Rank gap
#11 vs #16
5 places apart on hub
Compare different careers
ASHE ASHE 2025 (provisional)
Electrical engineers vs Software developers Salary Comparison
Electrical engineers pays more on the published median — £4,343 per year (8% higher than Software developers). national medians, hourly equivalents, and modeled take-home at each median in England, Wales & NI and Scotland.
By Sammy S. · Founder · AuthorUpdated for 2026
Higher national median
Electrical engineers pays more
£4,343 more per year on the median — about £2.09/hr at full-time hours.
Hourly gap at median
£2.09/hr
£28.81 vs £26.72
E/W/NI take-home gap
£2,519
At each ASHE median · England, Wales & NI reference
Industry context
Electrical engineers (Engineering, SOC 2123) vs Software developers (Technology, SOC 2134). Categories group training and licensing paths — the scoreboard compares published ASHE medians regardless of industry.
Side-by-side salary scoreboard
Electrical engineers
£59,930
ASHE median · £28.81/hr · rank #11
- E/W/NI take-home
- £45,317
- Scotland take-home
- £43,568
- E/W/NI effective rate
- 24.4%
Software developers
£55,587
ASHE median · £26.72/hr · rank #16
- E/W/NI take-home
- £42,798
- Scotland take-home
- £41,136
- E/W/NI effective rate
- 23.0%
Take-home ladder at each ASHE median
Take-home for a single taxpayer when gross equals each occupation's published median — E/W/NI gap at median: £2,519.
| Nation | Electrical engineers | Software developers | Take-home gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| England, Wales & NI | £45,317 | £42,798 | £2,519 |
| Scotland | £43,568 | £41,136 | £2,432 |
England, Wales & NI
Electrical engineers£45,317
Software developers£42,798
Take-home gap £2,519
Scotland
Electrical engineers£43,568
Software developers£41,136
Take-home gap £2,432
Key takeaways — Electrical engineers vs Software developers
- Electrical engineers pays more on the published median — £59,930 vs £55,587 (£4,343 / year, ~8% higher).
- Electrical engineers ranks #11 on our hub; Software developers ranks #16 (#1 = highest ASHE median in this set).
- That wage gap is £2.09/hr at full-time hours — £28.81/hr vs £26.72/hr.
- Modeled England, Wales & NI take-home at each median: £45,317 (Electrical engineers) vs £42,798 (Software developers) — £2,519 apart before Scottish band differences.
- Scotland's income tax bands shift the net gap: £43,568 vs £41,136 (£2,432 take-home difference). National Insurance remains UK-wide.
Electrical engineers vs Software developers salary comparison
Students, career changers, and hiring managers often ask whether Electrical engineers or Programmers and software development professionals pays more on a nationally representative benchmark. This page anchors that question to ONS ASHE 2025 (provisional) full-time employee medians — half earn more, half earn less — then layers 2026 paycheck math so you see take-home, not just gross.
Electrical engineers leads on gross median by £4,343 per year. That is roughly £2.09 per hour on a standard 2,080-hour schedule — before you factor training time, licensing, or non-wage benefits.
Use the scoreboard for medians and ranks, the nation ladder for take-home in England, Wales & NI and Scotland, then open each occupation profile for ONS source links and calculator deep links.
What the ASHE median includes — and excludes
ONS ASHE medians are full-time employee (PAYE) cash wages for the occupation nationally. They do not add share scheme vests, many bonuses, overtime premiums, or self-employment income.
Electrical engineers (SOC 2123) and Software developers (SOC 2134) can look closer or farther apart in a specific city than on this national line — especially tech and healthcare roles with London weighting or shift pay.
When an offer exceeds the median, model it in the UK paycheck calculator. When you need city context, pair this page with metro paycheck examples UK or take-home pay by UK nation.
From gross median to take-home
At Electrical engineers's median (£59,930), modeled effective employee levy rates run 24.4% in England, Wales & NI and 27.3% in Scotland. At Software developers's median (£55,587): 23.0% (E/W/NI) and 26.0% (Scotland).
Scotland sets its own income tax bands via Revenue Scotland; England, Wales and Northern Ireland share HMRC bands. Employee National Insurance is UK-wide in both columns.
These are single-taxpayer vignettes with the personal allowance — not a forecast of your PAYE code or year-end reconciliation.
Beyond the headline median
Education debt, licensing exams, night shifts, Agenda for Change bands, and share refresh cycles can invert a simple median ranking over a full career.
Healthcare pairs often compare years of training (medical specialists vs nurse practitioners). Tech pairs compare share-scheme-heavy total pay against cash-wage medians.
Remember specialist medical practitioner ASHE figures are employee medians — self-employed consultants can differ substantially.
Where these occupations sit on the full hub ladder
Electrical engineers ranks #11 of 63 tracked occupations; Software developers ranks #16.
