Developer Contract Job Trends in the North West

Developer
England > North West

The median Developer daily rate in the North West is £450, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 8 March 2026.

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

6 months to
8 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 8 4
Rank change year-on-year -2 -4 +5
Contract jobs requiring a Developer 325 235 406
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 11.34% 11.36% 14.22%
As % of the Job Titles category 12.33% 12.27% 15.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 221 165 297
10th Percentile £343 £380 £316
25th Percentile £385 £405 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £478 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.86% +0.63% -5.00%
75th Percentile £500 £549 £538
90th Percentile £572 £633 £625
England median daily rate £500 £538 £525
% change year-on-year -6.98% +2.38% -8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 4 5
10th Percentile £36.32 - £73.25
25th Percentile £40.53 £65.00 £76.25
Median hourly rate £61.00 £75.50 £80.00
Median % change year-on-year -19.21% -5.63% +105.13%
75th Percentile £70.00 £86.00 £82.50
90th Percentile £75.61 - £82.80
England median hourly rate £63.14 £65.00 £62.50
% change year-on-year -2.87% +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 2,636 1,916 2,672
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.01% 92.61% 93.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,603 1,199 1,780
10th Percentile £213 £250 £275
25th Percentile £369 £375 £394
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £455 £475 £495
Median % change year-on-year -4.21% -4.04% -1.00%
75th Percentile £575 £571 £582
90th Percentile £650 £656 £672
England median daily rate £505 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -3.81% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 258 107 280
10th Percentile £18.26 £15.00 £11.07
25th Percentile £22.68 £20.60 £13.93
Median hourly rate £42.69 £31.52 £24.15
Median % change year-on-year +35.42% +30.54% -19.52%
75th Percentile £63.50 £55.59 £46.18
90th Percentile £77.50 £81.72 £63.88
England median hourly rate £35.71 £35.00 £32.50
% change year-on-year +2.03% +7.69% -21.69%

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 8 March 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 8 March 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 8 March 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 +3 242 £450 -2.17% 141
Cheshire -15 44 £358 -29.28% 34
Lancashire -11 20 £548 +2.29% 46
Merseyside -8 16 £475 +15.15% 21
Developer
England

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

For the 6 months to 8 March 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.

1 125 (38.46%) Java
2 104 (32.00%) Agile
3 89 (27.38%) CI/CD
4 80 (24.62%) AWS
5 76 (23.38%) Microservices
6 68 (20.92%) Azure
6 68 (20.92%) Spring Boot
7 67 (20.62%) Problem-Solving
7 67 (20.62%) Spring
8 63 (19.38%) SQL
9 62 (19.08%) Test Automation
10 61 (18.77%) DevOps
11 56 (17.23%) Full-Stack Development
12 52 (16.00%) Security Cleared
13 45 (13.85%) Docker
13 45 (13.85%) React
13 45 (13.85%) TDD
14 43 (13.23%) JavaScript
15 41 (12.62%) Kubernetes
15 41 (12.62%) Microsoft
15 41 (12.62%) Node.js
15 41 (12.62%) REST
16 40 (12.31%) GitLab
16 40 (12.31%) TypeScript
17 38 (11.69%) Git
18 36 (11.08%) Python
18 36 (11.08%) RESTful
19 31 (9.54%) Containerisation
20 30 (9.23%) BPSS Clearance
21 29 (8.92%) .NET

