SQL Contract Job Trends in the City of London

SQL (Structured Query Language)
Central London > City of London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the City of London requiring SQL skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 17 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 9 8
Rank change year-on-year -1 -1 -2
Contract jobs citing SQL 273 260 310
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 13.18% 14.48% 13.21%
As % of the Programming Languages category 43.54% 36.83% 40.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 186 169 209
10th Percentile £344 £405 £411
25th Percentile £443 £463 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £544 £570 £575
Median % change year-on-year -4.61% -0.87% -
75th Percentile £647 £695 £684
90th Percentile £749 £775 £775
Central London median daily rate £550 £550 £575
% change year-on-year - -4.35% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 0 1
10th Percentile £29.70 - -
25th Percentile £34.50 - £46.75
Median hourly rate £45.00 - £48.50
75th Percentile £53.61 - £50.25
90th Percentile £57.28 - -
Central London median hourly rate £45.00 £35.29 £48.50
% change year-on-year +27.53% -27.25% +34.72%

All Programming Languages
City of London

SQL falls under the Programming Languages category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring coding skills in the City of London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for coding skills 627 706 765
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 30.28% 39.33% 32.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 446 459 542
10th Percentile £346 £413 £400
25th Percentile £425 £472 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £575 £575
Median % change year-on-year -8.70% - -5.93%
75th Percentile £638 £694 £688
90th Percentile £775 £788 £800
Central London median daily rate £525 £575 £575
% change year-on-year -8.70% - -4.17%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 2 2
10th Percentile £29.70 - £46.30
25th Percentile £34.50 - £46.38
Median hourly rate £45.00 £112.00 £48.00
Median % change year-on-year -59.82% +133.33% -16.52%
75th Percentile £53.61 - £49.88
90th Percentile £57.28 - £50.10
Central London median hourly rate £45.00 £76.75 £48.00
% change year-on-year -41.37% +59.90% -16.52%

SQL
Job Vacancy Trend in the City of London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing SQL relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London.

SQL job vacancy trend in the City of London

SQL
Daily Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing SQL.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing SQL

SQL
Daily Rate Histogram in the City of London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SQL in the City of London over the 6 months to 17 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for SQL in the City of London

SQL
Hourly Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing SQL.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing SQL

SQL
Hourly Rate Histogram in the City of London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SQL in the City of London over the 6 months to 17 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for SQL in the City of London

