Software Engineer salaries and job demand
Last updated
Software Engineer roles typically advertise around £70,000 a year. Here's the current salary range, hiring demand, and the skills employers ask for most.
What do Software Engineer roles pay in 2026?
As of September 2026, the typical advertised salary is £70,000 (≈ $89k) a year, with most postings between £55,000 and £95,000.
| 25th percentile | £55,000 |
|---|---|
| Median (50th percentile) | £70,000 |
| 75th percentile | £95,000 |
Advertised base salary, from 894 job postings with pay data, as of September 2026.
Disclosed base wage (H-1B/LCA)
Employers disclose a median base wage of US$133,882 on H-1B/LCA visa filings for this role, between US$106,779 and US$168,270.
| 25th percentile | US$106,779 |
|---|---|
| Median (50th percentile) | US$133,882 |
| 75th percentile | US$168,270 |
Disclosed base wage, from 256,428 H-1B/LCA filings, U.S. DOL OFLC, as of Q4 2025.
| Period | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | US$106,000 | US$133,350 | US$167,783 |
| Q4 2024 | US$109,300 | US$138,000 | US$171,985 |
| Q1 2025 | US$114,700 | US$143,978 | US$177,000 |
| Q2 2025 | US$99,070 | US$121,892 | US$155,000 |
| Q3 2025 | US$110,001 | US$135,000 | US$170,000 |
| Q4 2025 | US$113,000 | US$140,080 | US$175,295 |
How strong is hiring demand for Software Engineer roles in 2026?
Tarmac tracked 6,452 postings in August 2026, the most recent month we tracked from start to finish.
We need 3 complete months of tracking before we publish a month-by-month series. Months we only partly covered are left out rather than shown as low demand.
Skills employers ask for
- python7159
- databases-sql6710
- aws5912
- system-design4814
- http-apis4440
- javascript3121
- ai-engineering2619
- docker2512
- ci-cd-pipelines2409
- kubernetes2002
- react1907
- devops1518
Postings for this role that named each skill, out of the postings we could parse. Bars run to 7159, the most-asked skill here.
Which skills to study first
These skills matter most for this role, scored together on how often employers ask for them, what they pay, and how often people pass them when they practise.
| Skill | Market demand | Median pay | Pass rate | Leverage | Practice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JavaScript | 20% of postings | US$160,000+20% | 45% | 46 | Practice |
| Python | 60% of postings | US$170,000+28% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| Databases & SQL | 55% of postings | US$167,031+26% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| AWS | 51% of postings | US$171,000+28% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| System Design | 32% of postings | US$183,021+38% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| HTTP & APIs | 30% of postings | US$166,000+25% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| AI Engineering | 27% of postings | US$182,500+37% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| Docker | 23% of postings | £80,000+10% | Not enough data yet | — | — |
| CI-CD Pipelines | 23% of postings | £78,625+8% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| Kubernetes | 19% of postings | US$175,500+32% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| React | 16% of postings | US$175,000+31% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| DevOps | 15% of postings | £82,500+14% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
Pass rate is the share of correct answers among people who practised that skill on Tarmac, a self-selected group rather than every developer, so read it as relative difficulty, not a universal stat. It comes from how people actually scored, not what anyone claimed, and a dash in that column means not enough people have practised the skill here yet. Leverage scores demand, pay, and difficulty together (out of 100); a higher score means a skill is both worth learning and worth your study time.
What it takes
The entry bar and required skills employers ask for, among extracted postings. This excludes postings we couldn't confidently parse, so the figures below skew toward roles with clearer, fuller job descriptions. Every bar below runs 0 to 60% of postings: solid is required, outlined is preferred, dashed is the posting's own words.
Australia
Required
In the postings’ own words
Required
In the postings’ own words
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
Required
In the postings’ own words
- AWS required in only 8% of postings, was 20% 5 weeks ago.
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
- Years asked down 5.5 years over the last 4 weeks.
- React now required in 18% of postings, was 7% 4 weeks ago.
- AWS required in only 9% of postings, was 43% 4 weeks ago.
- CI-CD Pipelines required in only 9% of postings, was 43% 4 weeks ago.
- Google Cloud Platform required in only 9% of postings, was 29% 4 weeks ago.
United States
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
Required
In the postings’ own words
In the postings’ own words
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
- AWS now required in 30% of postings, was 20% 4 weeks ago.
- Docker required in only 11% of postings, was 20% 4 weeks ago.
- Kubernetes required in only 11% of postings, was 20% 4 weeks ago.
- Java required in only 15% of postings, was 20% 4 weeks ago.
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
- Java now required in 38% of postings, was 18% 4 weeks ago.
- AWS now required in 38% of postings, was 27% 4 weeks ago.
- Python required in only 38% of postings, was 46% 4 weeks ago.
United Kingdom
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
Required
In the postings’ own words
Practice interview questions
Jobs data powered by Adzuna.
Disclosed wage data from the U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC.
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