Developer Contract Job Trends in the North West
Developer
England > North West
The median Developer daily rate in the North West is £492, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 16 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 22 | 14 | 10 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -8 | -4 | 0 |
| Contract jobs requiring a Developer | 301 | 224 | 253 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the North West | 7.44% | 10.00% | 10.48% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 8.24% | 10.94% | 11.17% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 183 | 185 | 172 |
| 10th Percentile | £358 | £314 | £308 |
| 25th Percentile | £420 | £363 | £375 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £492 | £420 | £438 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +17.20% | -4.00% | -10.26% |
| 75th Percentile | £579 | £500 | £525 |
| 90th Percentile | £650 | £550 | £575 |
| England median daily rate | £520 | £510 | £525 |
| % change year-on-year | +1.96% | -2.86% | -4.55% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 25 | 1 | 3 |
| 10th Percentile | £30.19 | - | £41.80 |
| 25th Percentile | £40.53 | - | £50.50 |
| Median hourly rate | £45.56 | £47.12 | £65.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -3.32% | -27.51% | -13.33% |
| 75th Percentile | £71.50 | - | - |
| 90th Percentile | £76.20 | - | - |
| 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.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies in the North West with a recognized job title | 3,653 | 2,047 | 2,265 |
| % of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title | 90.26% | 91.38% | 93.87% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 2,056 | 1,352 | 1,208 |
| 10th Percentile | £300 | £250 | £275 |
| 25th Percentile | £406 | £363 | £390 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £500 | £450 | £475 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +11.11% | -5.26% | -5.00% |
| 75th Percentile | £600 | £575 | £575 |
| 90th Percentile | £675 | £680 | £650 |
| England median daily rate | £525 | £512 | £525 |
| % change year-on-year | +2.54% | -2.48% | -2.78% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 453 | 169 | 160 |
| 10th Percentile | £15.93 | £13.22 | £15.61 |
| 25th Percentile | £26.90 | £17.30 | £18.00 |
| Median hourly rate | £50.00 | £25.15 | £35.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +98.85% | -28.16% | +10.17% |
| 75th Percentile | £73.25 | £44.78 | £55.25 |
| 90th Percentile | £85.00 | £70.03 | £73.64 |
| England median hourly rate | £41.71 | £25.15 | £43.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +65.84% | -41.51% | -6.89% |
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 Daily Rate Trend 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 16 October 2026.
Developer Hourly Rate Trend 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 16 October 2026.
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 16 October 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 | 0 | 217 | £500 | +19.05% | 195 |
| Cheshire | -14 | 43 | £513 | +36.67% | 25 |
| Merseyside | -21 | 16 | £437 | -12.70% | 14 |
| Lancashire | -27 | 12 | £400 | -23.81% | 32 |
| Cumbria | -20 | 8 | £395 | -15.96% | |
| Developer England |
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Developer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West
For the 6 months to 16 October 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.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agile | 25.9% | 78 |
| 2 | CI/CD | 24.9% | 75 |
| 3 | Java | 24.3% | 73 |
| 4 | AWS | 17.6% | 53 |
| 5 | Azure | 16.6% | 50 |
| 5 | DevOps | 16.6% | 50 |
| 7 | Power Platform | 15.3% | 46 |
| 8 | SQL | 15.0% | 45 |
| 9 | Microsoft | 14.3% | 43 |
| 10 | Microservices | 13.3% | 40 |
| 11 | Test Automation | 13.0% | 39 |
| 12 | REST | 12.0% | 36 |
| 12 | Security Cleared | 12.0% | 36 |
| 12 | Software Engineering | 12.0% | 36 |
| 15 | JavaScript | 11.6% | 35 |
| 16 | C# | 11.3% | 34 |
| 17 | AI | 11.0% | 33 |
| 17 | Git | 11.0% | 33 |
| 19 | TDD | 10.6% | 32 |
| 19 | TypeScript | 10.6% | 32 |
| 21 | React | 9.6% | 29 |
| 22 | Problem-Solving | 9.0% | 27 |
| 22 | SC Cleared | 9.0% | 27 |
| 22 | Spring Boot | 9.0% | 27 |
| 25 | Data Modelling | 8.6% | 26 |
| 26 | Business Intelligence | 8.3% | 25 |
| 26 | Kafka | 8.3% | 25 |
| 28 | Mentoring | 8.0% | 24 |
| 28 | Observability | 8.0% | 24 |
| 28 | Power Automate | 8.0% | 24 |
Developer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Senior Developer | 21.9% | 66 |
| 2 | Java Developer | 17.6% | 53 |
| 3 | Software Developer | 9.3% | 28 |
| 4 | Business Intelligence Developer | 6.3% | 19 |
| 4 | Senior Java Developer | 6.3% | 19 |
| 6 | Lead Developer | 6.0% | 18 |
| 6 | Power BI Developer | 6.0% | 18 |
| 6 | Salesforce Developer | 6.0% | 18 |
| 9 | React Developer | 5.0% | 15 |
| 9 | SharePoint Developer | 5.0% | 15 |
| 11 | Full-Stack Developer | 4.7% | 14 |
| 12 | Automation Developer | 4.3% | 13 |
| 12 | Senior Salesforce Developer | 4.3% | 13 |
| 12 | Web Developer | 4.3% | 13 |
| 15 | Senior Web Developer | 4.0% | 12 |
| 16 | AWS Developer | 3.0% | 9 |
| 16 | Backend Developer | 3.0% | 9 |
| 16 | Senior Software Developer | 3.0% | 9 |
| 16 | SQL Developer | 3.0% | 9 |
| 20 | Power Platform Developer | 2.7% | 8 |