SQL
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the City of London by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 19 (6.96%) Apache Airflow
2 17 (6.23%) Apache Spark
3 9 (3.30%) Apache
4 6 (2.20%) Confluence
4 6 (2.20%) SharePoint
5 3 (1.10%) Palantir Foundry
6 2 (0.73%) CICS
7 1 (0.37%) Anypoint
7 1 (0.37%) Mule
7 1 (0.37%) SAS
Applications
1 16 (5.86%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (2.56%) MS Visio
3 6 (2.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (1.83%) Microsoft Office
5 1 (0.37%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 5 (1.83%) Oracle EBS
2 4 (1.47%) Aladdin
2 4 (1.47%) Endur
2 4 (1.47%) Oracle General Ledger
2 4 (1.47%) Oracle Payables
3 3 (1.10%) BambooHR
3 3 (1.10%) Bloomberg AIM
3 3 (1.10%) Fidessa
3 3 (1.10%) Oracle EBS R12
3 3 (1.10%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 2 (0.73%) Algo Collateral
4 2 (0.73%) BASE24
4 2 (0.73%) Oracle Assets
4 2 (0.73%) Oracle E-Business Tax
4 2 (0.73%) Oracle Financials
4 2 (0.73%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 2 (0.73%) Oracle Receivables
4 2 (0.73%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
5 1 (0.37%) Oracle FAH
5 1 (0.37%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 92 (33.70%) Azure
2 78 (28.57%) AWS
3 60 (21.98%) Power Platform
4 35 (12.82%) GCP
5 29 (10.62%) Snowflake
6 24 (8.79%) GitHub
6 24 (8.79%) Serverless
7 22 (8.06%) dbt
8 21 (7.69%) Azure DevOps
9 20 (7.33%) Azure Data Factory
10 18 (6.59%) Amazon S3
11 16 (5.86%) AWS Lambda
12 13 (4.76%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 8 (2.93%) GitHub Actions
13 8 (2.93%) SaaS
14 7 (2.56%) Amazon EKS
14 7 (2.56%) Amazon SageMaker
14 7 (2.56%) Azure Cosmos DB
14 7 (2.56%) Azure Functions
15 6 (2.20%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 1 (0.37%) 2G
1 1 (0.37%) 4G
1 1 (0.37%) 5G
1 1 (0.37%) DNS
1 1 (0.37%) HTTP
1 1 (0.37%) LAN
1 1 (0.37%) NetScaler
1 1 (0.37%) Radio Access Network
1 1 (0.37%) SD-WAN
1 1 (0.37%) WAN
1 1 (0.37%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 55 (20.15%) Power BI
2 40 (14.65%) Data Warehouse
3 35 (12.82%) Tableau
4 29 (10.62%) SQL Server
5 21 (7.69%) Metadata
6 18 (6.59%) Relational Database
7 17 (6.23%) PostgreSQL
8 14 (5.13%) NoSQL
9 12 (4.40%) Data Lake
10 11 (4.03%) Amazon Redshift
10 11 (4.03%) Big Data
11 10 (3.66%) Looker
12 8 (2.93%) BigQuery
12 8 (2.93%) SQL Server Integration Services
13 7 (2.56%) DB2
14 6 (2.20%) MongoDB
14 6 (2.20%) MySQL
14 6 (2.20%) Oracle Database
14 6 (2.20%) Oracle Reports
14 6 (2.20%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 28 (10.26%) Git
2 15 (5.49%) Jenkins
3 13 (4.76%) JIRA
4 8 (2.93%) GitLab
5 4 (1.47%) Cucumber
6 3 (1.10%) ERwin
6 3 (1.10%) Postman
7 2 (0.73%) ER Studio
7 2 (0.73%) Gatling
7 2 (0.73%) JUnit
7 2 (0.73%) Oracle Forms
7 2 (0.73%) Selenium
7 2 (0.73%) SonarQube
7 2 (0.73%) Team Foundation Server
7 2 (0.73%) Toad
8 1 (0.37%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.37%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.37%) Mockito
8 1 (0.37%) MSTest
8 1 (0.37%) TeamCity
General
1 103 (37.73%) Finance
2 71 (26.01%) Social Skills
3 55 (20.15%) Analytical Skills
4 49 (17.95%) Banking
5 13 (4.76%) Front Office
5 13 (4.76%) Legal
6 12 (4.40%) Investment Banking
7 8 (2.93%) Public Sector
8 7 (2.56%) Documentation Skills
9 6 (2.20%) Financial Institution
10 5 (1.83%) General Ledger
10 5 (1.83%) Law
10 5 (1.83%) Pharmaceutical
10 5 (1.83%) Retail
10 5 (1.83%) Telecoms
11 4 (1.47%) Back Office
11 4 (1.47%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 4 (1.47%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (1.47%) Marketing
12 3 (1.10%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 56 (20.51%) Developer
2 51 (18.68%) Data Engineer
3 45 (16.48%) Analyst
4 35 (12.82%) Senior
5 21 (7.69%) Lead
6 17 (6.23%) Data Analyst
7 15 (5.49%) Consultant
8 13 (4.76%) Business Analyst
9 12 (4.40%) Architect
10 11 (4.03%) DBA
10 11 (4.03%) Snowflake Data Engineer
10 11 (4.03%) Snowflake Engineer
11 9 (3.30%) Data Scientist
11 9 (3.30%) Java Developer
11 9 (3.30%) Senior Analyst
11 9 (3.30%) Senior Developer
12 8 (2.93%) Senior Data Engineer
13 7 (2.56%) Software Engineer
13 7 (2.56%) SQL DBA
14 6 (2.20%) Python Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (8.42%) Kafka
2 22 (8.06%) .NET
3 16 (5.86%) PySpark
