Developer Contract Job Trends in the North West

Developer
England > North West

The median Developer daily rate in the North West is £441, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 29 December 2025.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 13 10 4
Rank change year-on-year -3 -6 +3
Contract jobs requiring a Developer 269 230 390
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 10.75% 10.70% 14.66%
As % of the Job Titles category 11.77% 11.54% 15.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 204 145 315
10th Percentile £343 £368 £325
25th Percentile £387 £400 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £441 £450 £476
Median % change year-on-year -1.94% -5.36% -4.90%
75th Percentile £500 £538 £600
90th Percentile £550 £588 £696
England median daily rate £500 £535 £550
% change year-on-year -6.54% -2.73% -6.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 4 3
10th Percentile - - £72.25
25th Percentile £58.50 £65.00 £73.75
Median hourly rate £65.50 £75.50 £77.50
Median % change year-on-year -13.25% -2.58% +121.43%
75th Percentile £71.07 £86.00 £80.63
90th Percentile £72.98 - £81.75
England median hourly rate £58.75 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year -9.62% - +4.00%

All Contract IT Job Roles
North West

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the North West. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the North West with a recognized job title 2,285 1,993 2,467
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.33% 92.70% 92.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,481 1,130 1,698
10th Percentile £213 £250 £306
25th Percentile £358 £380 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% +2.56%
75th Percentile £563 £568 £600
90th Percentile £650 £656 £675
England median daily rate £505 £525 £530
% change year-on-year -3.81% -0.94% -3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 209 108 179
10th Percentile £17.30 £15.36 £15.75
25th Percentile £21.25 £17.44 £17.72
Median hourly rate £31.50 £24.63 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +27.89% -29.63% +66.27%
75th Percentile £56.69 £44.92 £46.89
90th Percentile £69.56 £67.70 £65.00
England median hourly rate £27.00 £35.00 £45.00
% change year-on-year -22.86% -22.22% +37.32%

Developer
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Developer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Developer job vacancy trend in the North West

Developer
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the North West.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the North West

Developer
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Developer in the North West over the 6 months to 29 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Developer in the North West

Developer
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the North West.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the North West

Developer
Contract Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Developer within the North West region over the 6 months to 29 December 2025. 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
Manchester +2 180 £450 - 367
Cheshire -10 48 £370 -26.00% 141
Merseyside -5 19 £500 +50.38% 73
Lancashire -9 19 £573 +10.68% 127
Cumbria - 1 £470 - 2
Developer
England

Developer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West

For the 6 months to 29 December 2025, Developer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the North West region featuring Developer in the job title.

1 91 (33.83%) Java
2 71 (26.39%) Agile
3 70 (26.02%) CI/CD
4 68 (25.28%) SQL
5 66 (24.54%) AWS
6 60 (22.30%) Azure
6 60 (22.30%) Problem-Solving
7 57 (21.19%) DevOps
7 57 (21.19%) Spring Boot
8 56 (20.82%) Spring
9 55 (20.45%) Microservices
10 46 (17.10%) Full-Stack Development
10 46 (17.10%) Test Automation
11 44 (16.36%) JavaScript
12 43 (15.99%) Docker
12 43 (15.99%) Git
13 41 (15.24%) Security Cleared
14 39 (14.50%) React
15 38 (14.13%) Node.js
16 36 (13.38%) Kubernetes
16 36 (13.38%) TypeScript
17 34 (12.64%) TDD
18 33 (12.27%) REST
19 32 (11.90%) Accessibility
19 32 (11.90%) Containerisation
20 30 (11.15%) Microsoft
21 28 (10.41%) HTML
22 27 (10.04%) JSON
22 27 (10.04%) Python
22 27 (10.04%) Unit Testing

