Software Engineer Contract Job Trends in Preston

Software Engineer
Lancashire > Preston

The median Software Engineer daily rate in Preston is £550, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 6 February 2026.

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

6 months to
6 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 16 13 9
Rank change year-on-year -3 -4 +5
Contract jobs requiring a Software Engineer 2 4 4
As % of all contract jobs in Preston 2.47% 7.02% 8.51%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.56% 7.27% 8.70%
Number of daily rates quoted 2 0 0
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 - -
Lancashire median daily rate £550 - £625
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 0 4
10th Percentile - - £48.60
25th Percentile - - £49.50
Median hourly rate - - £50.00
75th Percentile - - -
90th Percentile - - -
Lancashire median hourly rate - £49.00 £48.22
% change year-on-year - +1.63% +23.02%

All Contract IT Job Roles
Preston

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Preston. 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 Preston with a recognized job title 78 55 46
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 96.30% 96.49% 97.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 37 34 20
10th Percentile £78 £225 £241
25th Percentile £405 £416 £359
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £530 £425
Median % change year-on-year +3.77% +24.71% -2.86%
75th Percentile £680 £563 £507
90th Percentile £728 £652 £593
Lancashire median daily rate £550 £530 £500
% change year-on-year +3.77% +6.00% -3.85%
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 6 23
10th Percentile £36.32 £20.12 £11.77
25th Percentile £39.53 £26.17 £21.29
Median hourly rate £41.94 £30.96 £46.18
Median % change year-on-year +35.47% -32.96% +14.63%
75th Percentile £45.84 £35.63 £50.00
90th Percentile £75.18 £52.59 £54.42
Lancashire median hourly rate £45.46 £37.00 £46.18
% change year-on-year +22.86% -19.88% +14.63%

Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in Preston

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Software Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Preston.

Software Engineer job vacancy trend in Preston

Software Engineer
Daily Rate Trend in Preston

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Preston.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Preston

Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in Preston

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Preston.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Preston

Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 28 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Preston

For the 6 months to 6 February 2026, Software Engineer 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 Preston region featuring Software Engineer in the job title.

1 2 (100.00%) Bash
1 2 (100.00%) BGP
1 2 (100.00%) Change Control
1 2 (100.00%) CI/CD
1 2 (100.00%) Containerisation
1 2 (100.00%) Continuous Improvement
1 2 (100.00%) Cybersecurity
1 2 (100.00%) Docker
1 2 (100.00%) Firewall
1 2 (100.00%) ITSM
1 2 (100.00%) Kubernetes
1 2 (100.00%) Linux
1 2 (100.00%) Network Security
1 2 (100.00%) Platform Engineering
1 2 (100.00%) PowerShell
1 2 (100.00%) Problem-Solving
1 2 (100.00%) Red Hat
1 2 (100.00%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
1 2 (100.00%) Regulatory Compliance
1 2 (100.00%) SC Cleared
1 2 (100.00%) Security Cleared
1 2 (100.00%) Service Management
1 2 (100.00%) Software Engineering
1 2 (100.00%) Software-Defined Networking
1 2 (100.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
1 2 (100.00%) VLAN
1 2 (100.00%) Windows
1 2 (100.00%) Windows Server

Software Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Preston 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:

Communications & Networking
1 2 (100.00%) BGP
1 2 (100.00%) Firewall
1 2 (100.00%) Network Security
1 2 (100.00%) Software-Defined Networking
1 2 (100.00%) VLAN
General
1 2 (100.00%) Analytical Skills
Miscellaneous
1 2 (100.00%) Analytical Mindset
1 2 (100.00%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 2 (100.00%) Linux
1 2 (100.00%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
1 2 (100.00%) Windows
1 2 (100.00%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (100.00%) Change Control
1 2 (100.00%) CI/CD
1 2 (100.00%) Containerisation
1 2 (100.00%) Continuous Improvement
1 2 (100.00%) Cybersecurity
1 2 (100.00%) ITSM
1 2 (100.00%) Platform Engineering
1 2 (100.00%) Problem-Solving
1 2 (100.00%) Regulatory Compliance
1 2 (100.00%) Service Management
1 2 (100.00%) Software Engineering
1 2 (100.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 2 (100.00%) Bash
1 2 (100.00%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 2 (100.00%) SC Cleared
1 2 (100.00%) Security Cleared
System Software
1 2 (100.00%) Docker
Systems Management
1 2 (100.00%) Kubernetes
Vendors
1 2 (100.00%) Red Hat