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 5 November 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 5 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 477 | 378 | 243 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -99 | -135 | -34 |
| Contract jobs citing C | 229 | 200 | 356 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.42% | 0.58% | 0.97% |
| As % of the Programming Languages category | 1.56% | 1.78% | 3.03% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 68 | 73 | 145 |
| 10th Percentile | £350 | £68 | £400 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £400 | £460 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £496 | £500 | £543 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -0.78% | -7.83% | -1.36% |
| 75th Percentile | £646 | £619 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £691 | £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 | 87 | 43 | 53 |
| 10th Percentile | £51.50 | £43.40 | £44.79 |
| 25th Percentile | £61.25 | £61.25 | £54.00 |
| Median hourly rate | £70.00 | £68.00 | £65.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +2.94% | +4.62% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £75.00 | £73.75 | £70.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £85.00 | £76.25 | £95.00 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £70.00 | £67.25 | £65.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +4.09% | +3.46% | - |
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 5 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing coding skills | 14,662 | 11,215 | 11,737 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 26.75% | 32.39% | 32.13% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 9,559 | 7,376 | 7,579 |
| 10th Percentile | £363 | £344 | £350 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £413 | £425 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £520 | £508 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +2.46% | -3.33% | -4.55% |
| 75th Percentile | £625 | £623 | £640 |
| 90th Percentile | £725 | £725 | £750 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £490 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.06% | -2.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 606 | 314 | 283 |
| 10th Percentile | £21.08 | £29.00 | £24.62 |
| 25th Percentile | £42.08 | £42.81 | £40.06 |
| Median hourly rate | £65.00 | £62.50 | £62.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +4.00% | - | +2.46% |
| 75th Percentile | £71.00 | £67.75 | £70.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £83.43 | £77.50 | £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 5 November 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 5 November 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 5 November 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 | -101 | 214 | £492 | -1.55% | 450 |
| UK excluding London | -45 | 176 | £473 | -0.42% | 396 |
| Work from Home | -41 | 66 | £500 | +5.26% | 142 |
| East of England | -11 | 59 | £705 | +48.42% | 110 |
| South East | -20 | 51 | £525 | +5.00% | 116 |
| London | -95 | 45 | £600 | +1.18% | 80 |
| South West | -48 | 32 | £550 | +10.00% | 76 |
| West Midlands | -26 | 17 | £450 | - | 16 |
| Midlands | -30 | 17 | £450 | - | 38 |
| North of England | -77 | 9 | £410 | -8.89% | 48 |
| Scotland | -38 | 7 | £480 | +9.71% | 16 |
| North West | -56 | 5 | £420 | +1.20% | 30 |
| Yorkshire | -35 | 4 | £400 | -20.00% | 15 |
| Wales | - | 2 | - | - | 4 |
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++ | 50.7% | 116 |
| 2 | Python | 21.8% | 50 |
| 3 | Embedded C | 17.5% | 40 |
| 4 | SQL | 14.4% | 33 |
| 5 | PL/SQL | 8.3% | 19 |
| 6 | MATLAB | 7.4% | 17 |
| 7 | Embedded C++ | 6.6% | 15 |
| 7 | ProC | 6.6% | 15 |
| 9 | Java | 6.1% | 14 |
| 10 | Rust | 5.2% | 12 |
| 11 | C# | 4.8% | 11 |
| 12 | Ada | 4.4% | 10 |
| 13 | Perl | 3.9% | 9 |
| 14 | JavaScript | 3.5% | 8 |
| 15 | PowerShell | 2.6% | 6 |
| 15 | SystemVerilog | 2.6% | 6 |
| 17 | Go | 2.2% | 5 |
| 17 | VB | 2.2% | 5 |
| 17 | VB6 | 2.2% | 5 |
| 20 | Bash | 1.3% | 3 |