The £4,343 gap is 8% relative to Software developers's median — use hourly equivalents when comparing to part-time or contract offers.
Featured corridors on the hub (software vs nursing, solicitors vs accountants) exist because search volume clusters there — your pair may still be valid even when ranks are far apart.
What to do after reading the scoreboard
Open the Electrical engineers and Software developers profiles for ONS source links, percentile tables when published, and calculator deep links prefilled at each median.
If relocation is involved, stack metro paycheck examples UK and take-home pay by UK nation on top of this occupation comparison — gross median alone does not price rent or commute.
When an offer exceeds either median, model it in the UK paycheck calculator with your tax code and pension contributions.
Concepts to know for this comparison
Short definitions so ASHE medians map to real paycheck math.
National median
Half of full-time PAYE employees in the SOC occupation earn more and half earn less nationwide — the ASHE anchor for apples-to-apples career comparisons.
Hourly equivalent
Annual median ÷ 2,080 — useful for comparing salaried roles to hourly or part-time offers on the same clock.
Take-home at median
Our paycheck model applied to the ASHE gross median in a reference nation — income tax and employee National Insurance (Scotland uses Scottish income tax bands).
Rank on this hub
Sorted by national median within our curated occupation set — not ONS employment counts or growth projections.
Myths vs facts — Electrical engineers vs Software developers
Higher median guarantees higher lifetime wealth.
Career length, unemployment risk, student debt, and pensions matter. A lower-median teaching row can still win on TPS pension or term-time patterns absent from ASHE.
Take-home at median equals your offer net pay.
Tax code, pension, student loan, and nation change the result. These columns standardize gross at the ASHE median for comparison only.
Two occupations with similar medians feel the same in every city.
London and regional demand shifts offers above or below national medians. Always cross-check city tables when relocation is involved.
Who this Electrical engineers vs Software developers page helps
Useful if…
- •Students weighing medical, nursing, tech, or business paths
- •Career changers comparing published medians before retraining
- •Recruiters grounding offer bands in ONS ASHE anchors
- •Parents discussing ROI on professional degrees
Use a fuller model if…
- •Self-employed consultants — ASHE focuses on PAYE employees
- •Share-scheme-heavy tech offers — cash medians understate total pay
- •Shift, overtime, or commission-heavy roles
- •Visa or licensing constraints that block certain occupations
Common mistakes reading this pair
- Treating ASHE medians as entry-level or senior offers without reading percentiles
- Ignoring licensing and training time when comparing medical specialists to nurse practitioners
- Assuming RUK take-home applies after a move to Scotland
- Comparing total pay (base + bonus + shares) to cash-wage medians without adjustment
Electrical engineers vs Software developers checklist
Before treating the wage gap as a career decision.
- 1Confirm the SOC title matches your target role (software developers vs IT project managers, etc.)
- 2Check metro paycheck examples UK when the job lists a city
- 3Model your exact gross in the UK paycheck calculator
- 4Add student debt and training years to the decision — not just year-one median
- 5Compare Scotland vs England, Wales & NI take-home if relocation changes both pay and tax
Electrical engineers vs Software developers salary FAQs
Electrical engineers pays more on the published median — £59,930 vs £55,587 (£4,343 / year, about 8% higher).
Electrical engineers: £28.81/hr (£59,930 ÷ 2,080 full-time hours). Software developers: £26.72/hr.
At each occupation's national median, modeled take-home for a single taxpayer in England, Wales & NI is £45,317 (Electrical engineers) vs £42,798 (Software developers). In Scotland: £43,568 vs £41,136.
No. ONS ASHE medians are full-time employee cash-wage anchors for PAYE employees. Bonuses, share schemes, overtime premiums, and self-employed income sit outside this table. Use our UK paycheck calculator to model your exact offer.
National median annual gross pay from ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2025 provisional, full-time employees, SOC 2123 and 2134. Take-home columns use our 2026 UK paycheck model at each median.
Electrical engineers ranks higher (#11 vs #16) with a £4,343 higher ASHE median.
Yes — Highest paying jobs US uses BLS OEWS medians, Highest paying jobs Canada uses Job Bank / StatCan medians, Highest paying jobs Australia uses ABS EEH averages, Highest paying jobs New Zealand uses Stats NZ HLFS medians, and Highest paying jobs Ireland uses CSO SES medians with the same ranking, compare, and profile pattern.
Electrical engineers is classified as Engineering (rank #11); Software developers as Technology (rank #16). Category labels help group training paths — the scoreboard uses ASHE medians regardless of industry.
At each ASHE median, England, Wales & NI take-home differs by £2,519; the Scotland ladder shows £2,432. Scottish bands can shrink or widen a gross gap; National Insurance remains UK-wide.
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