Ask five sources what a full stack developer earns in the UK and you will get five different answers. One puts the average at £46,000, another at £57,744, and a third reports a median of £60,000. They are not really contradicting each other. They are measuring different things: self-reported pay, advertised vacancies, base salary against total pay, and the difference between the whole country and a handful of London postcodes.
This guide gathers the published UK figures in one place so you can see the spread, understand why it exists, and work out where a realistic offer for your experience level is likely to land.
What the average full stack developer salary looks like in the UK
The headline numbers published for UK full stack developers sit in a fairly wide band. Salary sites, job boards and recruiter guides each measure a slightly different population, which is why the figures shift depending on where you look.
| Source | Reported UK figure | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Indeed | Average base salary of £57,744 per year, from around 3,100 salaries reported and updated 20 September 2026 | Self-reported pay from people in the role |
| Glassdoor | Average of £48,216 per year, or about £23 per hour, with top earners reaching £79,703 at the 90th percentile | Employee-reported pay |
| Glassdoor figure cited in a 2026 salary guide | Average annual base pay of £46,000 | Base pay only |
| European salary comparison citing Glassdoor | UK average of £57,667 | Cross-country comparison |
| ITJobsWatch | Median of £60,000 per year, from vacancies posted in the six months to 23 September 2026 | Advertised roles rather than people |
| Indeed salary range | Low of £32,331 to a high of £102,497 per year | Full spread of reported pay |
Read together, these point to a working mid-market figure somewhere between the mid £40,000s and £60,000 for an established developer outside London, with a long tail above and below. Relying on a single website's average will either flatter you or undersell you.
Why the published numbers disagree
The gap between £46,000 and £60,000 is not statistical noise. It comes down to four things.
- Sample. Sites that ask employees to submit their own salary attract people who are motivated to share, which skews results towards particular employers and particular cities.
- Method. Advertised vacancy data, such as the ITJobsWatch median, reflects what employers are willing to pay to hire right now, not what existing staff are already on.
- Definition. Base pay, total pay and hourly rates are not interchangeable, yet they often get quoted side by side as if they were.
- Geography. A single UK average flattens London, Manchester, Cardiff and remote-first roles into one figure that describes none of them well.
The average is the least useful number on the page
An average tells you where the middle sits, but most people want to know where they personally land. The more useful figures are the ends of the range. Indeed's spread runs from £32,331 at the bottom to £102,497 at the top, and Glassdoor puts the 90th percentile at £79,703. Those describe very different careers. One is likely a first or second job, the other is a senior developer with a specialism employers are competing for.
London pay and the regional gap
London does not nudge the numbers up, it moves them into a different bracket. Recruiter salary guides and job board data for the capital cluster well above the UK-wide average.
| Source | London figure | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Morgan McKinley salary calculator | £80,000 to £100,000 average annual salary for 2026 | London |
| Robert Half | £59,250 to £105,000 | London |
| Reed | Average of £118,667, low of £50,000, high of £234,000 | City of London specifically |
Notice how far apart the Reed City of London average and the Robert Half range are. The City figure covers a small area packed with financial services and fintech employers, and a modest number of very large packages pulls the average upwards. For most developers, the Robert Half range is the more realistic picture of what a London role pays, while the Morgan McKinley calculator gives a tighter view of the experienced end of the market.
Outside London, work from the UK-wide figures. The £46,000 to £60,000 band is far more representative of what a full stack developer earns in most UK cities, and remote roles often anchor to national rates rather than local ones. If you are weighing up a move, compare the offer against the UK-wide data first, then adjust for location.
What a junior full stack developer can expect
Entry-level pay sits at the bottom of every published range. The lowest figure in Indeed's UK data is £32,331, and that is roughly where first roles and career-change hires begin. It is also the question asked constantly on developer forums, including threads on r/cscareerquestionsEU, where candidates compare junior offers and try to work out what counts as normal.
- Your first salary is a starting point, not a ceiling. The distance between the low end of the range and the 90th percentile is more than £45,000, and most of that is earned through experience rather than quick job moves.
- Location matters just as much at junior level as it does later, which is why the same role title can be advertised at very different numbers in different parts of the UK.
