SQL Contract Job Trends in the North of England

SQL (Structured Query Language)
England > North of England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the North of England requiring SQL skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 10 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 20 19 17
Rank change year-on-year -1 -2 -4
Contract jobs citing SQL 589 352 353
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 8.00% 8.82% 8.61%
As % of the Programming Languages category 31.89% 31.80% 34.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 353 260 251
10th Percentile £321 £313 £350
25th Percentile £406 £391 £412
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £463 £469 £475
Median % change year-on-year -1.39% -1.26% -5.00%
75th Percentile £550 £539 £538
90th Percentile £615 £621 £606
England median daily rate £500 £500 £538
% change year-on-year - -6.98% -0.46%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 4 4
10th Percentile £23.53 £25.50 £32.68
25th Percentile £29.60 £29.52 £34.81
Median hourly rate £43.15 £34.56 £38.00
Median % change year-on-year +24.87% -9.07% -5.77%
75th Percentile £70.38 £45.13 £42.50
90th Percentile £79.40 £61.55 -
England median hourly rate £45.00 £37.25 £42.00
% change year-on-year +20.81% -11.31% -8.46%

All Programming Languages
North of England

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 North of England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for coding skills 1,847 1,107 1,010
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 25.08% 27.72% 24.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,167 795 713
10th Percentile £350 £314 £350
25th Percentile £413 £376 £403
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £493 £463 £485
Median % change year-on-year +6.49% -4.64% -4.90%
75th Percentile £575 £538 £575
90th Percentile £650 £600 £638
England median daily rate £525 £515 £550
% change year-on-year +1.94% -6.36% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 84 11 31
10th Percentile £28.94 £30.00 £37.50
25th Percentile £47.33 £33.88 £41.86
Median hourly rate £69.25 £70.00 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.07% +27.27% +19.10%
75th Percentile £71.88 £86.63 £71.69
90th Percentile £77.35 £95.00 £83.00
England median hourly rate £65.00 £57.50 £65.00
% change year-on-year +13.04% -11.54% +4.00%

SQL
Job Vacancy Trend in the North of England

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

SQL job vacancy trend in the North of England

SQL
Daily Rate Trend in the North of England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing SQL.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing SQL

SQL
Daily Rate Histogram in the North of England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SQL in the North of England over the 6 months to 10 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for SQL in the North of England

SQL
Hourly Rate Trend in the North of England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing SQL.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing SQL

SQL
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North of England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SQL in the North of England over the 6 months to 10 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for SQL in the North of England

SQL
Contract Job Locations in the North of England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing SQL within the North of England region over the 6 months to 10 August 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
North West -3 306 £475 +1.71% 354
Yorkshire -4 244 £474 -0.21% 176
North East -16 50 £413 -10.81% 109
SQL
England

