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 16 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 122 93 61
Rank change year-on-year -29 -32 -10
Contract jobs citing SQL Server 835 679 1,237
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.13% 2.78% 3.31%
As % of the Database & Business Intelligence category 13.37% 14.54% 20.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 586 501 869
10th Percentile £356 £338 £340
25th Percentile £404 £413 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £518 £525
Median % change year-on-year -8.21% -1.43% -2.33%
75th Percentile £588 £650 £645
90th Percentile £675 £738 £725
UK median daily rate £475 £510 £525
% change year-on-year -6.86% -2.86% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 30 6 26
10th Percentile £18.62 £25.66 £21.79
25th Percentile £25.92 £34.80 £38.22
Median hourly rate £52.50 £62.12 £40.13
Median % change year-on-year -15.49% +54.82% +5.59%
75th Percentile £69.86 £65.62 £56.84
90th Percentile £74.25 £77.18 £62.98
UK median hourly rate £53.00 £62.12 £40.00
% change year-on-year -14.68% +55.31% -8.18%

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 6,245 4,669 6,161
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 15.91% 19.13% 16.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,344 3,270 4,423
10th Percentile £350 £357 £350
25th Percentile £413 £425 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £600 £659 £675
90th Percentile £700 £775 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 155 94 137
10th Percentile £17.55 £20.96 £14.00
25th Percentile £29.28 £24.25 £20.77
Median hourly rate £51.00 £32.96 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +54.73% -17.60% -30.43%
75th Percentile £74.68 £65.46 £52.50
90th Percentile £83.55 £70.00 £70.25
UK median hourly rate £52.50 £33.11 £40.00
% change year-on-year +58.56% -17.23% -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 16 April 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 16 April 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 16 April 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 -25 464 £500 -9.09% 119
North of England -22 132 £465 +9.41% 77
South East -28 108 £475 -5.00% 112
North West -22 69 £473 +9.57% 47
Yorkshire -9 61 £450 +12.43% 23
Midlands -54 53 £450 -14.29% 55
South West -32 34 £438 -18.60% 47
East of England -14 27 £544 +5.58% 25
West Midlands -61 26 £449 -24.53% 33
East Midlands -18 25 £463 +29.92% 22
North East -20 3 £475 +5.56% 7
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 (4.67%) IIS
2 37 (4.43%) SharePoint
3 22 (2.63%) Microsoft Exchange
4 17 (2.04%) Confluence
5 13 (1.56%) Apache
5 13 (1.56%) Apache Spark
5 13 (1.56%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 11 (1.32%) Apache Airflow
6 11 (1.32%) Appian
6 11 (1.32%) WebSphere
7 8 (0.96%) WebLogic
8 7 (0.84%) CMS
9 6 (0.72%) Camunda
9 6 (0.72%) Sitecore CMS
10 4 (0.48%) Oracle Workflow
11 3 (0.36%) Apache Superset
11 3 (0.36%) OpenEdge
12 2 (0.24%) Tomcat
13 1 (0.12%) ColdFusion
13 1 (0.12%) JBoss
Applications
1 42 (5.03%) Microsoft Excel
2 14 (1.68%) MS Visio
3 13 (1.56%) Microsoft Office
