Free to cite · data reviewed July 2026

UK Tech Salary Statistics 2026

What technology talent is paid across the UK and our European and US markets in 2026, by seniority, city and industry. These are indicative base-salary ranges from the searches OpenSource runs at venture-backed startups and scale-ups, cross-referenced with public 2026 benchmarks. Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite this page — see how to cite it below.

£85k–£120k
Senior software engineer base salary, London 2026
£120k–£150k
Staff / principal engineer base salary, London
8–15%
AI/ML engineer pay premium over general software engineers
10–20%
Fintech pay premium over the general startup market
15–25%
How much lower base pay runs outside London
4 cities
London, Berlin, Amsterdam & New York benchmarked

Base salary by seniority and city

Base salaries only; equity and bonus sit on top at venture-backed companies. Ranges reflect where OpenSource actually places, capped at senior/staff level.

Role London (GBP)Berlin (EUR)Amsterdam (EUR)New York (USD)
Mid Software Engineer £55k–£85k€55k–€85k€55k–€85k$120k–$150k
Senior Software Engineer £85k–£120k€85k–€120k€80k–€115k$150k–$200k
Staff / Principal Engineer £120k–£150k€115k–€145k€110k–€140k$190k–$240k
Engineering Manager £105k–£140k€100k–€135k€95k–€130k$180k–$230k
Senior Product Manager £80k–£115k€75k–€110k€75k–€105k$150k–$190k
Senior Data / ML Engineer £90k–£125k€85k–€120k€80k–€115k$155k–$205k

Senior engineer pay by industry (London)

Senior engineer base range by sector (the specific senior role we benchmark is shown in each row). Fintech and AI/data pay the clearest premiums; SaaS sets the baseline the rest are priced against.

IndustrySenior engineer, base (London)
Fintech & Payments £90k–£125k (Senior Software Engineer)
AI & Data £90k–£125k (Senior ML Engineer)
SaaS & B2B Software £85k–£120k (Senior Software Engineer)
Marketplaces & Consumer £85k–£120k (Senior Software Engineer)

How this was compiled

These are indicative base-salary ranges drawn from the live searches OpenSource runs across the UK, Europe and the US, cross-referenced with public 2026 benchmarks. They are ranges for a reason: where a role lands depends on funding stage, company performance and urgency. For the full narrative, read the UK Tech Salary Report 2026, our interactive salary benchmarks, and the per-city guides for London, Berlin, Amsterdam and New York.

Cite these statistics

This page is free to cite under a CC BY 4.0 licence — please attribute OpenSource with a link. Suggested attribution:

“Source: OpenSource UK Tech Salary Statistics 2026 (open-source.io/uk-tech-salary-statistics)”

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