SQL Server Contract Job Trends in England

Microsoft SQL Server (MS SQL)
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring SQL Server skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 12 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
12 May 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 123 94 58
Rank change year-on-year -29 -36 -8
Contract jobs citing SQL Server 838 662 1,244
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.06% 2.72% 3.38%
As % of the Database & Business Intelligence category 13.52% 14.33% 20.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 585 482 873
10th Percentile £356 £350 £350
25th Percentile £404 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £525 £513
Median % change year-on-year -9.52% +2.44% -2.38%
75th Percentile £588 £650 £638
90th Percentile £688 £749 £725
UK median daily rate £475 £513 £506
% change year-on-year -7.32% +1.23% -3.57%
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 5 22
10th Percentile £15.69 £25.53 £36.84
25th Percentile £20.75 £26.32 £40.00
Median hourly rate £47.54 £63.75 £40.13
Median % change year-on-year -25.42% +58.87% -7.76%
75th Percentile £65.17 £65.62 £50.47
90th Percentile £74.20 £79.50 £62.96
UK median hourly rate £48.13 £63.75 £40.00
% change year-on-year -24.50% +59.36% -11.11%

All Database & BI Skills
England

SQL Server falls under the Databases and Business Intelligence category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring database or business intelligence skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for database or business intelligence skills 6,198 4,620 6,220
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 15.27% 19.00% 16.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,256 3,236 4,478
10th Percentile £350 £360 £355
25th Percentile £413 £425 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £529
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -0.76% -3.82%
75th Percentile £600 £656 £675
90th Percentile £700 £775 £788
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 182 87 131
10th Percentile £16.70 £20.21 £14.00
25th Percentile £26.50 £23.50 £20.98
Median hourly rate £46.65 £32.05 £40.25
Median % change year-on-year +45.55% -20.37% -31.30%
75th Percentile £74.00 £65.31 £60.13
90th Percentile £82.25 £72.50 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £47.54 £33.81 £40.00
% change year-on-year +40.63% -15.49% -33.33%

SQL Server
Job Vacancy Trend in England

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

SQL Server job vacancy trend in England

SQL Server
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing SQL Server.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing SQL Server

SQL Server
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SQL Server in England over the 6 months to 12 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for SQL Server in England

SQL Server
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing SQL Server.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing SQL Server

SQL Server
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SQL Server in England over the 6 months to 12 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for SQL Server in England

SQL Server
Contract Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing SQL Server within the England region over the 6 months to 12 May 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads		 Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months		 Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Live
Jobs
London -32 457 £500 -13.04% 128
North of England -23 133 £465 +9.41% 62
South East -20 111 £471 -3.98% 111
North West -25 69 £500 +11.11% 40
Yorkshire -8 62 £450 +12.36% 17
Midlands -39 56 £455 -10.12% 61
South West -23 36 £438 -16.67% 28
East of England -6 29 £475 -5.24% 26
East Midlands -14 28 £525 +54.41% 38
West Midlands -68 26 £449 -22.00% 23
North East -21 3 £475 +5.56% 5
SQL Server
UK