4 5 (0.60%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.24%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.24%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.12%) InDesign
Business Applications
1 12 (1.44%) Dynamics CRM
2 9 (1.08%) Remedy ITSM
3 8 (0.96%) Advent Geneva
4 7 (0.84%) BusinessWorks
4 7 (0.84%) SAP S/4HANA
5 4 (0.48%) Oracle Payables
5 4 (0.48%) Salesforce CRM
6 3 (0.36%) Dynamics AX
6 3 (0.36%) Oracle General Ledger
6 3 (0.36%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 3 (0.36%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 3 (0.36%) SystmOne
7 2 (0.24%) Endur
7 2 (0.24%) Loan IQ
7 2 (0.24%) Oracle Receivables
7 2 (0.24%) Veritas eDiscovery
8 1 (0.12%) Findur
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle FAH
8 1 (0.12%) SAP R/3
8 1 (0.12%) TIBCO BusinessEvents
Cloud Services
1 365 (43.71%) Azure
2 171 (20.48%) AWS
3 139 (16.65%) Power Platform
4 109 (13.05%) Azure DevOps
5 83 (9.94%) Azure Data Factory
6 67 (8.02%) GitHub
7 49 (5.87%) Azure Synapse Analytics
8 39 (4.67%) GCP
9 34 (4.07%) Microsoft 365
10 31 (3.71%) GitHub Actions
11 30 (3.59%) SaaS
12 28 (3.35%) Amazon S3
12 28 (3.35%) Power Automate
13 26 (3.11%) Snowflake
14 23 (2.75%) Dynamics 365
14 23 (2.75%) Serverless
15 22 (2.63%) IaaS
16 20 (2.40%) Amazon EC2
17 19 (2.28%) Azure Monitor
17 19 (2.28%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 27 (3.23%) DNS
2 21 (2.51%) DHCP
3 20 (2.40%) Firewall
4 14 (1.68%) Internet
5 12 (1.44%) VLAN
5 12 (1.44%) VPN
6 11 (1.32%) TCP/IP
7 10 (1.20%) SAN
8 7 (0.84%) Wi-Fi
9 6 (0.72%) HTTP
9 6 (0.72%) LAN
9 6 (0.72%) NetScaler
10 5 (0.60%) IPv4
10 5 (0.60%) IPv6
11 4 (0.48%) FTP
11 4 (0.48%) Network Security
11 4 (0.48%) SSH
12 3 (0.36%) RS-232
12 3 (0.36%) WAN
12 3 (0.36%) X.400
Database & Business Intelligence
1 121 (14.49%) PostgreSQL
2 114 (13.65%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 113 (13.53%) Power BI
4 98 (11.74%) Data Warehouse
5 87 (10.42%) Relational Database
6 66 (7.90%) Oracle Database
7 65 (7.78%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 60 (7.19%) Azure SQL Database
9 56 (6.71%) Data Lake
10 53 (6.35%) MySQL
11 35 (4.19%) NoSQL
12 34 (4.07%) SQL Server Analysis Services
13 32 (3.83%) MongoDB
14 25 (2.99%) DB2
15 23 (2.75%) Metadata
16 21 (2.51%) Amazon RDS
17 18 (2.16%) Delta Lake
17 18 (2.16%) Tableau
18 17 (2.04%) RDBMS
19 13 (1.56%) Big Data
Development Applications
1 71 (8.50%) Git
2 51 (6.11%) JIRA
3 40 (4.79%) Jenkins
4 25 (2.99%) Visual Studio
5 21 (2.51%) GitLab
6 15 (1.80%) TeamCity
7 11 (1.32%) Cucumber
7 11 (1.32%) Maven
7 11 (1.32%) Team Foundation Server
8 10 (1.20%) Postman
9 9 (1.08%) ERwin
9 9 (1.08%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 8 (0.96%) Gatling
10 8 (0.96%) MLflow
10 8 (0.96%) Octopus Deploy
11 7 (0.84%) Chocolatey
11 7 (0.84%) Selenium
12 6 (0.72%) Artifactory
12 6 (0.72%) JUnit
12 6 (0.72%) TestRail
General
1 235 (28.14%) Social Skills
2 191 (22.87%) Finance
3 132 (15.81%) Analytical Skills
4 95 (11.38%) Banking
5 73 (8.74%) Public Sector
6 34 (4.07%) Documentation Skills
7 24 (2.87%) Front Office
8 23 (2.75%) Investment Banking