4 15 (5.49%) JSON
5 14 (5.13%) REST
5 14 (5.13%) XML
6 13 (4.76%) React
7 11 (4.03%) AngularJS
7 11 (4.03%) scikit-learn
8 10 (3.66%) Pandas
8 10 (3.66%) PyTorch
9 9 (3.30%) RESTful
9 9 (3.30%) TensorFlow
10 8 (2.93%) HTML
10 8 (2.93%) Web Services
11 7 (2.56%) Middleware
11 7 (2.56%) Spring
12 6 (2.20%) Matplotlib
12 6 (2.20%) NumPy
13 5 (1.83%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 24 (8.79%) Cloud Native
2 16 (5.86%) Derivative
3 12 (4.40%) Equities
3 12 (4.40%) Fixed Income
4 11 (4.03%) Algorithms
4 11 (4.03%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
5 10 (3.66%) Data Structures
6 7 (2.56%) Legacy Systems
7 5 (1.83%) Analytical Mindset
7 5 (1.83%) Distributed Systems
7 5 (1.83%) Enterprise Software
7 5 (1.83%) Market Risk
8 4 (1.47%) AI Agents
8 4 (1.47%) Clustering
8 4 (1.47%) Greenfield Project
8 4 (1.47%) Management Information System
8 4 (1.47%) Product Ownership
8 4 (1.47%) Reference Data
9 3 (1.10%) Security Posture
9 3 (1.10%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 15 (5.49%) Linux
2 13 (4.76%) Windows
3 10 (3.66%) Unix
4 3 (1.10%) Android
4 3 (1.10%) Apple iOS
5 2 (0.73%) Windows Server
5 2 (0.73%) zOS
6 1 (0.37%) Windows 10
6 1 (0.37%) Windows Server 2016
6 1 (0.37%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 75 (27.47%) Analytics
2 65 (23.81%) ETL
3 64 (23.44%) Data Modelling
4 61 (22.34%) Business Intelligence
5 52 (19.05%) Problem-Solving
6 50 (18.32%) Agile
6 50 (18.32%) Data Pipeline
7 49 (17.95%) Data Engineering
8 48 (17.58%) AI
9 46 (16.85%) CI/CD
10 45 (16.48%) DevOps
11 38 (13.92%) Performance Tuning
12 37 (13.55%) Migration
13 34 (12.45%) Machine Learning
13 34 (12.45%) Visualisation
14 33 (12.09%) Validation
15 32 (11.72%) Data Governance
15 32 (11.72%) Test Automation
16 31 (11.36%) Data Analysis
16 31 (11.36%) Data Science
Programming Languages
1 135 (49.45%) Python
2 40 (14.65%) Java
3 22 (8.06%) C#
4 19 (6.96%) JavaScript
5 14 (5.13%) PL/SQL
6 10 (3.66%) TypeScript
7 7 (2.56%) R
7 7 (2.56%) Scala
7 7 (2.56%) Shell Script
8 6 (2.20%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 4 (1.47%) C++
9 4 (1.47%) Perl
9 4 (1.47%) PHP
9 4 (1.47%) T-SQL
10 3 (1.10%) Bicep
10 3 (1.10%) C
10 3 (1.10%) PowerShell
10 3 (1.10%) ProC
11 2 (0.73%) Go
11 2 (0.73%) JCL
Qualifications
1 24 (8.79%) Degree
2 22 (8.06%) Security Cleared
3 17 (6.23%) SC Cleared
4 11 (4.03%) Computer Science Degree
5 7 (2.56%) BPSS Clearance
6 3 (1.10%) AWS Certification
6 3 (1.10%) ISTQB
6 3 (1.10%) PhD
6 3 (1.10%) PMP
7 2 (0.73%) CBAP
7 2 (0.73%) CFA
7 2 (0.73%) ISEB
7 2 (0.73%) Master's Degree
7 2 (0.73%) PMI Certification
7 2 (0.73%) SnowPro
8 1 (0.37%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
8 1 (0.37%) AWS Certified Developer
8 1 (0.37%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
8 1 (0.37%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
8 1 (0.37%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (19.78%) Data Quality
2 19 (6.96%) QA
3 11 (4.03%) GDPR
4 4 (1.47%) ISO 8583
5 3 (1.10%) Basel III
5 3 (1.10%) GAAP
5 3 (1.10%) IFRS
5 3 (1.10%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 3 (1.10%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 2 (0.73%) ISO 20022
6 2 (0.73%) NIST
6 2 (0.73%) PSD2
6 2 (0.73%) SEPA
7 1 (0.37%) Accessibility
7 1 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials
7 1 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 1 (0.37%) Dodd-Frank
7 1 (0.37%) EMIR
7 1 (0.37%) IFRS 9
7 1 (0.37%) PMO
System Software
1 18 (6.59%) Docker
2 2 (0.73%) Active Directory
2 2 (0.73%) Virtual Machines
3 1 (0.37%) Hyper-V
3 1 (0.37%) XenApp
3 1 (0.37%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 18 (6.59%) Kubernetes
1 18 (6.59%) Terraform
2 10 (3.66%) Ansible
3 6 (2.20%) Grafana
4 4 (1.47%) Prometheus
5 2 (0.73%) Argo
5 2 (0.73%) ITRS Geneos
6 1 (0.37%) Control-M
6 1 (0.37%) Istio
6 1 (0.37%) SCCM
6 1 (0.37%) SCVMM
Vendors
1 51 (18.68%) Microsoft
2 39 (14.29%) Oracle
3 35 (12.82%) Databricks
4 17 (6.23%) Google
5 9 (3.30%) Informatica
5 9 (3.30%) SAP
6 7 (2.56%) Workday
7 6 (2.20%) IBM
7 6 (2.20%) Splunk
8 5 (1.83%) AppDynamics
8 5 (1.83%) Bloomberg
9 4 (1.47%) Amplitude
9 4 (1.47%) Charles River
9 4 (1.47%) ServiceNow
10 3 (1.10%) Cognos
10 3 (1.10%) Confluent
10 3 (1.10%) Foundry
10 3 (1.10%) Palantir
10 3 (1.10%) Sage
11 2 (0.73%) Sparx