Software Engineer Salary in Wales
Official ONS earnings for Wales.
Median salary — Wales
£45,942
gross, per year, all employees
▲ 4.4% change on the previous year
Mean
£48,379
What a typical software engineer takes home
On the median of £45,942, 2026/27 tax year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£3,050
Take-home a year
£36,598
Income Tax
£6,674
National Insurance
£2,670
What most software engineers actually earn
Half of software engineers in Wales earn between £36,458 and £59,193. Earning above £59,193 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
ONS suppresses the detailed spread for this occupation at regional level, so this range describes the wider “Information Technology Professionals” group in Wales.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of software engineers earn less than this.
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Programmers and software development professionals
- SOC 2020 code
- 2134
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
ONS publishes a sampling error of 14.8% for this figure and asks that anything above 10% is treated as imprecise — too few people in this region answered the survey for this occupation. The figure is shown because it is the one ONS published, but it is not firm enough to rank Wales against anywhere else, so this page doesn't.
ONS doesn't measure “software engineer” as its own category. These figures are for the wider group “Programmers and software development professionals”, which includes this role alongside others. ONS measures programmers and software development professionals as one group - it separates neither specialism nor seniority.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are estimates from a survey of PAYE jobs and are not financial advice.
Software Engineer salary FAQs
What is the average Software Engineer salary in Wales?
The median is £45,942 a year and the mean is £48,379, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; ASHE publishes no full-time split at regional level.
How much does a software engineer earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £29.31 excluding overtime, or £29.61 for full-time employees. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only, so there is no separate rate for Wales.
What is a good Software Engineer salary?
Half of software engineers earn between £36,458 and £59,193. Anything above £59,193 is in the top quarter for the role.
What is the starting salary for a software engineer?
ASHE does not record experience, so there is no official starting salary. What it does show is that the lowest-paid 10% of software engineers earn under £29,289 and the lowest quarter under £36,458 — the range a new entrant is most likely to be offered.
Do software engineers in Wales earn more than the UK average?
The median in Wales is £45,942 against £55,587 across the UK, 17.4% lower. ONS marks the Wales figure as imprecise, so treat the gap as indicative.
Has software engineer pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at +4.4% for this occupation in Wales. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
Is this figure official?
Yes. It comes from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, an accredited official statistic based on employer PAYE records.
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