Reference Data Contract Job Trends in the North West

Reference Data
England > North West

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Reference Data in contract job vacancies in the North West. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Reference Data over the 6 months leading up to 14 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 159 - 124
Rank change year-on-year - - -
Contract jobs citing Reference Data 1 0 13
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 0.031% - 0.49%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 0.10% - 1.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 6
10th Percentile - - £525
25th Percentile - - £531
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £700 - £568
75th Percentile - - £585
90th Percentile - - -
England median daily rate £610 £670 £650
% change year-on-year -8.96% +3.08% +4.00%

All Generic Skills
North West

Reference Data falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills in the North West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 980 550 690
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 30.33% 28.32% 25.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 634 372 456
10th Percentile £302 £203 £292
25th Percentile £375 £360 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £460 £463 £498
Median % change year-on-year -0.54% -7.04% -0.50%
75th Percentile £572 £575 £581
90th Percentile £638 £650 £681
England median daily rate £515 £540 £550
% change year-on-year -4.63% -1.82% -4.14%
Number of hourly rates quoted 79 37 78
10th Percentile £20.75 £22.72 £13.00
25th Percentile £25.49 £24.25 £15.00
Median hourly rate £52.78 £29.80 £25.25
Median % change year-on-year +77.10% +18.02% -19.82%
75th Percentile £76.00 £59.30 £37.44
90th Percentile £98.23 £74.50 £57.50
England median hourly rate £45.00 £34.50 £32.12
% change year-on-year +30.43% +7.43% +42.83%

Reference Data
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Reference Data relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Reference Data job vacancy trend in the North West

Reference Data
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Reference Data.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Reference Data

Reference Data
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Reference Data.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Reference Data

Reference Data
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 Reference Data within the North West region over the 6 months to 14 May 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 - 1 £700 - 3
Reference Data
England

Reference Data
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:

General
1 1 (100.00%) Analytical Skills
1 1 (100.00%) Social Skills
Job Titles
1 1 (100.00%) Architect
1 1 (100.00%) Business Architect
1 1 (100.00%) Strategy Architect
Processes & Methodologies
1 1 (100.00%) Data Management
1 1 (100.00%) Data Strategy
1 1 (100.00%) Problem-Solving
1 1 (100.00%) Product Strategy
1 1 (100.00%) Use Case
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (100.00%) Data Quality