SQL Server Contract Job Trends in London

Microsoft SQL Server (MS SQL)
England > London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in London requiring SQL Server skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 7 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 132 96 47
Rank change year-on-year -36 -49 +3
Contract jobs citing SQL Server 477 393 754
As % of all contract jobs in London 2.36% 2.93% 4.65%
As % of the Database & Business Intelligence category 12.99% 13.90% 20.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 354 289 548
10th Percentile £375 £375 £350
25th Percentile £416 £415 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £573 £525
Median % change year-on-year -9.17% +9.05% -4.55%
75th Percentile £663 £700 £638
90th Percentile £738 £775 £738
England median daily rate £488 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -2.50% - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 0 1
10th Percentile £22.45 - -
25th Percentile £27.25 - -
Median hourly rate £36.00 - £100.00
75th Percentile £45.25 - -
90th Percentile £50.35 - -
England median hourly rate £47.54 £21.27 £43.00
% change year-on-year +123.51% -50.53% -12.85%

All Database & BI Skills
London

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 London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for database or business intelligence skills 3,672 2,827 3,743
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 18.17% 21.11% 23.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,499 1,961 2,724
10th Percentile £363 £375 £363
25th Percentile £437 £425 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £575
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% -4.35% -
75th Percentile £638 £688 £725
90th Percentile £738 £825 £850
England median daily rate £505 £510 £550
% change year-on-year -0.98% -7.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 39 23
10th Percentile £18.48 £28.26 £25.10
25th Percentile £25.25 £33.56 £36.25
Median hourly rate £34.03 £52.50 £50.50
Median % change year-on-year -35.18% +3.96% -12.17%
75th Percentile £54.69 £69.75 £60.02
90th Percentile £60.63 £87.50 £79.75
England median hourly rate £39.00 £40.49 £33.93
% change year-on-year -3.68% +19.33% -38.31%

SQL Server
Job Vacancy Trend in London

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

SQL Server job vacancy trend in London

SQL Server
Daily Rate Trend in London

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

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

SQL Server
Daily Rate Histogram in London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SQL Server in London over the 6 months to 7 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for SQL Server in London

SQL Server
Hourly Rate Trend in London

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

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

SQL Server
Hourly Rate Histogram in London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SQL Server in London over the 6 months to 7 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for SQL Server in London

SQL Server
Contract Job Locations in London

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 London region over the 6 months to 7 September 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
Central London -8 75 £550 +4.76% 32
South London +3 12 £550 -18.52% 3
East London +2 3 £615 +13.89% 5
West London -20 1 £725 +11.20% 10
SQL Server
England

