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 14 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 101 66 50
Rank change year-on-year -35 -16 -7
Contract jobs citing SQL Server 432 473 742
As % of all contract jobs in London 2.82% 3.48% 4.00%
As % of the Database & Business Intelligence category 14.26% 16.02% 20.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 300 336 545
10th Percentile £370 £363 £378
25th Percentile £409 £425 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £550 £575
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% -4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £620 £650 £675
90th Percentile £700 £725 £750
England median daily rate £480 £510 £550
% change year-on-year -5.88% -7.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 1 0
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £66.00 £60.25 -
Median hourly rate £68.00 £60.50 -
Median % change year-on-year +12.40% - -
75th Percentile £70.00 £60.75 -
90th Percentile - - -
England median hourly rate £26.72 £63.75 £40.25
% change year-on-year -58.08% +58.37% -7.47%

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 3,030 2,953 3,613
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 19.76% 21.71% 19.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,075 2,031 2,668
10th Percentile £357 £363 £385
25th Percentile £416 £451 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £560
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% -1.79% -6.67%
75th Percentile £638 £699 £688
90th Percentile £738 £825 £788
England median daily rate £500 £538 £538
% change year-on-year -6.98% - -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 32 31 40
10th Percentile £18.25 £22.27 £20.98
25th Percentile £29.72 £26.68 £25.69
Median hourly rate £52.00 £41.50 £43.75
Median % change year-on-year +25.30% -5.14% -1.27%
75th Percentile £71.25 £59.75 £53.84
90th Percentile £89.75 £78.75 £63.83
England median hourly rate £52.00 £40.50 £42.50
% change year-on-year +28.40% -4.71% -25.26%

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 14 February 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
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 14 February 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 -44 45 £538 -6.52% 21
South London -9 7 £530 -26.90% 6
East London -6 2 £585 +46.25% 4
West London -19 2 £550 - 6
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 19 (4.40%) IIS
2 15 (3.47%) SharePoint
3 14 (3.24%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 13 (3.01%) Confluence
5 11 (2.55%) WebSphere
6 8 (1.85%) Appian
6 8 (1.85%) Microsoft Exchange
7 7 (1.62%) Apache
7 7 (1.62%) Apache Spark
7 7 (1.62%) WebLogic
8 6 (1.39%) Apache Airflow
9 2 (0.46%) CMS
10 1 (0.23%) Anypoint
10 1 (0.23%) Camunda
10 1 (0.23%) GeoServer
10 1 (0.23%) JBoss
10 1 (0.23%) Mule
10 1 (0.23%) Oracle Application Server
10 1 (0.23%) Oracle Workflow
10 1 (0.23%) Tomcat
Applications
1 33 (7.64%) Microsoft Excel