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 8 (2.46%) Confluence
2 5 (1.54%) Apache Spark
3 4 (1.23%) Apache Airflow
4 3 (0.92%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 3 (0.92%) Apache
4 3 (0.92%) SAS
5 2 (0.62%) SharePoint
6 1 (0.31%) Appian
6 1 (0.31%) CMS
6 1 (0.31%) Headless CMS
6 1 (0.31%) JBoss
6 1 (0.31%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.31%) Tomcat
Applications
1 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Office
1 1 (0.31%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 9 (2.77%) Advent Geneva
2 7 (2.15%) Maximo
3 2 (0.62%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.62%) NEC Housing
3 2 (0.62%) Oracle Applications
4 1 (0.31%) Dynamics NAV
4 1 (0.31%) SAP HR
4 1 (0.31%) SAP PSCD
Cloud Services
1 80 (24.62%) AWS
2 68 (20.92%) Azure
3 25 (7.69%) Power Platform
4 23 (7.08%) Serverless
5 16 (4.92%) Azure DevOps
6 15 (4.62%) Power Automate
7 14 (4.31%) GitHub
8 12 (3.69%) AWS Lambda
8 12 (3.69%) Dynamics 365
8 12 (3.69%) PowerApps
9 9 (2.77%) Amazon S3
9 9 (2.77%) Amazon SQS
9 9 (2.77%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (2.15%) Azure Logic Apps
11 6 (1.85%) GCP
12 5 (1.54%) AWS Step Functions
12 5 (1.54%) Azure AKS
12 5 (1.54%) npm
12 5 (1.54%) OpenShift
13 4 (1.23%) GitHub Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 7 (2.15%) HTTPS
2 4 (1.23%) HTTP
3 1 (0.31%) Internet
3 1 (0.31%) PABX
3 1 (0.31%) SSL
3 1 (0.31%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (6.46%) Relational Database
2 18 (5.54%) SQL Server
3 16 (4.92%) MongoDB
3 16 (4.92%) NoSQL
3 16 (4.92%) PostgreSQL
4 15 (4.62%) MySQL
5 14 (4.31%) Power BI
6 10 (3.08%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 9 (2.77%) DB2
8 8 (2.46%) Data Warehouse
8 8 (2.46%) DocumentDB
8 8 (2.46%) OLTP
8 8 (2.46%) Redis
9 5 (1.54%) DynamoDB
9 5 (1.54%) Hadoop
10 4 (1.23%) Elasticsearch
11 3 (0.92%) Apache Cassandra
12 2 (0.62%) RDBMS
12 2 (0.62%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 2 (0.62%) WebFOCUS
Development Applications
1 40 (12.31%) GitLab
2 38 (11.69%) Git
3 19 (5.85%) JIRA
4 15 (4.62%) Cypress.io
5 13 (4.00%) Mockito
6 12 (3.69%) JUnit
7 8 (2.46%) Jenkins
7 8 (2.46%) Mocha
7 8 (2.46%) SonarQube
8 6 (1.85%) CircleCI
9 5 (1.54%) Postman
10 4 (1.23%) ESLint
10 4 (1.23%) Gradle
11 3 (0.92%) Jasmine
12 2 (0.62%) Android Studio
12 2 (0.62%) fastlane
12 2 (0.62%) Xcode
12 2 (0.62%) XCTest
13 1 (0.31%) IntelliJ
13 1 (0.31%) Vite
General
1 86 (26.46%) Public Sector
2 44 (13.54%) Social Skills
3 42 (12.92%) Finance
4 21 (6.46%) Analytical Skills
5 16 (4.92%) Banking
6 8 (2.46%) Documentation Skills
7 7 (2.15%) Aviation
8 4 (1.23%) Publishing
9 3 (0.92%) Law
9 3 (0.92%) Manufacturing
10 2 (0.62%) Aerospace
10 2 (0.62%) Local Government
10 2 (0.62%) Private Banking
10 2 (0.62%) Retail
11 1 (0.31%) Advertising
11 1 (0.31%) Games
11 1 (0.31%) Legal
11 1 (0.31%) Marketing
11 1 (0.31%) Military
11 1 (0.31%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 68 (20.92%) Spring Boot
2 67 (20.62%) Spring
3 45 (13.85%) React
4 41 (12.62%) Node.js
4 41 (12.62%) REST
5 36 (11.08%) RESTful
6 29 (8.92%) .NET
7 23 (7.08%) HTML
8 22 (6.77%) AngularJS
8 22 (6.77%) Jest
9 20 (6.15%) JSON
10 19 (5.85%) Kafka
11 15 (4.62%) CSS
