Developer Contract Job Trends in the North West

Developer
England > North West

The median Developer daily rate in the North West is £420, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 28 November 2025.

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

6 months to
28 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 13 9 9
Rank change year-on-year -4 0 -4
Contract jobs requiring a Developer 255 262 365
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 10.36% 11.23% 13.60%
As % of the Job Titles category 11.36% 12.07% 14.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 213 166 296
10th Percentile £315 £311 £325
25th Percentile £360 £382 £411
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £420 £450 £481
Median % change year-on-year -6.67% -6.44% -3.80%
75th Percentile £500 £538 £600
90th Percentile £550 £588 £700
England median daily rate £500 £530 £550
% change year-on-year -5.66% -3.64% -7.17%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 4 4
10th Percentile £49.83 £44.70 £56.38
25th Percentile £53.91 £57.75 £65.94
Median hourly rate £60.69 £65.00 £75.00
Median % change year-on-year -6.63% -13.33% +102.70%
75th Percentile £67.48 £70.25 £79.69
90th Percentile £71.55 £79.70 £81.38
England median hourly rate £55.00 £65.00 £60.00
% change year-on-year -15.38% +8.33% +3.64%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
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 2,245 2,170 2,480
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.22% 93.05% 92.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,497 1,157 1,726
10th Percentile £213 £263 £275
25th Percentile £358 £385 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% +2.56%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £600
90th Percentile £675 £650 £675
England median daily rate £505 £525 £534
% change year-on-year -3.81% -1.69% -2.91%
Number of hourly rates quoted 208 153 167
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.52 £16.11
25th Percentile £19.32 £18.00 £17.88
Median hourly rate £29.60 £30.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.33% -14.29% +74.43%
75th Percentile £51.02 £47.50 £46.53
90th Percentile £70.55 £70.67 £63.75
England median hourly rate £25.15 £40.00 £45.00
% change year-on-year -37.13% -11.11% +38.46%

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 November 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
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Developer in the North West over the 6 months to 28 November 2025.

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 November 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 -5 137 £425 -5.56% 102
Cheshire -2 74 £370 -1.33% 39
Merseyside -8 22 £500 +29.03% 10
Lancashire -13 18 £540 +8.05% 73
Cumbria - 1 £470 -
Developer
England

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

For the 6 months to 28 November 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 87 (34.12%) Java
2 79 (30.98%) Agile
3 70 (27.45%) SQL
4 65 (25.49%) CI/CD
5 62 (24.31%) Problem-Solving
6 58 (22.75%) AWS
7 57 (22.35%) Git
8 55 (21.57%) DevOps
9 53 (20.78%) Azure
9 53 (20.78%) Microservices
9 53 (20.78%) Spring Boot
10 51 (20.00%) Spring
11 45 (17.65%) JavaScript
11 45 (17.65%) Security Cleared
12 43 (16.86%) Microsoft
13 42 (16.47%) React
14 40 (15.69%) Docker
14 40 (15.69%) Test Automation
15 39 (15.29%) REST
16 37 (14.51%) TDD
17 35 (13.73%) Kubernetes
18 34 (13.33%) HTML
19 33 (12.94%) JIRA
20 31 (12.16%) Accessibility
21 30 (11.76%) Node.js
21 30 (11.76%) RESTful
22 29 (11.37%) Containerisation
22 29 (11.37%) Full-Stack Development
23 28 (10.98%) Python
24 27 (10.59%) JSON

