Developer Contract Job Trends in the North West

Developer
England > North West

The median Developer daily rate in the North West is £498, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 28 September 2026.

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

6 months to
28 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 23 12 11
Rank change year-on-year -11 -1 -3
Contract jobs requiring a Developer 284 231 241
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 7.31% 10.66% 10.05%
As % of the Job Titles category 8.08% 11.58% 10.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 172 191 168
10th Percentile £363 £313 £306
25th Percentile £429 £363 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £498 £425 £438
Median % change year-on-year +17.06% -2.86% -11.62%
75th Percentile £588 £500 £525
90th Percentile £650 £575 £575
England median daily rate £520 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +1.96% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 23 1 3
10th Percentile £25.49 - £41.80
25th Percentile £37.25 - £50.50
Median hourly rate £45.56 £47.12 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -3.32% -27.51% -10.34%
75th Percentile £46.80 - -
90th Percentile £71.50 - -
England median hourly rate £55.00 £55.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year - -15.38% +8.33%

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 3,513 1,994 2,245
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.38% 92.06% 93.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,973 1,322 1,216
10th Percentile £295 £265 £273
25th Percentile £410 £371 £394
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £450 £490
Median % change year-on-year +11.11% -8.16% -2.00%
75th Percentile £600 £575 £576
90th Percentile £675 £680 £669
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.46%
Number of hourly rates quoted 426 160 163
10th Percentile £15.93 £13.00 £15.49
25th Percentile £25.49 £17.30 £18.00
Median hourly rate £45.56 £25.15 £37.00
Median % change year-on-year +81.15% -32.03% +16.46%
75th Percentile £71.91 £47.12 £55.52
90th Percentile £80.00 £68.70 £74.37
England median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £45.00
% change year-on-year +68.99% -44.11% -1.13%

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 28 September 2026.

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
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Developer in the North West over the 6 months to 28 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Developer 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 28 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
Manchester -2 200 £500 +20.12% 194
Cheshire -16 42 £525 +40.00% 38
Merseyside -22 16 £437 -12.70% 25
Lancashire -22 12 - - 23
Cumbria -19 9 £625 +32.98% 1
Developer
England

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

For the 6 months to 28 September 2026, 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 73 (25.70%) Agile
2 68 (23.94%) CI/CD
2 68 (23.94%) Java
3 45 (15.85%) AWS
4 44 (15.49%) DevOps
4 44 (15.49%) SQL
5 43 (15.14%) Azure
6 40 (14.08%) Microservices
6 40 (14.08%) Power Platform
7 37 (13.03%) Microsoft
8 35 (12.32%) Security Cleared
9 33 (11.62%) Software Engineering
10 32 (11.27%) JavaScript
10 32 (11.27%) Test Automation
11 31 (10.92%) AI
12 30 (10.56%) REST
12 30 (10.56%) TDD
13 29 (10.21%) React
14 28 (9.86%) C#
14 28 (9.86%) Git
14 28 (9.86%) SC Cleared
15 26 (9.15%) Business Intelligence
15 26 (9.15%) Problem-Solving
15 26 (9.15%) Salesforce
15 26 (9.15%) Spring Boot
16 25 (8.80%) Mentoring
17 24 (8.45%) Spring
17 24 (8.45%) TypeScript
18 23 (8.10%) Data Modelling
18 23 (8.10%) Kafka