SQL Server
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 39 (4.65%) SharePoint
2 37 (4.42%) IIS
3 24 (2.86%) Microsoft Exchange
4 19 (2.27%) Confluence
5 16 (1.91%) Apache Spark
6 15 (1.79%) Apache
7 14 (1.67%) Apache Airflow
8 11 (1.31%) Appian
9 10 (1.19%) CMS
10 8 (0.95%) Oracle SOA Suite
11 7 (0.84%) Camunda
12 6 (0.72%) Sitecore CMS
12 6 (0.72%) WebSphere
13 5 (0.60%) OpenEdge
14 4 (0.48%) Oracle Workflow
15 3 (0.36%) Apache Superset
15 3 (0.36%) Umbraco
15 3 (0.36%) WebLogic
16 2 (0.24%) Tomcat
17 1 (0.12%) ColdFusion
Applications
1 32 (3.82%) Microsoft Excel
2 15 (1.79%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (1.67%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.24%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.24%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.24%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.12%) InDesign
Business Applications
1 13 (1.55%) Remedy ITSM
2 8 (0.95%) Dynamics CRM
2 8 (0.95%) SAP S/4HANA
3 5 (0.60%) Advent Geneva
3 5 (0.60%) Dynamics AX
4 4 (0.48%) Oracle Payables
5 3 (0.36%) Oracle General Ledger
5 3 (0.36%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 3 (0.36%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 3 (0.36%) SystmOne
6 2 (0.24%) BusinessWorks
6 2 (0.24%) Loan IQ
6 2 (0.24%) Oracle Receivables
6 2 (0.24%) Veritas eDiscovery
7 1 (0.12%) Dynamics NAV
7 1 (0.12%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.12%) Endur
7 1 (0.12%) Findur
7 1 (0.12%) SAP R/3
7 1 (0.12%) SDL Web 8
Cloud Services
1 367 (43.79%) Azure
2 177 (21.12%) AWS
3 138 (16.47%) Power Platform
4 111 (13.25%) Azure DevOps
5 86 (10.26%) Azure Data Factory
6 72 (8.59%) GitHub
7 52 (6.21%) Azure Synapse Analytics
8 40 (4.77%) GCP
9 34 (4.06%) GitHub Actions
9 34 (4.06%) Microsoft 365
10 32 (3.82%) Power Automate
11 29 (3.46%) Serverless
12 28 (3.34%) SaaS
13 27 (3.22%) Amazon S3
14 26 (3.10%) Snowflake
15 23 (2.74%) Azure Monitor
16 22 (2.63%) Dynamics 365
17 20 (2.39%) PowerApps
18 19 (2.27%) Amazon EC2
19 18 (2.15%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 28 (3.34%) DNS
2 23 (2.74%) DHCP
3 21 (2.51%) Firewall
4 13 (1.55%) VLAN
5 12 (1.43%) Internet
5 12 (1.43%) VPN
6 11 (1.31%) SAN
7 9 (1.07%) TCP/IP
8 7 (0.84%) Wi-Fi
9 6 (0.72%) IPv4
9 6 (0.72%) IPv6
9 6 (0.72%) LAN
9 6 (0.72%) NetScaler
10 5 (0.60%) Network Security
11 4 (0.48%) FTP
11 4 (0.48%) SSH
11 4 (0.48%) WAN
12 3 (0.36%) RS-232
12 3 (0.36%) X.400
13 2 (0.24%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 123 (14.68%) PostgreSQL
2 114 (13.60%) Power BI
2 114 (13.60%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 105 (12.53%) Data Warehouse
4 87 (10.38%) Relational Database
5 63 (7.52%) Oracle Database
6 61 (7.28%) Data Lake
7 57 (6.80%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 55 (6.56%) Azure SQL Database
9 49 (5.85%) MySQL
10 37 (4.42%) NoSQL
11 36 (4.30%) MongoDB
12 34 (4.06%) SQL Server Analysis Services
13 22 (2.63%) Metadata
14 19 (2.27%) Tableau
15 18 (2.15%) Delta Lake
15 18 (2.15%) RDBMS
16 17 (2.03%) Amazon RDS
16 17 (2.03%) DB2
17 15 (1.79%) Big Data
Development Applications
1 65 (7.76%) Git
2 57 (6.80%) JIRA
3 39 (4.65%) Jenkins
4 24 (2.86%) Visual Studio
5 22 (2.63%) GitLab
6 18 (2.15%) TeamCity
7 13 (1.55%) Cucumber
7 13 (1.55%) Team Foundation Server
8 11 (1.31%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
9 10 (1.19%) Maven
9 10 (1.19%) Postman
10 9 (1.07%) Gatling
11 8 (0.95%) ERwin