2 12 (2.78%) MS Visio
3 7 (1.62%) Microsoft Office
4 2 (0.46%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.46%) Trello
5 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 7 (1.62%) BusinessWorks
1 7 (1.62%) Dynamics CRM
2 3 (0.69%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
2 3 (0.69%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
2 3 (0.69%) SAP S/4HANA
3 2 (0.46%) Loan IQ
3 2 (0.46%) Oracle General Ledger
3 2 (0.46%) Oracle Payables
3 2 (0.46%) Oracle Receivables
3 2 (0.46%) Veritas eDiscovery
4 1 (0.23%) Endur
4 1 (0.23%) Oracle BPM
4 1 (0.23%) Oracle FAH
4 1 (0.23%) Orchestrade
4 1 (0.23%) RMDS
4 1 (0.23%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.23%) SAP ERP
4 1 (0.23%) SAP R/3
4 1 (0.23%) thinkFolio
4 1 (0.23%) TIBCO BusinessEvents
Cloud Services
1 199 (46.06%) Azure
2 94 (21.76%) AWS
3 87 (20.14%) Power Platform
4 69 (15.97%) Azure DevOps
5 46 (10.65%) Azure Data Factory
5 46 (10.65%) GitHub
6 31 (7.18%) GCP
7 27 (6.25%) Azure Synapse Analytics
8 21 (4.86%) SaaS
9 18 (4.17%) Amazon S3
10 17 (3.94%) GitHub Actions
11 16 (3.70%) Microsoft 365
12 15 (3.47%) Power Automate
13 14 (3.24%) Snowflake
14 11 (2.55%) AWS CloudFormation
14 11 (2.55%) Dynamics 365
14 11 (2.55%) IaaS
15 10 (2.31%) Amazon EC2
15 10 (2.31%) Azure Key Vault
16 9 (2.08%) Azure Cosmos DB
Communications & Networking
1 12 (2.78%) Internet
2 7 (1.62%) Firewall
3 6 (1.39%) DNS
3 6 (1.39%) NetScaler
4 4 (0.93%) DHCP
5 3 (0.69%) HTTP
5 3 (0.69%) TCP/IP
5 3 (0.69%) VPN
6 2 (0.46%) FTP
6 2 (0.46%) SAN
6 2 (0.46%) Software-Defined Networking
6 2 (0.46%) VLAN
6 2 (0.46%) VSAN
6 2 (0.46%) Wi-Fi
7 1 (0.23%) BGP
7 1 (0.23%) Ethernet VPN
7 1 (0.23%) Network Security
7 1 (0.23%) VXLAN
7 1 (0.23%) WebEx
7 1 (0.23%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 76 (17.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
2 71 (16.44%) Power BI
3 66 (15.28%) PostgreSQL
4 52 (12.04%) Relational Database
5 51 (11.81%) Data Warehouse
6 35 (8.10%) Data Lake
6 35 (8.10%) Oracle Database
7 34 (7.87%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 25 (5.79%) Azure SQL Database
8 25 (5.79%) MongoDB
9 23 (5.32%) NoSQL
10 20 (4.63%) Delta Lake
11 17 (3.94%) SQL Server Analysis Services
12 16 (3.70%) Big Data
13 14 (3.24%) Amazon RDS
14 13 (3.01%) RDBMS
15 12 (2.78%) Redis
16 11 (2.55%) DB2
16 11 (2.55%) Metadata
16 11 (2.55%) MySQL
Development Applications
1 41 (9.49%) Git
2 33 (7.64%) JIRA
3 21 (4.86%) Jenkins
4 18 (4.17%) Visual Studio
5 10 (2.31%) SpecFlow
6 9 (2.08%) GitLab
7 8 (1.85%) ERwin
7 8 (1.85%) Maven
7 8 (1.85%) MLflow
8 7 (1.62%) JUnit
8 7 (1.62%) Octopus Deploy
9 6 (1.39%) Team Foundation Server
9 6 (1.39%) TeamCity
10 5 (1.16%) Mockito
10 5 (1.16%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
11 3 (0.69%) Cucumber
11 3 (0.69%) Eclipse
11 3 (0.69%) Gradle
11 3 (0.69%) Sonatype Nexus
11 3 (0.69%) Zephyr
General
1 152 (35.19%) Finance
2 127 (29.40%) Social Skills
3 82 (18.98%) Banking