SQL Server
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in 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 34 (7.13%) SharePoint
2 29 (6.08%) IIS
3 19 (3.98%) Apache Airflow
4 16 (3.35%) Camunda
5 15 (3.14%) Confluence
6 14 (2.94%) Apache Spark
7 11 (2.31%) Apache
8 7 (1.47%) Microsoft Exchange
8 7 (1.47%) Oracle Workflow
9 6 (1.26%) Appian
10 5 (1.05%) Apache Solr
11 2 (0.42%) ArcGIS
11 2 (0.42%) CMS
12 1 (0.21%) Blackberry Enterprise Server
12 1 (0.21%) HCL Domino
12 1 (0.21%) HCL Notes
12 1 (0.21%) Headless CMS
12 1 (0.21%) Oracle SOA Suite
12 1 (0.21%) SharePoint Server
12 1 (0.21%) Sitecore CMS
Applications
1 29 (6.08%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (1.47%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (1.05%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.63%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.21%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 10 (2.10%) Remedy ITSM
2 9 (1.89%) Dynamics CRM
3 8 (1.68%) SAP S/4HANA
4 7 (1.47%) OpenText MBPM
4 7 (1.47%) Oracle BPM
5 4 (0.84%) Aladdin
5 4 (0.84%) Dynamics AX
5 4 (0.84%) Elite 3E
6 2 (0.42%) Dynamics NAV
6 2 (0.42%) Endur
6 2 (0.42%) Infor LN
7 1 (0.21%) Findur
7 1 (0.21%) Oracle General Ledger
7 1 (0.21%) SAP CRM
7 1 (0.21%) SDL Web 8
Cloud Services
1 202 (42.35%) Azure
2 106 (22.22%) AWS
3 85 (17.82%) Power Platform
4 54 (11.32%) Azure DevOps
5 42 (8.81%) GitHub
6 35 (7.34%) Azure Data Factory
7 31 (6.50%) Entra ID
8 30 (6.29%) Azure Synapse Analytics
9 29 (6.08%) Serverless
10 27 (5.66%) Snowflake
11 23 (4.82%) Power Automate
12 21 (4.40%) Microsoft 365
13 20 (4.19%) PowerApps
14 19 (3.98%) GitHub Actions
15 18 (3.77%) dbt
16 17 (3.56%) Azure Monitor
16 17 (3.56%) GCP
16 17 (3.56%) SaaS
17 16 (3.35%) Dynamics 365
18 14 (2.94%) Azure Databricks
Communications & Networking
1 25 (5.24%) DNS
2 21 (4.40%) DHCP
3 16 (3.35%) Firewall
4 13 (2.73%) Internet
5 10 (2.10%) VPN
5 10 (2.10%) Wi-Fi
6 9 (1.89%) TCP/IP
7 8 (1.68%) VLAN
8 7 (1.47%) SAN
9 6 (1.26%) HTTPS
9 6 (1.26%) SSH
10 4 (0.84%) LAN
10 4 (0.84%) Network Security
10 4 (0.84%) WAN
11 3 (0.63%) SSL
12 2 (0.42%) Intranet
12 2 (0.42%) WinSCP
13 1 (0.21%) DMZ
13 1 (0.21%) MQTT
13 1 (0.21%) Multicast
Database & Business Intelligence
1 70 (14.68%) PostgreSQL
2 66 (13.84%) Power BI
3 57 (11.95%) Relational Database
4 56 (11.74%) Data Warehouse
5 43 (9.01%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 39 (8.18%) MongoDB
6 39 (8.18%) Oracle Database
7 35 (7.34%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 34 (7.13%) Azure SQL Database
9 28 (5.87%) MySQL
10 19 (3.98%) Data Lake
10 19 (3.98%) NoSQL
10 19 (3.98%) Redis
11 18 (3.77%) SQL Server Analysis Services
12 16 (3.35%) Metadata
13 15 (3.14%) Amazon RDS
14 14 (2.94%) Star Schema
15 12 (2.52%) Amazon Aurora
16 9 (1.89%) Amazon Redshift
17 8 (1.68%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 54 (11.32%) Git
2 34 (7.13%) JIRA
3 21 (4.40%) Jenkins
4 17 (3.56%) Visual Studio
5 15 (3.14%) GitLab
6 12 (2.52%) TeamCity
7 11 (2.31%) REST Assured
7 11 (2.31%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 10 (2.10%) Maven
9 9 (1.89%) Bitbucket
9 9 (1.89%) Octopus Deploy
