Compensation planning only works if you know what the market is actually paying. This report pulls together the UK’s latest official earnings data with current market pay for technology roles, covering cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), fintech, cloud services, software as a service (SaaS), and software development.
We start with UK-wide earnings trends, then break down 2026 salary benchmarks role by role, from data scientists to chief information officers, so you can see where your own pay bands sit against the market.
Overview of salary data in the UK
Pay grew again this year, but not evenly. Growth varied by sector, occupation and region, and the gaps matter more than the headline number. The figures below come from the Office for National Statistics (ONS),1 and they’re the baseline anyone benchmarking pay in tech and innovation-led sectors should start from.
Median weekly earnings
Median weekly earnings for full-time employees reached £766.60 in April 2025, up 5.3% on the £728.27 recorded in April 2024.1 Strip out inflation using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) and earnings still grew in real terms, by 1.1% year-on-year.
Occupational and sectoral growth
Pay growth wasn’t even across occupations. Caring, leisure and other service roles saw the sharpest rise, at 7.1%, with managers, directors and senior officials close behind at 6.7%.1 By industry, financial and insurance activities led at 10.3%, followed by administrative and support services at 8.3%.
Private vs public sector growth
Private sector pay grew slightly faster than public sector pay this year, up 5.4% to £752.28 a week, against 5.3% for the public sector, which reached £807.67.1 Public sector earnings are still higher in absolute terms, though the gap in growth rates has narrowed compared with previous years.
Median gross annual earnings
Median gross annual earnings for full-time employees stood at £39,039 in April 2025, up 4.3% from £37,439 the year before.1
Average income
That £39,039 median works out to roughly £3,253 a month before tax.1 After income tax and National Insurance for the 2026/27 tax year, take-home pay lands at approximately £31,600 a year, or around £2,635 a month.2 Pension contributions and student loan repayments aren’t factored into that figure, and would reduce net pay further for many employees.
UK technology sector salary insights 2026
Technology pay tells a different story to the UK average, and it varies sharply by role. Here’s what employers are paying to secure people in 2026.
Data scientist
Data scientists average £54,775 in total UK pay, with base salaries typically falling between £39,000 and £64,000.3 Mid-level specialists tend to earn £55,000 to £75,000, while senior data scientists can reach £80,000 to £110,000 or more.4
Cloud solutions architect
Cloud architects average £85,859 in total pay, with base salaries ranging from £62,000 to £93,000.5 Mid-level cloud solutions architects typically sit between £65,000 and £85,000, rising to £90,000-£130,000 or more for senior roles. Cloud infrastructure has become too central to most technology businesses for that gap to close any time soon.4
Cybersecurity manager
Cybersecurity managers average £69,175 in total pay, with base salaries between £53,000 and £76,000.6 A separate dataset puts the average base salary lower, at £60,818, with regional variation from around £54,000 to £94,000 depending on employer and location.7
UX designer
UX designers in the UK earn a typical salary of £58,128 a year, though the range is wide, from £25,000 to £150,000, depending on seniority and specialism.8
Machine learning engineer and AI specialist
Machine learning engineers average £68,604 in total pay, with base salaries ranging from £44,000 to £78,000.9 Senior machine learning roles, particularly those involving generative AI, now command £110,000 to £160,000.4 AI specialists average £61,747 in total pay, with base salaries between £47,000 and £81,000.10
Mobile app developer
Mobile app developers average £41,831 across the UK, rising to around £44,425 in London.11
System operations engineer
Site reliability and system operations engineers average £76,359, rising to £79,433 in London, with some specialist employers paying considerably more.12
Chief information officer (CIO)
CIO pay sits between £108,000 and £200,000, with a midpoint of £150,250.13 Candidates with limited experience typically land near the 25th percentile of £108,000, while those with specialised qualifications and a strong track record command the 75th percentile of £200,000.
Product manager and head of growth
Product managers average £63,110 in total pay, with base salaries between £45,000 and £72,000.14 Heads of growth average £80,027, with base salaries of £52,000 to £84,000 plus additional compensation of £7,000 to £29,000, a sign of how commercial the role has become.15
Business developer and frontend developer
Business development managers average £42,506, with junior roles starting from around £28,000 and senior roles averaging £60,323.16 Frontend developers average £44,102 in total pay, with base salaries between £33,000 and £54,000.17
Final thoughts
From data scientists to cloud architects and CIOs, this year’s benchmarks show just how wide the pay range is across the tech sector, and how much pressure that puts on employers competing for the same talent. Companies that keep their pay bands current have the edge in hiring; companies that don’t lose people to the ones that do.
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References
- Office for National Statistics, Employee earnings in the UK: 2025, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published October 2025, reflecting April 2025 data. ↩
- UK Net Pay, Average UK Salary 2026: take-home pay calculations. ↩
- Glassdoor UK, Data Scientist salaries. ↩
- IT Job Board, IT & Tech Job Salaries in the UK (2026) and Highest Paying Tech Jobs UK 2026. ↩
- Glassdoor UK, Cloud Architect salaries. ↩
- Glassdoor UK, Cyber Security Manager salaries. ↩
- Indeed UK, Cybersecurity manager salaries. ↩
- UX Gigs, UX designer salary in the UK (2026). ↩
- Glassdoor UK, Machine Learning Engineer salaries. ↩
- Glassdoor UK, AI Specialist salaries. ↩
- Indeed UK, Mobile developer salaries. ↩
- Indeed UK, Site reliability engineer salaries. ↩
- Robert Half, Chief Information Officer (CIO) salary (2026). ↩
- Glassdoor UK, Product Manager salaries. ↩
- Glassdoor UK, Head of Growth salaries. ↩
- Indeed UK, Business development manager salaries. ↩
- Glassdoor UK, Front End Developer salaries. ↩
