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# Software Engineer Salary London

**By:** Eli McGarvie

**Published:** June 13, 2023

## The average salary for a software engineer in London is £57,250

The [Average salary](/magazine/241-average-salary-in-the-uk) for a [software engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/lexicon/software-engineer) in London is estimated to be **£57,250.** That’s **£4,770** per month or **£3,500** per month after tax (~26%).

In London, an entry-level software engineer can anticipate a starting salary of about **£47,000** per year, as reported by Glassdoor. For those with more experience under their belts, senior software engineer roles can offer **£60,000** per year or more, often supplemented with bonuses and equity options. We've gathered some estimates from various salary sites in London to present a clearer image of what an average engineer might earn. For more personalised information, feel free to make use of our [salary calculator](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/en/lp/developer-salary-calculator).

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💰 more salaries…

- [Software engineer salary Germany](/magazine/194-software-developer-salary-in-germany-2023)
- [Software engineer salary Netherlands](/magazine/217-software-developer-salary-in-the-netherlands-2023)
- [Software engineer salary Austria](/magazine/213-software-developer-salary-in-austria-2023)
- [Software engineer salary Switzerland](/magazine/215-software-developer-salary-in-switzerland-2023)
- [Software engineer salary South Africa](/magazine/232-software-developer-salary-in-south-africa)

## Salary by Experience

It's a given that a developer's salary increases with experience. However, the salaries for junior and entry-level positions can vary a lot, depending on the company and the developer's education. Typically, a junior developer might earn about £40k a year, which is roughly £20k less than a senior developer with over 5 years of experience. So, let's delve into the salary ranges for the three key career stages: junior, mid-level, and senior.

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## Taxes in London 🇬🇧

Grasping how taxes work in London is vital because they determine what you actually take home. For example, your contract might promise you'll earn £5,000 each month. But when it comes to payday, your bank account only gets £3,500. This is because as a software engineer in London, you're likely to fall into the 40% tax bracket. So, let's break down what net pay (the amount you take home) looks like compared to your gross pay (the amount before taxes).

On a **£60,000** salary, your take home pay will be **£42,900** after tax and National Insurance. This equates to **£3,575** per month and **£825** per week. If you work 5 days per week, this is **£165** per day, or **£21** per hour at 40 hours per week.

| Income (GBP) | Tax rate (%) |
| --- | --- |
| Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| £12,571 – £50,270 | 20% |
| £50,271 – £125,140 | 40% |
| over £125,140 | 45% |

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[UK Public Holidays in 2023](/magazine/224-uk-public-holidays-2024) →

## Salary by type and technology

In the tech salary spectrum, there's some notable differences. Security professionals are at the top, earning an impressive £79,500 yearly, significantly more than game developers who are at the scale's lower end with £45,000, making a whopping £34,500 difference. Also noteworthy is the £8,000 salary gap between Backend developers (£57,000) and [Frontend developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/lexicon/what-is-a-frontend-developer) (£49,600), with [Fullstack developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/lexicon/full-stack-developer) sitting comfortably in between at £50,000. Thus, the tech field reveals that your specialty can considerably impact your earnings.

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Determining the most sought-after technologies in London involves studying the number of job postings over a year. [Yahoo Finance](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/top-10-most-indemand-job-skills-in-the-uk-110428059) did just this in 2020, discovering that SQL skills were in high demand, nearly twice as much as for developers skilled in Java. Let's take a closer look at the six top skills that are in high demand in the UK.

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## Salary by Company in London

While salary averages provide a broad picture, sometimes, it's more enlightening to examine specific salaries from actual companies to understand what software engineers like you are earning. Here, we're not focusing on the [best companies in London](/magazine/187-best-companies-to-work-for-in-london-top-25-companies-in-2023) but rather a selection of larger ones across the country where developers have shared their salary information. It turns out, the majority of these companies offer software engineers salaries in the range of €60k - €70k. Although these figures might not be the [highest on the pay scale](/magazine/162-highest-paying-tech-companies-in-europe), they're generally regarded as quite competitive in the industry.

![](https://wearedevelopers.imgix.net/public/magazine/articles/252/images/6486dd21011e5a5c88496362_software_engineer_london.svg?w=720&fit=max&dpr=2&auto=format)


## Related Articles

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- [Data Engineer Salary UK](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/253-data-engineer-salary-uk)
- [Frontend Developer Salary in The UK](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/233-frontend-developer-salary-in-the-uk)
- [Fullstack Developer Salary UK](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/251-fullstack-developer-salary-uk)

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