10 8 (1.68%) Sonatype Nexus
11 7 (1.47%) Gradle
12 6 (1.26%) JUnit
12 6 (1.26%) Mockito
12 6 (1.26%) SonarQube
13 5 (1.05%) Artifactory
13 5 (1.05%) Bitbucket Server
13 5 (1.05%) Chocolatey
13 5 (1.05%) Selenium
General
1 199 (41.72%) Finance
2 161 (33.75%) Social Skills
3 108 (22.64%) Banking
4 103 (21.59%) Analytical Skills
5 42 (8.81%) Front Office
6 23 (4.82%) Investment Banking
7 19 (3.98%) Public Sector
8 14 (2.94%) Documentation Skills
9 12 (2.52%) Financial Institution
10 9 (1.89%) Retail
11 8 (1.68%) Back Office
11 8 (1.68%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (1.05%) Legal
12 5 (1.05%) Presentation Skills
13 4 (0.84%) Billing
13 4 (0.84%) Marketing
13 4 (0.84%) Organisational Skills
13 4 (0.84%) Publishing
13 4 (0.84%) Telecoms
14 3 (0.63%) Law
Job Titles
1 186 (38.99%) Developer
2 82 (17.19%) Senior
3 64 (13.42%) C# Developer
4 48 (10.06%) .NET Developer
5 45 (9.43%) Data Engineer
6 39 (8.18%) Full-Stack Developer
7 34 (7.13%) Senior Developer
8 33 (6.92%) Architect
9 31 (6.50%) DBA
10 26 (5.45%) Lead
11 25 (5.24%) Software Engineer
12 24 (5.03%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 22 (4.61%) C# .NET Developer
13 22 (4.61%) SQL Developer
14 19 (3.98%) Administrator
14 19 (3.98%) Azure Engineer
14 19 (3.98%) Solutions Architect
15 17 (3.56%) SQL DBA
16 15 (3.14%) Cloud Engineer
16 15 (3.14%) Senior C# Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 179 (37.53%) .NET
2 77 (16.14%) REST
3 66 (13.84%) .NET Framework
4 52 (10.90%) React
5 50 (10.48%) CSS
6 43 (9.01%) HTML
7 42 (8.81%) Terraform
8 38 (7.97%) AngularJS
8 38 (7.97%) Kafka
9 35 (7.34%) .NET Core
9 35 (7.34%) ASP.NET
10 27 (5.66%) RESTful
11 25 (5.24%) SOAP
11 25 (5.24%) WinForms
12 23 (4.82%) Web Services
12 23 (4.82%) WPF
13 22 (4.61%) OAuth
13 22 (4.61%) XML
14 21 (4.40%) Spring Boot
15 20 (4.19%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 42 (8.81%) Cloud Native
2 27 (5.66%) Self-Motivation
3 22 (4.61%) Onboarding
4 20 (4.19%) Data Centre
4 20 (4.19%) Product Ownership
5 19 (3.98%) Replication
6 18 (3.77%) Data Structures
7 17 (3.56%) Enterprise Software
8 16 (3.35%) Legacy Systems
9 14 (2.94%) Derivative
10 13 (2.73%) Clustering
11 12 (2.52%) Distributed Systems
12 11 (2.31%) Fixed Income
13 10 (2.10%) Equities
14 8 (1.68%) Low-Code
14 8 (1.68%) Reinsurance
15 7 (1.47%) Management Information System
15 7 (1.47%) Market Risk
16 6 (1.26%) Credit Risk
16 6 (1.26%) Legacy Applications
Operating Systems
1 128 (26.83%) Windows
2 62 (13.00%) Windows Server
3 43 (9.01%) Linux
4 10 (2.10%) Unix
5 5 (1.05%) Ubuntu
5 5 (1.05%) VMS
6 4 (0.84%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 3 (0.63%) Windows Server 2008
8 1 (0.21%) CentOS
8 1 (0.21%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 137 (28.72%) CI/CD
2 133 (27.88%) DevOps
3 124 (26.00%) Agile
4 97 (20.34%) Migration
5 95 (19.92%) Problem-Solving
6 85 (17.82%) ETL
7 79 (16.56%) Data Modelling
8 77 (16.14%) AI
9 70 (14.68%) Business Intelligence
10 69 (14.47%) Disaster Recovery
11 61 (12.79%) Software Engineering
12 60 (12.58%) Stakeholder Management
13 56 (11.74%) Performance Tuning
14 55 (11.53%) Microservices
15 54 (11.32%) Full-Stack Development
