C Contract Job Trends
C
UK
The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs citing C skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 29 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 29 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 481 | 366 | 244 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -115 | -122 | -40 |
| Contract jobs citing C | 219 | 203 | 367 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.40% | 0.59% | 1.00% |
| As % of the Programming Languages category | 1.50% | 1.82% | 3.11% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 66 | 73 | 156 |
| 10th Percentile | £350 | £68 | £400 |
| 25th Percentile | £403 | £400 | £456 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £496 | £500 | £538 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -0.78% | -6.98% | -2.27% |
| 75th Percentile | £646 | £619 | £625 |
| 90th Percentile | £694 | £680 | £810 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £473 | £475 | £523 |
| % change year-on-year | -0.42% | -9.09% | -0.48% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 76 | 40 | 57 |
| 10th Percentile | £51.25 | £41.25 | £41.69 |
| 25th Percentile | £60.94 | £59.50 | £54.00 |
| Median hourly rate | £70.00 | £68.00 | £65.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +2.94% | +4.62% | - |
| 75th Percentile | - | £73.75 | £70.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £85.00 | £76.25 | £95.00 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £70.00 | £68.00 | £65.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +2.94% | +4.62% | - |
All Programming Languages
UK
C falls under the Programming Languages category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies citing coding skills.
| 6 months to 29 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing coding skills | 14,629 | 11,135 | 11,811 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 26.71% | 32.57% | 32.10% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 9,545 | 7,303 | 7,661 |
| 10th Percentile | £363 | £340 | £350 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £413 | £425 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £507 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +3.65% | -3.52% | -4.55% |
| 75th Percentile | £625 | £619 | £645 |
| 90th Percentile | £725 | £725 | £755 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £488 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -2.56% | -2.50% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 582 | 313 | 302 |
| 10th Percentile | £21.10 | £29.00 | £25.36 |
| 25th Percentile | £42.50 | £42.25 | £40.75 |
| Median hourly rate | £65.00 | £60.00 | £63.25 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +8.33% | -5.14% | +1.20% |
| 75th Percentile | £71.00 | £68.00 | £70.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £83.00 | £78.10 | £75.00 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £65.00 | £65.00 | £65.00 |
C Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing C relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
C Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing C.
C Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing C over the 6 months to 29 October 2026.
C Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing C.
C Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution for jobs citing C over the 6 months to 29 October 2026.
C Top 14 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing C within the UK over the 6 months to 29 October 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -97 | 205 | £492 | -1.55% | 343 |
| UK excluding London | -61 | 166 | £473 | -0.42% | 324 |
| Work from Home | -54 | 66 | £500 | +2.56% | 118 |
| East of England | -12 | 55 | £705 | +61.14% | 91 |
| South East | -18 | 51 | £525 | +5.00% | 96 |
| London | -90 | 45 | £600 | - | 39 |
| South West | -48 | 27 | £550 | +10.00% | 61 |
| West Midlands | -20 | 17 | £462 | - | 15 |
| Midlands | -23 | 17 | £462 | - | 34 |
| North of England | -72 | 8 | £420 | -6.67% | 41 |
| Scotland | -38 | 7 | £480 | +9.71% | 9 |
| North West | -53 | 5 | £420 | +10.53% | 25 |
| Yorkshire | -36 | 3 | £400 | -15.79% | 11 |
| Wales | - | 1 | - | - | 2 |
C Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Programming Languages
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C++ | 51.1% | 112 |
| 2 | Python | 20.5% | 45 |
| 3 | Embedded C | 17.8% | 39 |
| 4 | SQL | 14.6% | 32 |
| 5 | PL/SQL | 8.7% | 19 |
| 6 | ProC | 6.8% | 15 |
| 7 | Java | 6.4% | 14 |
| 7 | MATLAB | 6.4% | 14 |
| 9 | Embedded C++ | 5.5% | 12 |
| 10 | Ada | 4.6% | 10 |
| 11 | Perl | 4.1% | 9 |
| 12 | C# | 3.7% | 8 |
| 12 | Rust | 3.7% | 8 |
| 14 | PowerShell | 2.7% | 6 |
| 14 | SystemVerilog | 2.7% | 6 |
| 16 | JavaScript | 2.3% | 5 |
| 16 | VB | 2.3% | 5 |
| 16 | VB6 | 2.3% | 5 |
| 19 | Bash | 1.4% | 3 |
| 19 | COBOL | 1.4% | 3 |