Penetration Tester Contract Job Trends in the North West

Penetration Tester
England > North West

The median Penetration Tester daily rate in the North West is £438, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 29 September 2025.

The table below provides contractor rate benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 127 118 -
Rank change year-on-year -9 - -
Contract jobs requiring a Penetration Tester 2 2 0
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North West 0.093% 0.084% -
As % of the Job Titles category 0.10% 0.090% -
Number of daily rates quoted 2 0 0
10th Percentile £334 - -
25th Percentile £366 - -
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £438 - -
75th Percentile £516 - -
90th Percentile £551 - -
England median daily rate £550 £625 £550
% change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% +7.32%

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 1,978 2,220 2,662
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.04% 93.55% 92.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,314 1,200 1,826
10th Percentile £265 £272 £270
25th Percentile £370 £394 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £490 £500
Median % change year-on-year -8.16% -2.00% +4.17%
75th Percentile £575 £576 £594
90th Percentile £684 £670 £674
England median daily rate £510 £525 £548
% change year-on-year -2.86% -4.11% -0.45%
Number of hourly rates quoted 159 160 165
10th Percentile £13.00 £15.47 £16.00
25th Percentile £17.30 £17.86 £17.75
Median hourly rate £25.15 £35.50 £33.00
Median % change year-on-year -29.15% +7.58% +42.83%
75th Percentile £47.12 £55.38 £46.18
90th Percentile £68.84 £74.37 £65.75
England median hourly rate £25.15 £45.00 £45.88
% change year-on-year -44.11% -1.92% +76.46%

Penetration Tester
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Job postings that featured Penetration Tester in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Job vacancy trend for Penetration Tester in the North West

Penetration Tester
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

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

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

Penetration Tester
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Penetration Tester in the North West over the 6 months to 29 September 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Penetration Tester in the North West

Penetration Tester
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 Penetration Tester within the North West region over the 6 months to 29 September 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 -7 2 £438 - 2
Penetration Tester
England

Penetration Tester Skill Set
Top 8 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North West

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

1 2 (100.00%) Cybersecurity
2 1 (50.00%) Penetration Testing
2 1 (50.00%) Security Testing
2 1 (50.00%) CHECK Team Leader
2 1 (50.00%) CREST Certified
2 1 (50.00%) Technical Leadership
2 1 (50.00%) Red Team
2 1 (50.00%) Blue Team

Penetration Tester Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North West by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (100.00%) Cybersecurity
2 1 (50.00%) Blue Team
2 1 (50.00%) Penetration Testing
2 1 (50.00%) Red Team
2 1 (50.00%) Security Testing
2 1 (50.00%) Technical Leadership
Qualifications
1 1 (50.00%) CHECK Team Leader
1 1 (50.00%) CREST Certified