 2 (1.71%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 2 (1.71%) Telecoms
7 1 (0.85%) Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 6 (5.13%) .NET
1 6 (5.13%) JSON
1 6 (5.13%) REST
1 6 (5.13%) Web Services
1 6 (5.13%) XML
2 1 (0.85%) Spring
2 1 (0.85%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 6 (5.13%) BYOD
1 6 (5.13%) Self-Motivation
2 4 (3.42%) Derivative
2 4 (3.42%) Robotics
3 3 (2.56%) AS400
3 3 (2.56%) iSeries
4 2 (1.71%) VAX
5 1 (0.85%) Data Structures
5 1 (0.85%) Linux Command Line
5 1 (0.85%) Mainframe
5 1 (0.85%) Podcast
Operating Systems
1 6 (5.13%) Linux
2 1 (0.85%) VMS
2 1 (0.85%) Windows
2 1 (0.85%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 25 (21.37%) CAD
2 10 (8.55%) DevOps
3 8 (6.84%) Agile
4 7 (5.98%) Biometrics
5 6 (5.13%) CI/CD
5 6 (5.13%) Continuous Improvement
5 6 (5.13%) Design Patterns
5 6 (5.13%) Microservices
6 5 (4.27%) Computer Science
7 4 (3.42%) Functional Programming
7 4 (3.42%) Mathematics
7 4 (3.42%) Pair Programming
7 4 (3.42%) Physics
7 4 (3.42%) Risk Management
8 3 (2.56%) Mentoring
8 3 (2.56%) Process Improvement
9 2 (1.71%) AI
9 2 (1.71%) Digital Innovation
9 2 (1.71%) Power Management
9 2 (1.71%) Problem-Solving
Programming Languages
1 12 (10.26%) SQL
2 6 (5.13%) C#
3 4 (3.42%) F#
3 4 (3.42%) Haskell
3 4 (3.42%) OCaml
3 4 (3.42%) Scala
4 3 (2.56%) COBOL
4 3 (2.56%) RPG
5 2 (1.71%) Python
6 1 (0.85%) Assembly Language
6 1 (0.85%) Java
6 1 (0.85%) JCL
6 1 (0.85%) PL/1
6 1 (0.85%) REXX
Qualifications
1 6 (5.13%) Degree
2 4 (3.42%) Master's Degree
2 4 (3.42%) PhD
3 1 (0.85%) DV Cleared
3 1 (0.85%) SC Cleared
3 1 (0.85%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (0.85%) GDPR
System Software
1 6 (5.13%) Docker
Systems Management
1 10 (8.55%) Kubernetes
2 1 (0.85%) CA Endevor
Vendors
1 6 (5.13%) Trayport
2 3 (2.56%) Computacenter
3 2 (1.71%) Microsoft
3 2 (1.71%) Oracle
4 1 (0.85%) Google
4 1 (0.85%) IBM
4 1 (0.85%) OpenAI
4 1 (0.85%) Rockwell