Whether you’re looking for your first step on the tech career ladder or take your next step up - you need to know what you’re worth and benchmark yourself against the industry average salary of software developers.

Let’s take a look in more detail at the average salary of a software developer, using data exclusively from Haystack.

Average salaries across the UK

Overall the average salary for a software developer/engineer is £45,257 - however, factors such as location and level of experience will mean this differs greatly.

In London, the average salary is £66,825, compared to Newcastle upon Tyne where the average salary for a software developer is £37,243. This is taking into account all levels of seniorities, from junior to senior based on local-only roles.

With the cost of living on the increase (which surged in 2021 by 5.1%) more and more people are searching for roles with a better work-life balance and are choosing to move away from cities to either work remotely or find roles with a shorter commuting distance. Haystack has thousands of developers from across the UK browsing companies and opportunities, and over 75% of Haystack users are interested in remote roles.

Average salaries for technologies

Within software engineering, there are different elements and technologies that developers can specialise in. Certain technologies yield higher salaries as there are fewer developers with those skills, and they will yield even high salaries if the level of experience required is senior - leader.

Average salaries for job titles

Here are the average salaries for certain job titles, from our own data. This includes local and remote roles across the UK as well as all seniorities.

Web developer salaries also vary, with the average salary in Haystack yielding £45,257. We are assuming that in this definition web developers are front-end engineers. Wikipedia defines front-end web development as “Front-end web development is the development of the graphical user interface of a website, through the use of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, so that users can view and interact with that website.”

Overall, the salary of a software engineer/developer is something that is only increasing. They’re more in demand than ever and our reliance on technology is something that won’t change anytime soon.

Software development is a great career to get into, and you can build some incredible things. If you’re wondering how to get into software development, then check out some of our Developer Stories - from software developers across the UK who have taken their first steps on the tech career ladder. Have a read and get inspired!


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