11 8 (0.95%) MLflow
11 8 (0.95%) Octopus Deploy
11 8 (0.95%) Selenium
12 7 (0.84%) Chocolatey
12 7 (0.84%) MSTest
13 6 (0.72%) REST Assured
13 6 (0.72%) TestRail
General
1 231 (27.57%) Social Skills
2 194 (23.15%) Finance
3 135 (16.11%) Analytical Skills
4 93 (11.10%) Banking
5 67 (8.00%) Public Sector
6 32 (3.82%) Documentation Skills
7 25 (2.98%) Front Office
8 22 (2.63%) Investment Banking
9 19 (2.27%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 17 (2.03%) Legal
11 15 (1.79%) Organisational Skills
12 12 (1.43%) Retail
13 9 (1.07%) Advertising
13 9 (1.07%) Financial Institution
13 9 (1.07%) Local Government
14 6 (0.72%) Telecoms
15 5 (0.60%) Manufacturing
16 4 (0.48%) Military
16 4 (0.48%) Presentation Skills
16 4 (0.48%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 247 (29.47%) Developer
2 134 (15.99%) Senior
3 113 (13.48%) Data Engineer
4 90 (10.74%) DBA
5 75 (8.95%) C# Developer
6 64 (7.64%) Architect
7 62 (7.40%) .NET Developer
8 56 (6.68%) SQL DBA
9 47 (5.61%) Lead
10 38 (4.53%) Senior Data Engineer
11 36 (4.30%) Senior Developer
12 33 (3.94%) Full-Stack Developer
12 33 (3.94%) Software Engineer
13 31 (3.70%) Analyst
14 28 (3.34%) Azure Engineer
14 28 (3.34%) SQL Developer
15 25 (2.98%) C# .NET Developer
15 25 (2.98%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 24 (2.86%) Administrator
17 22 (2.63%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 219 (26.13%) .NET
2 99 (11.81%) REST
3 89 (10.62%) .NET Framework
4 74 (8.83%) React
5 57 (6.80%) RESTful
6 56 (6.68%) AngularJS
7 54 (6.44%) CSS
8 52 (6.21%) HTML
9 43 (5.13%) Kafka
10 40 (4.77%) ASP.NET
11 37 (4.42%) .NET Core
12 29 (3.46%) XML
13 26 (3.10%) OAuth
14 23 (2.74%) Entity Framework
14 23 (2.74%) Web Services
15 20 (2.39%) PySpark
15 20 (2.39%) Spring
15 20 (2.39%) Spring Boot
16 19 (2.27%) SOAP
17 18 (2.15%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 54 (6.44%) Legacy Systems
2 39 (4.65%) Cloud Native
3 33 (3.94%) Data Structures
3 33 (3.94%) Onboarding
4 32 (3.82%) Replication
5 25 (2.98%) Clustering
6 21 (2.51%) Enterprise Software
6 21 (2.51%) Management Information System
7 20 (2.39%) Self-Motivation
8 16 (1.91%) Low-Code
8 16 (1.91%) NHS
9 15 (1.79%) Product Ownership
10 13 (1.55%) Legacy Code
11 11 (1.31%) Distributed Systems
11 11 (1.31%) Greenfield Project
12 10 (1.19%) PKI
12 10 (1.19%) Virtual Team
13 9 (1.07%) Data Protection Act
13 9 (1.07%) Derivative
13 9 (1.07%) Fixed Income
Operating Systems
1 179 (21.36%) Windows
2 106 (12.65%) Windows Server
3 82 (9.79%) Linux
4 49 (5.85%) Unix
5 13 (1.55%) Windows 10
6 11 (1.31%) Windows Server 2016
7 9 (1.07%) Windows Server 2019
8 8 (0.95%) AIX
9 6 (0.72%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 5 (0.60%) Windows Server 2012
11 4 (0.48%) Android
12 2 (0.24%) OpenVMS
12 2 (0.24%) Windows 7
12 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2003
13 1 (0.12%) Data ONTAP
13 1 (0.12%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.12%) VMS
13 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 206 (24.58%) DevOps
2 204 (24.34%) CI/CD
3 179 (21.36%) Agile
3 179 (21.36%) ETL
4 177 (21.12%) Problem-Solving
5 154 (18.38%) Business Intelligence
6 143 (17.06%) Data Modelling
7 127 (15.16%) Migration
8 105 (12.53%) Analytics
9 95 (11.34%) Performance Tuning
10 94 (11.22%) Disaster Recovery
11 90 (10.74%) Data Pipeline
12 84 (10.02%) AI
13 81 (9.67%) Test Automation
14 80 (9.55%) Data Engineering
15 75 (8.95%) Data Integration