9 22 (2.63%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 15 (1.80%) Legal
10 15 (1.80%) Retail
11 14 (1.68%) Organisational Skills
12 12 (1.44%) Financial Institution
13 9 (1.08%) Advertising
14 8 (0.96%) Local Government
15 6 (0.72%) Telecoms
16 4 (0.48%) General Ledger
16 4 (0.48%) Law
16 4 (0.48%) Manufacturing
16 4 (0.48%) Military
Job Titles
1 261 (31.26%) Developer
2 127 (15.21%) Senior
3 109 (13.05%) Data Engineer
4 90 (10.78%) DBA
5 78 (9.34%) C# Developer
6 71 (8.50%) Architect
7 64 (7.66%) .NET Developer
8 52 (6.23%) SQL DBA
9 41 (4.91%) Lead
10 36 (4.31%) Senior Developer
11 34 (4.07%) Analyst
11 34 (4.07%) Senior Data Engineer
12 30 (3.59%) Azure Engineer
12 30 (3.59%) Software Engineer
13 29 (3.47%) Full-Stack Developer
13 29 (3.47%) SQL Developer
14 27 (3.23%) Administrator
15 23 (2.75%) C# .NET Developer
16 22 (2.63%) Oracle DBA
17 20 (2.40%) Data Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 231 (27.66%) .NET
2 95 (11.38%) .NET Framework
3 93 (11.14%) REST
4 70 (8.38%) React
5 56 (6.71%) AngularJS
6 55 (6.59%) RESTful
7 50 (5.99%) HTML
8 47 (5.63%) CSS
9 40 (4.79%) ASP.NET
10 39 (4.67%) .NET Core
11 37 (4.43%) Kafka
12 36 (4.31%) XML
13 29 (3.47%) Web Services
14 22 (2.63%) Entity Framework
15 21 (2.51%) WPF
16 20 (2.40%) JSON
16 20 (2.40%) Node.js
16 20 (2.40%) Spring
16 20 (2.40%) WinForms
17 19 (2.28%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 60 (7.19%) Legacy Systems
2 36 (4.31%) Cloud Native
3 34 (4.07%) Onboarding
4 32 (3.83%) Data Structures
5 31 (3.71%) Replication
6 23 (2.75%) Enterprise Software
7 21 (2.51%) Management Information System
8 20 (2.40%) Clustering
8 20 (2.40%) Self-Motivation
9 16 (1.92%) NHS
9 16 (1.92%) Product Ownership
10 12 (1.44%) Legacy Code
10 12 (1.44%) Virtual Team
11 11 (1.32%) Low-Code
12 9 (1.08%) Credit Risk
12 9 (1.08%) Data Protection Act
12 9 (1.08%) Distributed Systems
12 9 (1.08%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
12 9 (1.08%) Greenfield Project
12 9 (1.08%) Reinsurance
Operating Systems
1 167 (20.00%) Windows
2 93 (11.14%) Windows Server
3 80 (9.58%) Linux
4 46 (5.51%) Unix
5 12 (1.44%) Windows 10
6 10 (1.20%) Windows Server 2016
7 8 (0.96%) AIX
8 7 (0.84%) Windows Server 2019
9 5 (0.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 5 (0.60%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.36%) Android
11 2 (0.24%) OpenVMS
11 2 (0.24%) VMS
11 2 (0.24%) Windows 7
11 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2003
12 1 (0.12%) Data ONTAP
12 1 (0.12%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 207 (24.79%) CI/CD
2 204 (24.43%) DevOps
3 180 (21.56%) Agile
4 176 (21.08%) ETL
5 174 (20.84%) Problem-Solving
6 155 (18.56%) Business Intelligence
7 142 (17.01%) Data Modelling
8 127 (15.21%) Migration
9 101 (12.10%) Analytics
10 95 (11.38%) Disaster Recovery
11 87 (10.42%) Performance Tuning
12 84 (10.06%) Data Pipeline
13 81 (9.70%) Data Engineering
14 77 (9.22%) AI
15 75 (8.98%) Test Automation
16 72 (8.62%) Data Analysis
17 71 (8.50%) Data Integration
18 67 (8.02%) Microservices
19 65 (7.78%) High Availability
20 62 (7.43%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 489 (58.56%) SQL
