Here’s the 5 best-paid tech jobs of 2025. Does yours stack up?

Check this rundown of the most eye-watering IT salaries and rates from this year (plus find out the four-way tech skills blend set to command premiums in 2026).

The technology labour market in 2025 continued to reward highly specialised skills.

Out of all those, the niche skillsets that fared best over the past 12 months were those that supported Artificial Intelligence, Security, Infrastructure and Data-Driven Decision Making.

Based in and around those four specialised, lucrative areas of technology, below and exclusively for Free-Work are the five best-paying tech jobs of 2025.

And with 2026 in mind, the following five include both typical permanent salaries and contractor day rate expectations in the UK, writes Ben Quinn, head of technology recruitment at Leap29.

Top five best-paying tech jobs of 2025

1. AI and Machine Learning Engineer

AI and Machine Learning specialists remained at the top of the pay ladder in 2025.

In the UK right now, permanent salaries for experienced ML and AI engineers generally range between £70,000 and £120,000. They can even exceed this annual salary level at senior or niche expertise tiers.

Contractors in these dynamic fields are often in even higher demand, however. AI Engineering roles typically attract around £525 per day, while Machine Learning Engineering roles frequently secure around £725 per day.

AI and ML Engineer pay: why so high?

The premium reserved for the latter tech job candidates reflects the rarity of advanced ML skills — and the rapid growth of AI adoption across every industry in 2025.

2. Cloud Solutions Architect

Cloud architects design the large-scale infrastructure that businesses rely on to stay efficient, resilient and secure.

A salary for a Cloud Architect on a permanent/full-time basis commonly fell between an annual £80,000 and £150,000 in 2025, albeit depending on:

• Location;

• The applicant’s depth of cloud platform expertise, and

• The role’s leadership responsibilities.

For contractors, the median day rate for Cloud Architects stands around £640 per day, with freelance Cloud Solutions Architect roles averaging about £550 per day.

Cloud Architect pay: why so high?

Organisations continue shifting from on-premise systems to cloud-native architectures, which keeps both salaries and rates high.

3. Cybersecurity Engineer

Cybersecurity remains one of the most mission-critical functions in any organisation, which kept compensation in 2025 firmly elevated.

Experienced Cybersecurity Engineers or specialists in the UK can expect permanent salaries in the region of £85,000 to £110,000 a year, and sometimes more at senior or governance-heavy levels.

The contractor market is equally well-paid. Freelance cybersecurity engineers typically command around £580 to £600 per day, depending on region and specialisation.

Cybersecurity pay: why so high?

These high pay rates for cybersecurity contractors (at a time when rates for some contractors, such as Business Analysts, are plateauing) are a reflection of three things:

1. The constancy of cyber threats;

2. Strict regulatory requirements, and

3. The high financial and reputational cost of breaches for end-client organisations.

4. Data Scientist

Data Scientists continue to be essential for organisations seeking to transform raw data into strategic intelligence.

The median Data Scientist salary in the UK sits close to £92,000, although the overall range is usually between £60,000 and £95,000, depending on role maturity and domain expertise.

Contractor day rates for data scientists typically sit around £525 per day, with regional variations placing some rates slightly lower at approximately £460 a day outside London.

Data Scientist pay: why so high?

Data Science remains fundamental to predictive analytics, business optimisation and long-term decision making. The importance of those won’t diminish in 2026.

5. Quantum Computing Specialist

While salary data is more limited for Quantum Computing than the above four top-paid tech skillsets, specialists in quantum-focused research or engineering roles frequently earn at the upper end of advanced technology pay scales.

Contract day rates are less standardised because quantum consulting roles remain rare.

However, experts in this area often negotiate high premiums on a case-by-case basis. As quantum computing advances, this field is expected to become one of the most lucrative.

Quantum Computing jobs salary: why so high?

Quantum Computing is still a niche field, but those who possess relevant skills often command impressive pay due to the complexity of the domain and the shortage of qualified professionals.

Aside from these top 5, what makes a tech job well-paid?

Fusion is the key. In particular, these roles combine advanced, but scarce, technical expertise with significant business impact.

Companies face strong pressure to compete in AI capability, cloud automation and data-driven intelligence while also maintaining strong defences against cyber threats.

The high pay of the five IT jobs featured here is also shaped by the fast evolution of technology, which consistently outpaces the supply of professionals who could describe their skills and knowledge in these cutting-edge areas as “deep” without blushing!

What tech role will pay the most in 2026?

In this last month of 2025, one technology role stands out as likely to be the top earner of 2026.

It’s the role of AI Infrastructure Engineer, also known as an MLOps Engineer or ML Platform Engineer.

AI Infrastructure Engineer pay: why so high?

As organisations scale AI from small experiments to full production systems, the need for robust machine learning infrastructure will skyrocket.

These engineers blend Software Engineering, DevOps, Data Engineering and Machine Learning expertise — a combination that is rare and valuable.

And finally, a forecast…

Senior professionals in this field with such a four-way skills blend have already secured some of the highest contractor rates in the AI market in 2025, and these rates are expected to rise further in 2026.