4 54 (12.50%) Analytical Skills
5 24 (5.56%) Investment Banking
6 20 (4.63%) Public Sector
7 18 (4.17%) Documentation Skills
8 13 (3.01%) Front Office
8 13 (3.01%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 12 (2.78%) Financial Institution
10 9 (2.08%) Retail
11 6 (1.39%) Local Government
12 4 (0.93%) Organisational Skills
12 4 (0.93%) Presentation Skills
12 4 (0.93%) Telecoms
13 3 (0.69%) General Ledger
13 3 (0.69%) Influencing Skills
13 3 (0.69%) Law
13 3 (0.69%) Legal
14 2 (0.46%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 173 (40.05%) Developer
2 83 (19.21%) Data Engineer
3 77 (17.82%) Senior
4 66 (15.28%) C# Developer
5 41 (9.49%) .NET Developer
6 31 (7.18%) Senior Developer
7 28 (6.48%) Senior Data Engineer
8 27 (6.25%) Analyst
9 26 (6.02%) Architect
10 20 (4.63%) C# .NET Developer
11 19 (4.40%) Lead
12 17 (3.94%) Full-Stack Developer
13 16 (3.70%) DBA
13 16 (3.70%) SQL Developer
14 15 (3.47%) SQL DBA
15 14 (3.24%) Angular Developer
15 14 (3.24%) Azure Engineer
16 12 (2.78%) Business Analyst
16 12 (2.78%) Java Developer
16 12 (2.78%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 128 (29.63%) .NET
2 68 (15.74%) .NET Framework
3 45 (10.42%) REST
4 32 (7.41%) RESTful
5 30 (6.94%) .NET Core
5 30 (6.94%) AngularJS
5 30 (6.94%) HTML
6 29 (6.71%) Kafka
6 29 (6.71%) React
7 28 (6.48%) Web Services
7 28 (6.48%) XML
8 21 (4.86%) WPF
9 20 (4.63%) SOAP
10 19 (4.40%) CSS
10 19 (4.40%) WinForms
11 18 (4.17%) OAuth
12 17 (3.94%) ASP.NET
13 16 (3.70%) Entity Framework
13 16 (3.70%) Spring
14 15 (3.47%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 34 (7.87%) Legacy Systems
2 25 (5.79%) Cloud Native
3 16 (3.70%) Enterprise Software
4 15 (3.47%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
4 15 (3.47%) Onboarding
5 14 (3.24%) Derivative
6 12 (2.78%) Credit Risk
6 12 (2.78%) Distributed Systems
7 11 (2.55%) Management Information System
7 11 (2.55%) Reinsurance
8 10 (2.31%) Data Structures
9 9 (2.08%) Greenfield Project
9 9 (2.08%) Low-Code
10 8 (1.85%) Replication
11 7 (1.62%) Data Protection Act
11 7 (1.62%) Fixed Income
12 6 (1.39%) Linux Command Line
12 6 (1.39%) Market Risk
12 6 (1.39%) Self-Motivation
13 5 (1.16%) Hedge funds
Operating Systems
1 69 (15.97%) Windows
2 41 (9.49%) Linux
3 26 (6.02%) Windows Server
4 8 (1.85%) Unix
5 7 (1.62%) Windows 10
5 7 (1.62%) Windows Server 2016
6 5 (1.16%) Windows Server 2019
7 2 (0.46%) Windows Server 2012
8 1 (0.23%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 119 (27.55%) CI/CD
2 103 (23.84%) DevOps
3 101 (23.38%) Agile
4 96 (22.22%) ETL
5 93 (21.53%) Business Intelligence
6 87 (20.14%) Problem-Solving
7 85 (19.68%) Data Modelling
8 70 (16.20%) Migration
9 59 (13.66%) Analytics
10 56 (12.96%) Data Engineering
11 52 (12.04%) Data Analysis
12 48 (11.11%) Microservices
13 47 (10.88%) Data Pipeline
14 44 (10.19%) Test Automation
15 42 (9.72%) Containerisation
15 42 (9.72%) Data Migration
16 37 (8.56%) AI
17 36 (8.33%) Change Management