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 10 (3.92%) Confluence
2 9 (3.53%) Tomcat
3 6 (2.35%) JBoss
4 5 (1.96%) Apache
4 5 (1.96%) SAS
5 4 (1.57%) nginx
5 4 (1.57%) SharePoint
6 3 (1.18%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.78%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.39%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 1 (0.39%) CMS
Applications
1 5 (1.96%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (0.78%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (0.78%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 9 (3.53%) Advent Geneva
2 2 (0.78%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.39%) Dynamics NAV
3 1 (0.39%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 1 (0.39%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.39%) SAP PSCD
3 1 (0.39%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 58 (22.75%) AWS
2 53 (20.78%) Azure
3 25 (9.80%) Power Platform
4 23 (9.02%) GitHub
5 19 (7.45%) Azure DevOps
6 12 (4.71%) Power Automate
7 11 (4.31%) PowerApps
7 11 (4.31%) Serverless
8 10 (3.92%) npm
9 8 (3.14%) AWS Lambda
9 8 (3.14%) GCP
10 7 (2.75%) Amazon SQS
10 7 (2.75%) Figma
11 6 (2.35%) OpenShift
11 6 (2.35%) SaaS
12 5 (1.96%) Azure AKS
13 4 (1.57%) Apigee
13 4 (1.57%) Azure Service Bus
13 4 (1.57%) GitHub Copilot
14 3 (1.18%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 9 (3.53%) HTTPS
2 4 (1.57%) HTTP
3 2 (0.78%) SSL
4 1 (0.39%) Internet
4 1 (0.39%) PABX
4 1 (0.39%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (9.02%) MySQL
1 23 (9.02%) SQL Server
2 18 (7.06%) Power BI
2 18 (7.06%) Relational Database
3 16 (6.27%) PostgreSQL
4 11 (4.31%) DB2
4 11 (4.31%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 10 (3.92%) NoSQL
5 10 (3.92%) Redis
6 9 (3.53%) Data Warehouse
7 8 (3.14%) MongoDB
8 5 (1.96%) Apache Cassandra
8 5 (1.96%) DocumentDB
9 4 (1.57%) Cognos Framework Manager
9 4 (1.57%) Cognos Report Studio
10 3 (1.18%) Amazon RDS
10 3 (1.18%) Cognos Transformer
10 3 (1.18%) Metadata
10 3 (1.18%) OLAP Cube
10 3 (1.18%) WebFOCUS
Development Applications
1 57 (22.35%) Git
2 33 (12.94%) JIRA
3 26 (10.20%) Jenkins
4 25 (9.80%) GitLab
5 24 (9.41%) JUnit
6 18 (7.06%) Gradle
7 14 (5.49%) SonarQube
8 13 (5.10%) Cypress.io
9 11 (4.31%) Xcode
10 9 (3.53%) Cucumber
10 9 (3.53%) Maven
10 9 (3.53%) Postman
10 9 (3.53%) Sonatype Nexus
11 8 (3.14%) Mockito
12 6 (2.35%) Grunt
12 6 (2.35%) gulp
12 6 (2.35%) Storybook
13 5 (1.96%) Bitbucket
14 3 (1.18%) Android Studio
14 3 (1.18%) Gerrit
General
1 50 (19.61%) Public Sector
2 44 (17.25%) Finance
3 38 (14.90%) Social Skills
4 32 (12.55%) Banking
5 25 (9.80%) Analytical Skills
6 8 (3.14%) Documentation Skills
7 5 (1.96%) Organisational Skills
8 3 (1.18%) Presentation Skills
8 3 (1.18%) Publishing
9 2 (0.78%) Manufacturing
9 2 (0.78%) Military
9 2 (0.78%) Private Banking
10 1 (0.39%) Digital Healthcare
10 1 (0.39%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 1 (0.39%) Law
10 1 (0.39%) Local Government
10 1 (0.39%) Marketing
10 1 (0.39%) Retail
10 1 (0.39%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (20.78%) Spring Boot
2 51 (20.00%) Spring
3 42 (16.47%) React
4 39 (15.29%) REST
5 34 (13.33%) HTML
6 30 (11.76%) Node.js
6 30 (11.76%) RESTful
7 27 (10.59%) JSON
8 25 (9.80%) CSS
9 21 (8.24%) .NET
10 18 (7.06%) Jest