SQL
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North of 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 45 (7.64%) Confluence
2 27 (4.58%) Apache Spark
3 24 (4.07%) Apache
4 20 (3.40%) Apache Airflow
5 10 (1.70%) Jupyter
6 9 (1.53%) SharePoint
7 8 (1.36%) SAS
8 7 (1.19%) WebSphere
9 5 (0.85%) Apache Geronimo
9 5 (0.85%) Apache ServiceMix
9 5 (0.85%) Oracle Workflow
9 5 (0.85%) Red Hat Fuse
9 5 (0.85%) Tomcat
10 2 (0.34%) CMS
10 2 (0.34%) IIS
10 2 (0.34%) Mule
10 2 (0.34%) Mule ESB
10 2 (0.34%) Palantir Foundry
10 2 (0.34%) WordPress
11 1 (0.17%) Adobe Experience Manager
Applications
1 38 (6.45%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (0.68%) MS Visio
3 2 (0.34%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.34%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 11 (1.87%) Oracle EBS
2 7 (1.19%) SAP S/4HANA
3 5 (0.85%) Infor LN
4 4 (0.68%) Oracle Payables
5 3 (0.51%) Elite 3E
5 3 (0.51%) NetSuite
5 3 (0.51%) Remedy ITSM
6 2 (0.34%) Dynamics CRM
6 2 (0.34%) Oracle Cash Management
6 2 (0.34%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 2 (0.34%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 2 (0.34%) Payment Gateway
7 1 (0.17%) FIS Private Capital Suite
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Applications
7 1 (0.17%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.17%) SAP CRM
Cloud Services
1 159 (26.99%) Azure
2 125 (21.22%) AWS
3 104 (17.66%) Power Platform
4 49 (8.32%) GCP
5 48 (8.15%) GitHub
6 36 (6.11%) Serverless
7 35 (5.94%) Azure DevOps
8 30 (5.09%) Azure Data Factory
9 23 (3.90%) Snowflake
10 21 (3.57%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 20 (3.40%) dbt
12 19 (3.23%) AWS Lambda
13 18 (3.06%) Amazon S3
14 16 (2.72%) GitHub Actions
14 16 (2.72%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 16 (2.72%) OpenShift
14 16 (2.72%) SaaS
15 15 (2.55%) Google Analytics
16 14 (2.38%) Power Automate
16 14 (2.38%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 12 (2.04%) DNS
2 11 (1.87%) SSL
3 10 (1.70%) Firewall
3 10 (1.70%) Network Security
4 6 (1.02%) 3GPP
4 6 (1.02%) RTP
4 6 (1.02%) Wireshark
5 5 (0.85%) DHCP
6 4 (0.68%) BGP
6 4 (0.68%) HTTP
6 4 (0.68%) LAN
6 4 (0.68%) Reverse Proxy
6 4 (0.68%) VPN
7 3 (0.51%) Kerberos
8 2 (0.34%) PABX
8 2 (0.34%) TCP/IP
8 2 (0.34%) VLAN
8 2 (0.34%) VoIP
8 2 (0.34%) WAN
8 2 (0.34%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 136 (23.09%) SQL Server
2 94 (15.96%) Power BI
3 82 (13.92%) Data Warehouse
4 42 (7.13%) PostgreSQL
5 39 (6.62%) NoSQL
5 39 (6.62%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 32 (5.43%) Relational Database
7 31 (5.26%) Tableau
8 29 (4.92%) Metadata
9 27 (4.58%) Oracle Database
10 25 (4.24%) Data Lake
10 25 (4.24%) MySQL
11 22 (3.74%) MongoDB
11 22 (3.74%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 19 (3.23%) Azure SQL Database
12 19 (3.23%) Looker
13 16 (2.72%) BigQuery
14 15 (2.55%) Amazon Redshift
15 13 (2.21%) Amazon Athena
15 13 (2.21%) DynamoDB
Development Applications
1 71 (12.05%) Git
2 51 (8.66%) Jenkins
3 43 (7.30%) JIRA
4 33 (5.60%) GitLab
5 11 (1.87%) Gradle
6 10 (1.70%) Bitbucket
7 8 (1.36%) Flyway