16 71 (8.47%) Microservices
17 66 (7.88%) High Availability
18 64 (7.64%) Software Engineering
18 64 (7.64%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 495 (59.07%) SQL
2 215 (25.66%) Python
3 213 (25.42%) C#
4 139 (16.59%) T-SQL
5 122 (14.56%) PowerShell
6 84 (10.02%) JavaScript
7 79 (9.43%) Java
8 65 (7.76%) PL/SQL
9 49 (5.85%) TypeScript
10 30 (3.58%) Bash
11 23 (2.74%) Shell Script
12 22 (2.63%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 18 (2.15%) Scala
14 16 (1.91%) Korn
14 16 (1.91%) VB
15 15 (1.79%) Bicep
16 12 (1.43%) PHP
16 12 (1.43%) VBA
17 5 (0.60%) Rust
18 4 (0.48%) R
Qualifications
1 183 (21.84%) Security Cleared
2 141 (16.83%) SC Cleared
3 84 (10.02%) Degree
4 27 (3.22%) Microsoft Certification
5 25 (2.98%) DV Cleared
6 24 (2.86%) Computer Science Degree
7 21 (2.51%) BPSS Clearance
8 19 (2.27%) Azure Certification
9 8 (0.95%) Master's Degree
10 6 (0.72%) DBS Check
11 5 (0.60%) CCA
11 5 (0.60%) CISSP
11 5 (0.60%) Citrix Certification
11 5 (0.60%) OCP
11 5 (0.60%) Oracle Certification
12 4 (0.48%) MCITP
12 4 (0.48%) MCTS
13 3 (0.36%) ITIL Certification
13 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 2 (0.24%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 103 (12.29%) Data Quality
2 89 (10.62%) QA
3 22 (2.63%) GDPR
4 20 (2.39%) NIST
5 18 (2.15%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 14 (1.67%) SLA
7 8 (0.95%) Accessibility
7 8 (0.95%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 4 (0.48%) WCAG
9 3 (0.36%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (0.36%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 3 (0.36%) HIPAA
9 3 (0.36%) IFRS
9 3 (0.36%) IFRS 9
10 2 (0.24%) Basel III
10 2 (0.24%) EMIR
10 2 (0.24%) GAAP
10 2 (0.24%) GRC
10 2 (0.24%) IFRS 17
10 2 (0.24%) MiFID
System Software
1 91 (10.86%) Docker
2 74 (8.83%) Active Directory
3 23 (2.74%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (1.91%) Hyper-V
4 16 (1.91%) Oracle RAC
4 16 (1.91%) Virtual Machines
5 11 (1.31%) Virtual Desktop
6 6 (0.72%) KVM
7 5 (0.60%) XenApp
7 5 (0.60%) XenDesktop
8 3 (0.36%) GridGain
9 2 (0.24%) Virtual Servers
9 2 (0.24%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.12%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.12%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 1 (0.12%) NFS
10 1 (0.12%) RACF
10 1 (0.12%) VMware NSX
10 1 (0.12%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 104 (12.41%) Kubernetes
2 63 (7.52%) Terraform
3 17 (2.03%) SCCM
4 16 (1.91%) Oracle RMAN
5 14 (1.67%) Ansible
5 14 (1.67%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
6 10 (1.19%) HAProxy
7 9 (1.07%) Grafana
7 9 (1.07%) Microsoft Intune
8 8 (0.95%) WSUS
9 7 (0.84%) vCenter Server
10 6 (0.72%) IBM BigFix
11 5 (0.60%) SCVMM
11 5 (0.60%) Single Sign-On
12 4 (0.48%) Puppet
13 3 (0.36%) Control-M
13 3 (0.36%) Foglight
13 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Clustering
13 3 (0.36%) Progress Chef
14 2 (0.24%) TIBCO Hawk
Vendors
1 242 (28.88%) Microsoft
2 227 (27.09%) Oracle
3 78 (9.31%) Databricks
4 54 (6.44%) Citrix
5 38 (4.53%) ServiceNow
6 36 (4.30%) VMware
7 29 (3.46%) Informatica
8 25 (2.98%) SAP
9 23 (2.74%) CyberArk
10 20 (2.39%) Google
11 17 (2.03%) BeyondTrust
12 15 (1.79%) IBM
12 15 (1.79%) Sybase
13 13 (1.55%) Dynatrace
13 13 (1.55%) Remedy
14 12 (1.43%) BMC
15 11 (1.31%) OpenAI
15 11 (1.31%) UiPath
16 9 (1.07%) Alteryx
16 9 (1.07%) Tenable
391 SQL Server jobs in England