Developer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 6 (2.23%) Confluence
2 5 (1.86%) SAS
3 3 (1.12%) Adobe Experience Manager
3 3 (1.12%) Apache Airflow
3 3 (1.12%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.74%) Apache
4 2 (0.74%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.37%) CMS
5 1 (0.37%) JBoss
5 1 (0.37%) nginx
5 1 (0.37%) Tomcat
Applications
1 4 (1.49%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (0.74%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.37%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 9 (3.35%) Advent Geneva
2 2 (0.74%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.74%) Maximo
2 2 (0.74%) Oracle Applications
3 1 (0.37%) Dynamics NAV
3 1 (0.37%) NEC Housing
3 1 (0.37%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.37%) SAP PSCD
3 1 (0.37%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 66 (24.54%) AWS
2 60 (22.30%) Azure
3 23 (8.55%) Power Platform
4 20 (7.43%) GitHub
5 19 (7.06%) Azure DevOps
6 14 (5.20%) Serverless
7 12 (4.46%) Power Automate
8 9 (3.35%) PowerApps
9 8 (2.97%) AWS Lambda
9 8 (2.97%) GCP
10 7 (2.60%) Amazon SQS
10 7 (2.60%) Figma
10 7 (2.60%) npm
11 6 (2.23%) GitHub Actions
12 5 (1.86%) Amazon S3
12 5 (1.86%) Azure AKS
12 5 (1.86%) Dynamics 365
12 5 (1.86%) SaaS
13 4 (1.49%) Apigee
13 4 (1.49%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 9 (3.35%) HTTPS
2 4 (1.49%) HTTP
3 2 (0.74%) SSL
4 1 (0.37%) Internet
4 1 (0.37%) PABX
4 1 (0.37%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (8.18%) MySQL
2 20 (7.43%) Relational Database
3 19 (7.06%) SQL Server
4 17 (6.32%) PostgreSQL
5 16 (5.95%) Power BI
6 15 (5.58%) NoSQL
7 11 (4.09%) DB2
8 10 (3.72%) Data Warehouse
8 10 (3.72%) MongoDB
8 10 (3.72%) Redis
8 10 (3.72%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 5 (1.86%) Apache Cassandra
9 5 (1.86%) DocumentDB
9 5 (1.86%) OLTP
10 4 (1.49%) Amazon RDS
10 4 (1.49%) Cognos Framework Manager
10 4 (1.49%) Cognos Report Studio
10 4 (1.49%) DynamoDB
11 3 (1.12%) Cognos Transformer
11 3 (1.12%) OLAP Cube
Development Applications
1 43 (15.99%) Git
2 26 (9.67%) GitLab
3 20 (7.43%) JIRA
4 14 (5.20%) Cypress.io
4 14 (5.20%) Gradle
4 14 (5.20%) JUnit
5 11 (4.09%) Xcode
6 10 (3.72%) Jenkins
6 10 (3.72%) SonarQube
7 9 (3.35%) Postman
8 7 (2.60%) Mockito
9 6 (2.23%) Storybook
10 3 (1.12%) CircleCI
10 3 (1.12%) ESLint
10 3 (1.12%) Grunt
10 3 (1.12%) gulp
10 3 (1.12%) Jasmine
10 3 (1.12%) Maven
10 3 (1.12%) Mocha
10 3 (1.12%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 58 (21.56%) Public Sector
2 41 (15.24%) Finance
3 33 (12.27%) Social Skills
4 20 (7.43%) Analytical Skills
5 19 (7.06%) Banking
6 8 (2.97%) Documentation Skills
7 3 (1.12%) Law
7 3 (1.12%) Local Government
7 3 (1.12%) Presentation Skills
7 3 (1.12%) Publishing
8 2 (0.74%) Aviation
8 2 (0.74%) Manufacturing
8 2 (0.74%) Private Banking
9 1 (0.37%) Digital Healthcare
9 1 (0.37%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 1 (0.37%) Legal
9 1 (0.37%) Marketing
9 1 (0.37%) Military
9 1 (0.37%) Organisational Skills
9 1 (0.37%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 57 (21.19%) Spring Boot
2 56 (20.82%) Spring
3 39 (14.50%) React
4 38 (14.13%) Node.js
5 33 (12.27%) REST
6 28 (10.41%) HTML
7 27 (10.04%) JSON