7 8 (1.36%) JUnit
7 8 (1.36%) Postman
7 8 (1.36%) Sonatype Nexus
8 7 (1.19%) Selenium
8 7 (1.19%) Team Foundation Server
9 6 (1.02%) Claude Code
9 6 (1.02%) Cucumber
9 6 (1.02%) Oracle Forms
9 6 (1.02%) TeamCity
10 5 (0.85%) Liquibase
10 5 (0.85%) Maven
10 5 (0.85%) Mockito
10 5 (0.85%) Toad
General
1 164 (27.84%) Social Skills
2 109 (18.51%) Analytical Skills
2 109 (18.51%) Finance
3 66 (11.21%) Public Sector
4 43 (7.30%) Banking
5 19 (3.23%) Manufacturing
6 15 (2.55%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 14 (2.38%) Retail
8 9 (1.53%) Legal
8 9 (1.53%) Organisational Skills
9 8 (1.36%) Marketing
10 7 (1.19%) Documentation Skills
10 7 (1.19%) Games
11 6 (1.02%) Influencing Skills
11 6 (1.02%) Law
11 6 (1.02%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (0.85%) Aviation
12 5 (0.85%) Fire and Rescue
12 5 (0.85%) Police
13 4 (0.68%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 127 (21.56%) Developer
2 82 (13.92%) Analyst
3 73 (12.39%) Data Engineer
4 64 (10.87%) DBA
4 64 (10.87%) Senior
5 58 (9.85%) Lead
6 40 (6.79%) SQL DBA
7 31 (5.26%) Consultant
8 29 (4.92%) Data Analyst
9 25 (4.24%) Oracle DBA
9 25 (4.24%) Software Engineer
10 24 (4.07%) Administrator
10 24 (4.07%) Senior Developer
11 23 (3.90%) Java Developer
12 20 (3.40%) Architect
12 20 (3.40%) SQL Developer
13 19 (3.23%) Senior Data Engineer
14 18 (3.06%) Software Developer
15 16 (2.72%) Performance Analyst
16 14 (2.38%) Python Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 46 (7.81%) Kafka
2 45 (7.64%) REST
3 42 (7.13%) .NET
4 38 (6.45%) PySpark
5 36 (6.11%) Spring
5 36 (6.11%) Spring Boot
6 26 (4.41%) XML
7 25 (4.24%) RESTful
8 22 (3.74%) HTML
9 21 (3.57%) JSON
10 20 (3.40%) React
11 16 (2.72%) Web Services
12 15 (2.55%) CSS
13 13 (2.21%) .NET Core
13 13 (2.21%) AngularJS
14 12 (2.04%) Middleware
15 10 (1.70%) Hibernate
15 10 (1.70%) Pandas
16 9 (1.53%) OAuth
16 9 (1.53%) Redux
Miscellaneous
1 40 (6.79%) Cloud Native
2 39 (6.62%) Data Structures
3 29 (4.92%) Product Ownership
4 25 (4.24%) Replication
5 24 (4.07%) Data Protection Act
6 18 (3.06%) Clustering
6 18 (3.06%) Enterprise Software
7 16 (2.72%) Distributed Systems
8 15 (2.55%) NHS
9 14 (2.38%) Legacy Systems
10 13 (2.21%) Self-Motivation
11 12 (2.04%) AI Agents
12 11 (1.87%) Linux Command Line
13 9 (1.53%) Onboarding
14 8 (1.36%) Algorithms
15 7 (1.19%) Low-Code
15 7 (1.19%) Robotics
15 7 (1.19%) Security Posture
16 6 (1.02%) Distributed Computing
16 6 (1.02%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 47 (7.98%) Linux
2 28 (4.75%) Windows
3 20 (3.40%) Windows Server
4 18 (3.06%) Unix
5 6 (1.02%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 6 (1.02%) Solaris
6 5 (0.85%) AIX
7 3 (0.51%) Oracle Linux
7 3 (0.51%) Windows Server 2012
8 2 (0.34%) Ubuntu
8 2 (0.34%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.17%) VMS
9 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2008
9 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 159 (26.99%) CI/CD
2 153 (25.98%) Agile
3 143 (24.28%) Analytics
4 135 (22.92%) Data Modelling
5 128 (21.73%) Business Intelligence
6 121 (20.54%) ETL
7 109 (18.51%) DevOps
