Pay for technology talent kept climbing through 2025, and competition for skilled people shows no sign of easing. Use these benchmarks to make offers that win — and to know your worth.
The headline
Demand still outstrips supply for engineering, data and product roles, especially where AI and cloud skills are involved. Remote and hybrid flexibility now weighs almost as heavily as base salary for many candidates.
2026 UK salary benchmarks
Typical base salaries by role and seniority, averaged across UK regions. London and high-demand specialisms sit at the upper end of each range.
| Role | Junior | Mid | Senior |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | £34k | £55k | £82k |
| Data Analyst | £30k | £45k | £62k |
| Data Scientist | £40k | £62k | £90k |
| Product Manager | £42k | £65k | £95k |
| DevOps Engineer | £38k | £60k | £88k |
| UX / Product Designer | £32k | £50k | £72k |
Beyond base pay
Salary opens the conversation, but benefits increasingly close the deal. The packages that stood out in 2025 included:
- Genuine remote or hybrid flexibility, with a clear policy
- Learning budgets and dedicated time to use them
- Enhanced parental leave and wellbeing support
- Meaningful equity or bonus tied to clear outcomes
Make it actionable
Whether you’re benchmarking an offer or planning headcount, we can give you live, role-specific data for your market. Get in touch and we’ll tailor it to you.
Request a tailored benchmark