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 16 (5.63%) SharePoint
2 13 (4.58%) Confluence
3 8 (2.82%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (2.82%) SharePoint Server
4 4 (1.41%) Camunda
5 3 (1.06%) WordPress
6 2 (0.70%) CMS
6 2 (0.70%) SAS
6 2 (0.70%) SharePoint 2013
7 1 (0.35%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 1 (0.35%) Drupal
7 1 (0.35%) JBoss
7 1 (0.35%) Mule
7 1 (0.35%) Mule ESB
7 1 (0.35%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.35%) WebLogic
Applications
1 1 (0.35%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 4 (1.41%) MIS ActiveH
2 1 (0.35%) Sage 200
2 1 (0.35%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 45 (15.85%) AWS
2 43 (15.14%) Azure
3 40 (14.08%) Power Platform
4 19 (6.69%) Power Automate
5 16 (5.63%) PowerApps
6 15 (5.28%) Microsoft 365
7 14 (4.93%) Microsoft Copilot
8 13 (4.58%) Azure DevOps
8 13 (4.58%) GitHub
9 10 (3.52%) GitHub Actions
10 8 (2.82%) Azure AI
10 8 (2.82%) OneDrive
11 7 (2.46%) Serverless
12 6 (2.11%) Copilot Studio
12 6 (2.11%) Dynamics 365
12 6 (2.11%) Google Gemini
13 5 (1.76%) Anthropic Claude
13 5 (1.76%) GitHub Copilot
13 5 (1.76%) OpenShift
13 5 (1.76%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 8 (2.82%) SD-WAN
1 8 (2.82%) WAN
1 8 (2.82%) Wireless
2 2 (0.70%) Network Security
2 2 (0.70%) SNMP
2 2 (0.70%) TCP/IP
3 1 (0.35%) Firewall
3 1 (0.35%) IPsec
3 1 (0.35%) SSL
3 1 (0.35%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (8.10%) Power BI
2 22 (7.75%) SQL Server
3 20 (7.04%) MongoDB
4 13 (4.58%) Power Query
4 13 (4.58%) Relational Database
5 11 (3.87%) Data Warehouse
6 7 (2.46%) NoSQL
7 5 (1.76%) DataStage
7 5 (1.76%) Db2
7 5 (1.76%) PostgreSQL
8 4 (1.41%) Oracle Database
9 3 (1.06%) MySQL
9 3 (1.06%) RDBMS
9 3 (1.06%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 2 (0.70%) Amazon QuickSight
10 2 (0.70%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.70%) DocumentDB
10 2 (0.70%) SAS Visual Analytics
10 2 (0.70%) Star Schema
11 1 (0.35%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 28 (9.86%) Git
2 15 (5.28%) Jenkins
3 14 (4.93%) GitLab
4 11 (3.87%) Mockito
5 10 (3.52%) JIRA
6 9 (3.17%) Claude Code
7 7 (2.46%) JUnit
7 7 (2.46%) Maven
8 6 (2.11%) SonarQube
9 5 (1.76%) Gradle
10 4 (1.41%) Bitbucket Server
10 4 (1.41%) ClearCase
10 4 (1.41%) Cucumber
10 4 (1.41%) REST Assured
10 4 (1.41%) Sonatype Nexus
11 2 (0.70%) CocoaPods
11 2 (0.70%) MSTest
11 2 (0.70%) NUnit
11 2 (0.70%) Rational Robot
11 2 (0.70%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 58 (20.42%) Social Skills
2 32 (11.27%) Public Sector
3 26 (9.15%) Finance
4 21 (7.39%) Analytical Skills
4 21 (7.39%) Banking
5 11 (3.87%) Military
6 4 (1.41%) Legal
6 4 (1.41%) Legal Technology
6 4 (1.41%) Manufacturing
6 4 (1.41%) Retail
7 3 (1.06%) Aerospace
8 2 (0.70%) Front Office
8 2 (0.70%) Investment Banking
8 2 (0.70%) Law
9 1 (0.35%) Automotive
9 1 (0.35%) Documentation Skills
9 1 (0.35%) Influencing Skills
9 1 (0.35%) Local Government
9 1 (0.35%) Marketing
9 1 (0.35%) Organisational Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (10.56%) REST
2 29 (10.21%) React
3 26 (9.15%) Spring Boot
4 24 (8.45%) Spring
5 23 (8.10%) Kafka
5 23 (8.10%) Node.js