18 34 (7.87%) Decision-Making
18 34 (7.87%) Full-Stack Development
Programming Languages
1 266 (61.57%) SQL
2 134 (31.02%) C#
3 115 (26.62%) Python
4 69 (15.97%) T-SQL
5 51 (11.81%) PL/SQL
6 47 (10.88%) Java
7 41 (9.49%) JavaScript
8 27 (6.25%) PowerShell
9 22 (5.09%) TypeScript
10 16 (3.70%) Bash
10 16 (3.70%) VB
11 15 (3.47%) VBA
12 14 (3.24%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 9 (2.08%) Bicep
14 7 (1.62%) XPath
15 3 (0.69%) COBOL
15 3 (0.69%) R
15 3 (0.69%) Scala
15 3 (0.69%) Shell Script
16 2 (0.46%) C++
Qualifications
1 49 (11.34%) Degree
2 44 (10.19%) Security Cleared
3 31 (7.18%) SC Cleared
4 20 (4.63%) Computer Science Degree
5 10 (2.31%) Microsoft Certification
6 9 (2.08%) Azure Certification
7 8 (1.85%) BPSS Clearance
7 8 (1.85%) DV Cleared
8 6 (1.39%) Master's Degree
9 5 (1.16%) CCA
9 5 (1.16%) Citrix Certification
10 3 (0.69%) AWS Certification
10 3 (0.69%) Cisco Certification
10 3 (0.69%) PMI Certification
10 3 (0.69%) PMP
11 2 (0.46%) CCNP
11 2 (0.46%) CISSP
11 2 (0.46%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 1 (0.23%) CCIE
12 1 (0.23%) CCNA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 66 (15.28%) Data Quality
2 53 (12.27%) QA
3 9 (2.08%) GDPR
4 6 (1.39%) SLA
5 4 (0.93%) MiFID
5 4 (0.93%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 3 (0.69%) Accessibility
6 3 (0.69%) EMIR
6 3 (0.69%) IFRS
6 3 (0.69%) IFRS 17
7 2 (0.46%) Basel III
7 2 (0.46%) GAAP
7 2 (0.46%) IFRS 9
7 2 (0.46%) Solvency II
8 1 (0.23%) NCSC
8 1 (0.23%) NIST
8 1 (0.23%) NIST 800
8 1 (0.23%) WCAG
System Software
1 60 (13.89%) Docker
2 14 (3.24%) Active Directory
3 6 (1.39%) zsh
4 5 (1.16%) Hyper-V
4 5 (1.16%) XenApp
4 5 (1.16%) XenDesktop
5 2 (0.46%) GridGain
5 2 (0.46%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (0.46%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (0.46%) VMware Infrastructure
5 2 (0.46%) VMware NSX
6 1 (0.23%) Oracle RAC
6 1 (0.23%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 53 (12.27%) Kubernetes
2 29 (6.71%) Terraform
3 12 (2.78%) Ansible
4 10 (2.31%) Grafana
5 9 (2.08%) SCCM
6 8 (1.85%) Puppet
7 7 (1.62%) TIBCO Hawk
8 5 (1.16%) SCVMM
9 4 (0.93%) Microsoft Intune
9 4 (0.93%) Progress Chef
10 3 (0.69%) Control-M
10 3 (0.69%) Microsoft Clustering
10 3 (0.69%) Prometheus
11 1 (0.23%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 1 (0.23%) Ambari
11 1 (0.23%) BladeLogic
11 1 (0.23%) FortiGate
11 1 (0.23%) Oracle Identity Management
11 1 (0.23%) VxRail
11 1 (0.23%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 149 (34.49%) Oracle
2 110 (25.46%) Microsoft
3 49 (11.34%) Databricks
4 36 (8.33%) Citrix
5 21 (4.86%) Informatica
6 16 (3.70%) SAP
7 13 (3.01%) IBM
7 13 (3.01%) UiPath
7 13 (3.01%) VMware
8 10 (2.31%) Google
9 9 (2.08%) ServiceNow
10 8 (1.85%) Automation Anywhere
10 8 (1.85%) OpenAI
11 7 (1.62%) BEA
11 7 (1.62%) Sybase
11 7 (1.62%) TIBCO
12 6 (1.39%) PagerDuty
13 5 (1.16%) Dynatrace
13 5 (1.16%) Splunk
14 4 (0.93%) Talend