- Employers hiring juniors are paying for potential. A portfolio and a demonstrable ability to build and ship something will do more for an offer than a certificate on its own.
Where £70,000 sits
It is a common benchmark question and the published data gives a clear answer. £70,000 is comfortably above the UK averages of £46,000, £48,216, £57,667 and £57,744, and above the £60,000 median taken from advertised vacancies. It sits below the Morgan McKinley London average range of £80,000 to £100,000 and well below the Reed City of London average.
In short, £70,000 is a strong full stack salary for the UK as a whole and a realistic target for a developer with several years of experience, particularly when working for a London-based employer or on London-weighted rates. It is not the ceiling either. The top of Indeed's reported range reaches £102,497.
Does your tech stack change the number?
The main UK salary sources do not split full stack developers by language or framework. A React and Symfony developer and a Node and TypeScript developer both appear in the same dataset. Treat these averages as a baseline rather than a personal forecast. Employers pay more for scarcity, for domain knowledge and for evidence that you can own a feature from database to interface without supervision.
How to check your own market rate
Before any salary conversation, spend an hour with more than one source. The figures in this article are a starting point, and salary data is updated frequently, so verify the current numbers yourself before quoting them.
- Check employee-reported sites such as Indeed and Glassdoor for a broad average and, more importantly, for the spread.
- Check advertised-role data such as ITJobsWatch, which shows what employers are posting rather than what existing staff earn.
- Check recruiter salary guides, including the Morgan McKinley calculator and the Robert Half range, which are useful for London and for senior roles.
- Search live job adverts for your exact stack and region and note the numbers, because those are what you will actually be negotiating against.
If the figures you find differ from the ones here, trust the live numbers. Salary guides and job boards update at different times, and the market shifts between editions.
Getting from junior to the upper end
The route from a £32,000 first role to £79,000 or more runs through experience rather than luck. Three things tend to move the needle.
- Owning features end to end, from database to interface, instead of working on one layer only.
- Learning to read unfamiliar code, debug it and explain your decisions, which is what employers mean when they talk about thinking like a developer.
- Building a track record you can show. A portfolio of working applications gives a hiring manager something concrete to weigh against your salary request.
Structured training can shorten the first step. The Code Success Full Stack Developer Course is a nine-month, self-paced programme priced at £4,995, covering HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, ReactJS, Symfony, XML and JSON, and APIs, with job placement support delivered through UK recruitment agencies. There is also a free five-day taster course that walks you through building a To-Do List app with HTML, CSS and JavaScript if you want to test the water first.
Whichever route you take, treat these salary figures as a map rather than a promise. The UK range for full stack developers runs from around £32,000 to more than £100,000, and where you land inside it depends on your location, your experience and how convincingly you can show what you can build.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is full stack development well paid in the UK?
Yes, by UK standards. Published averages range from about £46,000 to £60,000 depending on the source, and the top of Indeed's reported range reaches £102,497. Glassdoor puts the 90th percentile at £79,703. That places experienced full stack developers well above typical UK earnings, with London roles paying considerably more than the national figures.
What is a realistic starting salary for a junior full stack developer?
Junior pay sits at the bottom of the published ranges, and the lowest figure in Indeed's UK data is £32,331 per year. Most first roles and career-change hires begin around that level outside London, with capital-based positions paying more. Your portfolio and your ability to show working projects will influence where in that band an offer lands.
Is £70,000 a good full stack developer salary?
Yes. £70,000 is above every UK-wide average in the main salary sources, which sit between roughly £46,000 and £60,000, and below the Morgan McKinley London average range of £80,000 to £100,000. It is a realistic target for a developer with several years of experience, especially with a London employer.
Do different tech stacks pay differently?
The main UK salary sources do not break full stack developer pay down by language or framework, so no published figure separates React and Symfony work from Node and TypeScript work. Treat the averages as a baseline. Employers tend to pay more for scarcity, domain knowledge and proof that you can own a feature from database to interface.
Where should I check current salary figures?
Use more than one source, because each measures a different population. Employee-reported sites such as Indeed and Glassdoor show what people say they earn, ITJobsWatch shows the median from advertised vacancies, and recruiter guides from Morgan McKinley and Robert Half cover London and senior roles. Salary data updates regularly, so verify current figures before you negotiate.