8 24 (8.92%) RESTful
9 21 (7.81%) .NET
10 20 (7.43%) Jest
11 19 (7.06%) OAuth
12 18 (6.69%) CSS
13 17 (6.32%) AngularJS
14 15 (5.58%) Hibernate
14 15 (5.58%) XML
15 14 (5.20%) JMS
15 14 (5.20%) React Native
16 12 (4.46%) Kafka
16 12 (4.46%) Vue
17 11 (4.09%) Redux
Miscellaneous
1 18 (6.69%) Mobile App
2 13 (4.83%) Onboarding
3 10 (3.72%) Cloud Native
3 10 (3.72%) Data Protection Act
3 10 (3.72%) SWIFT Messaging Network
4 7 (2.60%) Product Ownership
4 7 (2.60%) Virtual Team
5 6 (2.23%) Data Structures
5 6 (2.23%) Distributed Systems
6 5 (1.86%) Legacy Systems
6 5 (1.86%) Low-Code
7 4 (1.49%) Legacy Code
8 3 (1.12%) Greenfield Project
8 3 (1.12%) Mobile Banking
9 2 (0.74%) Algorithms
9 2 (0.74%) Blog
9 2 (0.74%) FMCG
9 2 (0.74%) IVR
9 2 (0.74%) Mainframe
10 1 (0.37%) CUDA
Operating Systems
1 16 (5.95%) Android
1 16 (5.95%) Apple iOS
2 11 (4.09%) Linux
3 6 (2.23%) Unix
4 3 (1.12%) Mac OS X
5 2 (0.74%) MVS
5 2 (0.74%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.37%) VME
6 1 (0.37%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 71 (26.39%) Agile
2 70 (26.02%) CI/CD
3 60 (22.30%) Problem-Solving
4 57 (21.19%) DevOps
5 55 (20.45%) Microservices
6 46 (17.10%) Full-Stack Development
6 46 (17.10%) Test Automation
7 34 (12.64%) TDD
8 32 (11.90%) Containerisation
9 27 (10.04%) Unit Testing
10 21 (7.81%) Business Intelligence
11 20 (7.43%) Continuous Improvement
11 20 (7.43%) User Experience
12 19 (7.06%) API Development
12 19 (7.06%) Data Modelling
12 19 (7.06%) Front End Development
12 19 (7.06%) Performance Optimisation
13 18 (6.69%) Analytics
14 16 (5.95%) Computer Science
14 16 (5.95%) Design Patterns
Programming Languages
1 91 (33.83%) Java
2 68 (25.28%) SQL
3 44 (16.36%) JavaScript
4 36 (13.38%) TypeScript
5 27 (10.04%) Python
6 18 (6.69%) C#
7 12 (4.46%) Kotlin
8 6 (2.23%) PHP
8 6 (2.23%) Swift
8 6 (2.23%) T-SQL
9 5 (1.86%) C++
9 5 (1.86%) Objective-C
9 5 (1.86%) PL/SQL
9 5 (1.86%) Ruby
9 5 (1.86%) Shell Script
10 4 (1.49%) ABAP
10 4 (1.49%) Bash
10 4 (1.49%) C
11 3 (1.12%) ProC
11 3 (1.12%) Scala
Qualifications
1 41 (15.24%) Security Cleared
2 20 (7.43%) SC Cleared
3 19 (7.06%) BPSS Clearance
3 19 (7.06%) Degree
4 15 (5.58%) Computer Science Degree
5 5 (1.86%) CTC Cleared
6 2 (0.74%) Master's Degree
7 1 (0.37%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (11.90%) Accessibility
2 17 (6.32%) QA
3 11 (4.09%) WCAG
4 10 (3.72%) ISO 20022
4 10 (3.72%) PSD2
4 10 (3.72%) SEPA
5 4 (1.49%) Data Quality
6 1 (0.37%) GDPR
System Software
1 43 (15.99%) Docker
2 3 (1.12%) ISA Server
3 2 (0.74%) Time Sharing Option
Systems Management
1 36 (13.38%) Kubernetes
2 7 (2.60%) Terraform
3 5 (1.86%) Grafana
4 4 (1.49%) Prometheus
5 3 (1.12%) Ansible
6 2 (0.74%) CA Endevor
7 1 (0.37%) Argo
7 1 (0.37%) Progress Chef
7 1 (0.37%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 30 (11.15%) Microsoft
2 24 (8.92%) Oracle
3 10 (3.72%) Virgin Media
4 9 (3.35%) Advent
4 9 (3.35%) SAP
5 7 (2.60%) IBM
5 7 (2.60%) ServiceNow
5 7 (2.60%) Splunk
6 5 (1.86%) Adobe
7 4 (1.49%) Automation Anywhere
7 4 (1.49%) Cognos
7 4 (1.49%) IFS
7 4 (1.49%) Salesforce
7 4 (1.49%) webMethods
8 3 (1.12%) Dynatrace
8 3 (1.12%) Google
8 3 (1.12%) Perforce
8 3 (1.12%) Software AG
8 3 (1.12%) Xamarin
9 2 (0.74%) Red Hat