11 17 (6.67%) React Native
11 17 (6.67%) SOAP
12 16 (6.27%) JMS
12 16 (6.27%) Kafka
13 15 (5.88%) OAuth
14 14 (5.49%) Hibernate
15 13 (5.10%) AngularJS
15 13 (5.10%) Redux
15 13 (5.10%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 19 (7.45%) Mobile App
2 11 (4.31%) Cloud Native
3 10 (3.92%) Data Protection Act
3 10 (3.92%) SWIFT Messaging Network
4 9 (3.53%) Virtual Team
5 7 (2.75%) Low-Code
6 6 (2.35%) Distributed Systems
6 6 (2.35%) Enterprise Software
6 6 (2.35%) Legacy Systems
7 5 (1.96%) Data Structures
7 5 (1.96%) Onboarding
8 4 (1.57%) Greenfield Project
8 4 (1.57%) Mobile Banking
8 4 (1.57%) Product Ownership
9 2 (0.78%) Algorithms
9 2 (0.78%) Blog
9 2 (0.78%) FMCG
9 2 (0.78%) IVR
9 2 (0.78%) Mainframe
10 1 (0.39%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 18 (7.06%) Linux
2 17 (6.67%) Android
3 14 (5.49%) Apple iOS
4 11 (4.31%) Unix
5 3 (1.18%) Mac OS X
6 2 (0.78%) MVS
6 2 (0.78%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.39%) VME
7 1 (0.39%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 79 (30.98%) Agile
2 65 (25.49%) CI/CD
3 62 (24.31%) Problem-Solving
4 55 (21.57%) DevOps
5 53 (20.78%) Microservices
6 40 (15.69%) Test Automation
7 37 (14.51%) TDD
8 29 (11.37%) Containerisation
8 29 (11.37%) Full-Stack Development
9 27 (10.59%) Performance Optimisation
10 26 (10.20%) Business Intelligence
10 26 (10.20%) Unit Testing
11 23 (9.02%) Migration
12 21 (8.24%) Data Modelling
13 20 (7.84%) Scrum
13 20 (7.84%) User Acceptance Testing
14 19 (7.45%) SDLC
15 18 (7.06%) User Experience
16 17 (6.67%) API Development
16 17 (6.67%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 87 (34.12%) Java
2 70 (27.45%) SQL
3 45 (17.65%) JavaScript
4 28 (10.98%) Python
5 24 (9.41%) TypeScript
6 15 (5.88%) C#
7 9 (3.53%) T-SQL
8 7 (2.75%) Kotlin
8 7 (2.75%) Shell Script
9 6 (2.35%) PHP
9 6 (2.35%) Ruby
10 5 (1.96%) C
10 5 (1.96%) C++
11 4 (1.57%) ABAP
11 4 (1.57%) Apex Code
11 4 (1.57%) Bash
11 4 (1.57%) Objective-C
11 4 (1.57%) Scala
11 4 (1.57%) Swift
12 3 (1.18%) Data Analysis Expressions
Qualifications
1 45 (17.65%) Security Cleared
2 26 (10.20%) BPSS Clearance
3 23 (9.02%) SC Cleared
4 19 (7.45%) Degree
5 16 (6.27%) Computer Science Degree
6 5 (1.96%) CTC Cleared
7 2 (0.78%) Master's Degree
7 2 (0.78%) Microsoft Certification
8 1 (0.39%) DBS Check
8 1 (0.39%) MCSA
8 1 (0.39%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (12.16%) Accessibility
2 21 (8.24%) QA
3 10 (3.92%) ISO 20022
3 10 (3.92%) PSD2
3 10 (3.92%) SEPA
4 8 (3.14%) WCAG
5 7 (2.75%) Data Quality
System Software
1 40 (15.69%) Docker
2 2 (0.78%) Time Sharing Option
3 1 (0.39%) ISA Server
Systems Management
1 35 (13.73%) Kubernetes
2 8 (3.14%) Terraform
3 3 (1.18%) Ansible
3 3 (1.18%) Grafana
4 2 (0.78%) CA Endevor
5 1 (0.39%) Argo
5 1 (0.39%) Progress Chef
5 1 (0.39%) Prometheus
5 1 (0.39%) Single Sign-On
5 1 (0.39%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 43 (16.86%) Microsoft
2 23 (9.02%) Oracle
3 9 (3.53%) Advent
3 9 (3.53%) Salesforce
3 9 (3.53%) SAP
3 9 (3.53%) ServiceNow
4 7 (2.75%) IBM
5 6 (2.35%) Perforce
6 5 (1.96%) Cognos
6 5 (1.96%) Splunk
7 4 (1.57%) Virgin Media
7 4 (1.57%) webMethods
8 3 (1.18%) Google
8 3 (1.18%) Software AG
8 3 (1.18%) Veracode
8 3 (1.18%) Xamarin
9 2 (0.78%) Adobe
9 2 (0.78%) IFS
9 2 (0.78%) Red Hat
9 2 (0.78%) Siebel