2 212 (25.39%) C#
3 204 (24.43%) Python
4 134 (16.05%) T-SQL
5 105 (12.57%) PowerShell
6 74 (8.86%) Java
6 74 (8.86%) JavaScript
7 68 (8.14%) PL/SQL
8 50 (5.99%) TypeScript
9 33 (3.95%) Bash
10 24 (2.87%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 22 (2.63%) Shell Script
12 18 (2.16%) VB
13 16 (1.92%) Korn
13 16 (1.92%) Scala
14 15 (1.80%) Bicep
14 15 (1.80%) VBA
15 11 (1.32%) PHP
16 7 (0.84%) XPath
17 5 (0.60%) Rust
Qualifications
1 177 (21.20%) Security Cleared
2 134 (16.05%) SC Cleared
3 85 (10.18%) Degree
4 29 (3.47%) Microsoft Certification
5 28 (3.35%) Computer Science Degree
6 23 (2.75%) DV Cleared
7 21 (2.51%) BPSS Clearance
8 19 (2.28%) Azure Certification
9 8 (0.96%) Master's Degree
10 5 (0.60%) CCA
10 5 (0.60%) Citrix Certification
10 5 (0.60%) DBS Check
10 5 (0.60%) OCP
10 5 (0.60%) Oracle Certification
11 4 (0.48%) CISSP
11 4 (0.48%) MCITP
11 4 (0.48%) MCTS
12 3 (0.36%) ITIL Certification
12 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 2 (0.24%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 97 (11.62%) Data Quality
2 91 (10.90%) QA
3 22 (2.63%) GDPR
4 16 (1.92%) NIST
5 15 (1.80%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 15 (1.80%) SLA
6 7 (0.84%) Accessibility
7 6 (0.72%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 4 (0.48%) IFRS
8 4 (0.48%) WCAG
9 3 (0.36%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (0.36%) IFRS 17
9 3 (0.36%) IFRS 9
10 2 (0.24%) Basel III
10 2 (0.24%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 2 (0.24%) EMIR
10 2 (0.24%) GAAP
10 2 (0.24%) GRC
10 2 (0.24%) HIPAA
10 2 (0.24%) MiFID
System Software
1 88 (10.54%) Docker
2 61 (7.31%) Active Directory
3 19 (2.28%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (1.92%) Hyper-V
4 16 (1.92%) Oracle RAC
5 11 (1.32%) Virtual Desktop
6 10 (1.20%) Virtual Machines
7 6 (0.72%) KVM
8 5 (0.60%) XenApp
8 5 (0.60%) XenDesktop
9 3 (0.36%) GridGain
10 2 (0.24%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.12%) Citrix Hypervisor
11 1 (0.12%) NFS
11 1 (0.12%) RACF
11 1 (0.12%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 90 (10.78%) Kubernetes
2 60 (7.19%) Terraform
3 16 (1.92%) Ansible
3 16 (1.92%) Oracle RMAN
4 14 (1.68%) Grafana
4 14 (1.68%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
4 14 (1.68%) SCCM
5 10 (1.20%) Microsoft Intune
6 9 (1.08%) HAProxy
7 8 (0.96%) Puppet
7 8 (0.96%) vCenter Server
8 7 (0.84%) TIBCO Hawk
9 6 (0.72%) IBM BigFix
9 6 (0.72%) Single Sign-On
9 6 (0.72%) WSUS
10 5 (0.60%) SCVMM
11 3 (0.36%) Control-M
11 3 (0.36%) Foglight
11 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Clustering
11 3 (0.36%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 258 (30.90%) Microsoft
2 242 (28.98%) Oracle
3 75 (8.98%) Databricks
4 57 (6.83%) Citrix
5 37 (4.43%) ServiceNow
6 32 (3.83%) VMware
7 29 (3.47%) Informatica
8 23 (2.75%) SAP
9 21 (2.51%) CyberArk
10 20 (2.40%) Google
10 20 (2.40%) IBM
11 14 (1.68%) BeyondTrust
11 14 (1.68%) Sybase
12 11 (1.32%) Dynatrace
12 11 (1.32%) UiPath
13 10 (1.20%) OpenAI
14 9 (1.08%) Remedy
14 9 (1.08%) Tenable
15 8 (0.96%) BMC
15 8 (0.96%) TIBCO