6 19 (6.69%) .NET
7 14 (4.93%) JSON
8 12 (4.23%) HTML
9 10 (3.52%) CSS
10 9 (3.17%) RESTful
10 9 (3.17%) Terraform
11 8 (2.82%) AngularJS
11 8 (2.82%) Django
11 8 (2.82%) XML
12 6 (2.11%) Lightning Web Components
12 6 (2.11%) Redux
13 5 (1.76%) JPA
13 5 (1.76%) Nunjucks
13 5 (1.76%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 11 (3.87%) Cloud Native
1 11 (3.87%) Data Structures
2 10 (3.52%) Enterprise Software
3 8 (2.82%) NHS
3 8 (2.82%) Onboarding
4 7 (2.46%) AI Agents
4 7 (2.46%) Product Ownership
5 6 (2.11%) Distributed Systems
5 6 (2.11%) Mobile App
6 5 (1.76%) Algorithms
6 5 (1.76%) Legacy Systems
6 5 (1.76%) Self-Motivation
7 3 (1.06%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
7 3 (1.06%) IoT
8 2 (0.70%) Cyber Threat
8 2 (0.70%) Equities
8 2 (0.70%) Fixed Income
8 2 (0.70%) Greenfield Project
8 2 (0.70%) Low-Code
9 1 (0.35%) CSOC
Operating Systems
1 17 (5.99%) Linux
2 13 (4.58%) Unix
3 6 (2.11%) Apple iOS
4 5 (1.76%) Android
5 2 (0.70%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 2 (0.70%) VMS
5 2 (0.70%) Windows
6 1 (0.35%) Mac OS X
6 1 (0.35%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 73 (25.70%) Agile
2 68 (23.94%) CI/CD
3 44 (15.49%) DevOps
4 40 (14.08%) Microservices
5 33 (11.62%) Software Engineering
6 32 (11.27%) Test Automation
7 31 (10.92%) AI
8 30 (10.56%) TDD
9 26 (9.15%) Business Intelligence
9 26 (9.15%) Problem-Solving
10 25 (8.80%) Mentoring
11 23 (8.10%) Data Modelling
11 23 (8.10%) Observability
12 22 (7.75%) Continuous Improvement
12 22 (7.75%) Full-Stack Development
13 21 (7.39%) SDLC
14 17 (5.99%) Analytics
14 17 (5.99%) Clean Code
14 17 (5.99%) Code Quality
14 17 (5.99%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 68 (23.94%) Java
2 44 (15.49%) SQL
3 32 (11.27%) JavaScript
4 28 (9.86%) C#
5 24 (8.45%) TypeScript
6 19 (6.69%) Python
7 15 (5.28%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 10 (3.52%) Go
9 7 (2.46%) Shell Script
10 6 (2.11%) Apex Code
10 6 (2.11%) PL/SQL
10 6 (2.11%) PowerShell
10 6 (2.11%) Swift
11 5 (1.76%) Kotlin
12 4 (1.41%) T-SQL
12 4 (1.41%) VB
12 4 (1.41%) VB6
13 3 (1.06%) Objective-C
13 3 (1.06%) PHP
14 2 (0.70%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 35 (12.32%) Security Cleared
2 28 (9.86%) SC Cleared
3 20 (7.04%) Degree
4 18 (6.34%) BPSS Clearance
5 8 (2.82%) Computer Science Degree
6 1 (0.35%) Azure Certification
6 1 (0.35%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (4.23%) Data Quality
2 10 (3.52%) QA
3 8 (2.82%) Accessibility
4 2 (0.70%) GRC
5 1 (0.35%) NCSC
5 1 (0.35%) NIST
5 1 (0.35%) WCAG
System Software
1 21 (7.39%) Docker
2 3 (1.06%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 17 (5.99%) Kubernetes
2 9 (3.17%) Ansible
3 1 (0.35%) Grafana
3 1 (0.35%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 37 (13.03%) Microsoft
2 26 (9.15%) Salesforce
3 12 (4.23%) Oracle
4 11 (3.87%) ServiceNow
5 9 (3.17%) IBM
6 7 (2.46%) Splunk
7 5 (1.76%) Teradata
8 4 (1.41%) Blue Prism
8 4 (1.41%) Google
8 4 (1.41%) OpenAI
8 4 (1.41%) Veracode
9 3 (1.06%) Pega
10 2 (0.70%) Adobe
10 2 (0.70%) Atlassian
10 2 (0.70%) Cisco
10 2 (0.70%) SAP
11 1 (0.35%) MuleSoft
11 1 (0.35%) Sage
11 1 (0.35%) Salesforce Marketing Cloud