11 15 (4.62%) Vue
12 14 (4.31%) XML
12 14 (4.31%) YAML
13 13 (4.00%) Hibernate
13 13 (4.00%) JAX-RS
13 13 (4.00%) React Native
14 12 (3.69%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 23 (7.08%) Cloud Native
2 16 (4.92%) Mobile App
2 16 (4.92%) Onboarding
3 12 (3.69%) Product Ownership
4 9 (2.77%) Enterprise Software
5 8 (2.46%) SWIFT Messaging Network
6 7 (2.15%) Data Structures
6 7 (2.15%) Virtual Team
7 5 (1.54%) Low-Code
8 4 (1.23%) Data Protection Act
8 4 (1.23%) Legacy Code
9 3 (0.92%) Blog
9 3 (0.92%) Greenfield Project
9 3 (0.92%) IoT
9 3 (0.92%) Legacy Systems
10 2 (0.62%) Algorithms
10 2 (0.62%) Distributed Systems
10 2 (0.62%) FMCG
10 2 (0.62%) IVR
10 2 (0.62%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 19 (5.85%) Linux
2 17 (5.23%) Unix
3 10 (3.08%) Mac OS X
4 8 (2.46%) Android
4 8 (2.46%) Apple iOS
5 4 (1.23%) Windows
6 3 (0.92%) Windows Server
7 1 (0.31%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.31%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.31%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 104 (32.00%) Agile
2 89 (27.38%) CI/CD
3 76 (23.38%) Microservices
4 67 (20.62%) Problem-Solving
5 62 (19.08%) Test Automation
6 61 (18.77%) DevOps
7 56 (17.23%) Full-Stack Development
8 45 (13.85%) TDD
9 31 (9.54%) Containerisation
10 28 (8.62%) API Design
11 26 (8.00%) Continuous Improvement
11 26 (8.00%) User Experience
12 25 (7.69%) Data Modelling
13 24 (7.38%) Unit Testing
14 23 (7.08%) Front End Development
15 22 (6.77%) Performance Optimisation
16 21 (6.46%) Design Patterns
17 20 (6.15%) Analytics
17 20 (6.15%) API Development
17 20 (6.15%) Code Quality
Programming Languages
1 125 (38.46%) Java
2 63 (19.38%) SQL
3 43 (13.23%) JavaScript
4 40 (12.31%) TypeScript
5 36 (11.08%) Python
6 28 (8.62%) C#
7 14 (4.31%) Kotlin
8 6 (1.85%) T-SQL
9 5 (1.54%) Shell Script
10 4 (1.23%) Apex Code
10 4 (1.23%) C++
10 4 (1.23%) PL/SQL
11 3 (0.92%) ABAP
11 3 (0.92%) Groovy
11 3 (0.92%) ProC
11 3 (0.92%) Ruby
11 3 (0.92%) Swift
12 2 (0.62%) Bash
12 2 (0.62%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 2 (0.62%) Objective-C
Qualifications
1 52 (16.00%) Security Cleared
2 30 (9.23%) BPSS Clearance
3 27 (8.31%) SC Cleared
4 17 (5.23%) Degree
5 10 (3.08%) Computer Science Degree
6 4 (1.23%) CTC Cleared
6 4 (1.23%) DV Cleared
7 1 (0.31%) Master's Degree
7 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (8.00%) Accessibility
2 15 (4.62%) WCAG
3 14 (4.31%) QA
4 8 (2.46%) ISO 20022
4 8 (2.46%) PSD2
4 8 (2.46%) SEPA
5 4 (1.23%) Data Quality
6 1 (0.31%) GDPR
System Software
1 45 (13.85%) Docker
2 3 (0.92%) ISA Server
Systems Management
1 41 (12.62%) Kubernetes
2 19 (5.85%) Terraform
3 7 (2.15%) Grafana
4 4 (1.23%) Ansible
4 4 (1.23%) Prometheus
5 1 (0.31%) Argo
5 1 (0.31%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 41 (12.62%) Microsoft
2 26 (8.00%) Oracle
3 11 (3.38%) Virgin Media
4 9 (2.77%) Advent
4 9 (2.77%) Salesforce
5 7 (2.15%) SAP
5 7 (2.15%) Splunk
6 6 (1.85%) Automation Anywhere
6 6 (1.85%) ServiceNow
7 5 (1.54%) Adobe
8 4 (1.23%) IFS
8 4 (1.23%) Xamarin
9 3 (0.92%) Dynatrace
9 3 (0.92%) IBM
9 3 (0.92%) Veracode
10 2 (0.62%) Google
10 2 (0.62%) NEC
10 2 (0.62%) Sage
10 2 (0.62%) Software AG
10 2 (0.62%) webMethods