16 52 (10.90%) Analytics
16 52 (10.90%) Continuous Improvement
17 51 (10.69%) Data Analysis
18 49 (10.27%) Validation
19 48 (10.06%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 300 (62.89%) SQL
2 189 (39.62%) C#
3 109 (22.85%) Python
4 93 (19.50%) JavaScript
4 93 (19.50%) T-SQL
5 71 (14.88%) PowerShell
6 56 (11.74%) PL/SQL
7 52 (10.90%) Java
8 40 (8.39%) TypeScript
9 19 (3.98%) Bash
10 12 (2.52%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 12 (2.52%) VBA
11 11 (2.31%) VB
12 8 (1.68%) Shell Script
13 6 (1.26%) XPath
14 5 (1.05%) PHP
14 5 (1.05%) VB.NET
15 3 (0.63%) C++
15 3 (0.63%) Korn
15 3 (0.63%) Scala
Qualifications
1 67 (14.05%) Security Cleared
2 53 (11.11%) Degree
3 52 (10.90%) SC Cleared
4 26 (5.45%) Computer Science Degree
5 11 (2.31%) AWS Certification
6 9 (1.89%) Azure Certification
7 8 (1.68%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
8 7 (1.47%) DV Cleared
8 7 (1.47%) Master's Degree
9 4 (0.84%) BPSS Clearance
9 4 (0.84%) DBS Check
9 4 (0.84%) Microsoft Certification
9 4 (0.84%) PhD
10 3 (0.63%) ISTQB
11 2 (0.42%) TOGAF Certification
12 1 (0.21%) CISSP
12 1 (0.21%) ISEB
12 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 1 (0.21%) Postgraduate
12 1 (0.21%) Tableau Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 56 (11.74%) QA
2 51 (10.69%) Data Quality
3 14 (2.94%) SLA
4 8 (1.68%) Accessibility
4 8 (1.68%) GDPR
5 4 (0.84%) WCAG
6 3 (0.63%) Actionable Recommendations
6 3 (0.63%) Basel III
7 2 (0.42%) COREP
7 2 (0.42%) FINREP
7 2 (0.42%) Government Security Classifications
7 2 (0.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 2 (0.42%) SOC 2
8 1 (0.21%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 1 (0.21%) Disclosure Scotland
8 1 (0.21%) GRC
8 1 (0.21%) ISO 20022
8 1 (0.21%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.21%) SEPA
System Software
1 44 (9.22%) Active Directory
2 33 (6.92%) Docker
3 21 (4.40%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (3.35%) Virtual Machines
5 4 (0.84%) Virtual Servers
6 3 (0.63%) GridGain
7 2 (0.42%) Oracle RAC
7 2 (0.42%) vSphere
8 1 (0.21%) Hyper-V
8 1 (0.21%) NFS
8 1 (0.21%) RACF
8 1 (0.21%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.21%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 49 (10.27%) Kubernetes
2 13 (2.73%) Ansible
3 11 (2.31%) Microsoft Clustering
4 10 (2.10%) Microsoft Intune
5 8 (1.68%) SCOM
6 6 (1.26%) SCCM
7 5 (1.05%) Grafana
7 5 (1.05%) ITRS Geneos
8 3 (0.63%) Istio
8 3 (0.63%) Prometheus
9 2 (0.42%) PowerCLI
9 2 (0.42%) Progress Chef
9 2 (0.42%) Puppet
9 2 (0.42%) Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.21%) Argo
10 1 (0.21%) Data Guard
10 1 (0.21%) Failover Clustering
10 1 (0.21%) Packer
10 1 (0.21%) SCOrch
10 1 (0.21%) SQL Sentry
Vendors
1 133 (27.88%) Oracle
2 126 (26.42%) Microsoft
3 45 (9.43%) Databricks
4 41 (8.60%) VMware
5 31 (6.50%) Citrix
6 22 (4.61%) Informatica
7 17 (3.56%) CyberArk
8 15 (3.14%) IBM
9 14 (2.94%) Dynatrace
9 14 (2.94%) ServiceNow
10 13 (2.73%) SAP
11 10 (2.10%) BeyondTrust
11 10 (2.10%) BMC
11 10 (2.10%) Cisco
11 10 (2.10%) Remedy
12 9 (1.89%) Sybase
12 9 (1.89%) WALLIX
13 8 (1.68%) OutSystems
13 8 (1.68%) Talend
14 6 (1.26%) AppDynamics