8 106 (18.00%) Problem-Solving
9 104 (17.66%) Data Pipeline
10 89 (15.11%) Migration
11 76 (12.90%) AI
12 75 (12.73%) Validation
13 73 (12.39%) Performance Tuning
14 70 (11.88%) Data Engineering
15 66 (11.21%) Data Analysis
16 63 (10.70%) Stakeholder Management
17 60 (10.19%) Infrastructure as Code
17 60 (10.19%) Test Automation
18 58 (9.85%) Microservices
19 55 (9.34%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 172 (29.20%) Python
2 83 (14.09%) Java
3 53 (9.00%) PowerShell
4 48 (8.15%) T-SQL
5 45 (7.64%) C#
6 32 (5.43%) PL/SQL
7 31 (5.26%) JavaScript
8 24 (4.07%) Bash
9 16 (2.72%) TypeScript
10 13 (2.21%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 12 (2.04%) Shell Script
12 11 (1.87%) Kotlin
13 9 (1.53%) R
14 8 (1.36%) Scala
15 7 (1.19%) Kusto Query Language
16 4 (0.68%) Bicep
16 4 (0.68%) Search Processing Language
16 4 (0.68%) VB
17 3 (0.51%) VB6
18 2 (0.34%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 95 (16.13%) Security Cleared
2 82 (13.92%) SC Cleared
3 47 (7.98%) Degree
4 18 (3.06%) BPSS Clearance
4 18 (3.06%) Computer Science Degree
5 12 (2.04%) Microsoft Certification
6 8 (1.36%) Azure Certification
7 7 (1.19%) CISSP
7 7 (1.19%) DV Cleared
8 5 (0.85%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 4 (0.68%) GCFA
9 4 (0.68%) GCIH
9 4 (0.68%) Oracle Certification
10 3 (0.51%) OCP
11 2 (0.34%) ITIL Certification
12 1 (0.17%) AWS Certification
12 1 (0.17%) CISM
12 1 (0.17%) DBS Check
12 1 (0.17%) Master's Degree
12 1 (0.17%) Numerate Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 116 (19.69%) Data Quality
2 30 (5.09%) QA
3 27 (4.58%) GDPR
4 9 (1.53%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 6 (1.02%) California Consumer Privacy Act
5 6 (1.02%) GRC
5 6 (1.02%) HIPAA
6 4 (0.68%) NIST
6 4 (0.68%) PCI DSS
6 4 (0.68%) SLA
7 3 (0.51%) PMO
7 3 (0.51%) Solvency II
8 2 (0.34%) Accessibility
8 2 (0.34%) Actionable Recommendations
8 2 (0.34%) ISO 20022
8 2 (0.34%) MiFID
8 2 (0.34%) WCAG
9 1 (0.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 76 (12.90%) Docker
2 21 (3.57%) Active Directory
3 16 (2.72%) Oracle RAC
4 10 (1.70%) Virtual Machines
5 7 (1.19%) Hyper-V
5 7 (1.19%) KVM
6 4 (0.68%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 56 (9.51%) Terraform
2 54 (9.17%) Kubernetes
3 35 (5.94%) Ansible
4 16 (2.72%) Data Guard
4 16 (2.72%) Oracle RMAN
5 14 (2.38%) Grafana
6 13 (2.21%) Prometheus
7 11 (1.87%) Control-M
8 7 (1.19%) SCOM
9 4 (0.68%) Argo
9 4 (0.68%) CASB
9 4 (0.68%) Progress Chef
10 3 (0.51%) Foglight
10 3 (0.51%) IBM BigFix
10 3 (0.51%) vCenter Server
11 2 (0.34%) AirWatch
11 2 (0.34%) Consul
11 2 (0.34%) Enterprise Manager Cloud Control
11 2 (0.34%) Failover Clustering
11 2 (0.34%) Zipkin
Vendors
1 120 (20.37%) Microsoft
2 86 (14.60%) Oracle
3 55 (9.34%) Databricks
4 32 (5.43%) Google
5 24 (4.07%) SAP
5 24 (4.07%) Splunk
6 23 (3.90%) ServiceNow
7 12 (2.04%) Alteryx
8 9 (1.53%) IBM
9 8 (1.36%) CyberArk
10 7 (1.19%) OpenAI
10 7 (1.19%) Teradata
10 7 (1.19%) UiPath
11 6 (1.02%) Informatica
11 6 (1.02%) Sybase
11 6 (1.02%) Varonis
12 5 (0.85%) Adobe
12 5 (0.85%) Centrify
12 5 (0.85%) Salesforce
12 5 (0.85%) TIBCO