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 12 November 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 12 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 480 | 383 | 248 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -97 | -135 | -47 |
| Contract jobs citing C | 229 | 204 | 343 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.41% | 0.58% | 0.95% |
| As % of the Programming Languages category | 1.53% | 1.80% | 2.95% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 69 | 74 | 141 |
| 10th Percentile | £350 | £68 | £400 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £405 | £459 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £492 | £500 | £543 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -1.55% | -7.83% | -1.36% |
| 75th Percentile | £646 | £619 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £703 | £712 | £810 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £462 | £488 | £523 |
| % change year-on-year | -5.33% | -6.70% | -0.48% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 89 | 45 | 50 |
| 10th Percentile | £52.00 | £45.55 | £45.85 |
| 25th Percentile | £61.25 | £61.25 | £55.15 |
| Median hourly rate | £70.00 | £68.00 | £65.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +2.94% | +4.62% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £75.00 | £73.75 | £69.69 |
| 90th Percentile | £85.00 | £76.25 | £95.00 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £70.00 | £67.75 | £65.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +3.32% | +4.23% | - |
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 12 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing coding skills | 14,975 | 11,362 | 11,616 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 26.81% | 32.29% | 32.05% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 9,764 | 7,482 | 7,476 |
| 10th Percentile | £363 | £345 | £350 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £413 | £425 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £523 | £508 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +2.96% | -3.33% | -4.55% |
| 75th Percentile | £625 | £625 | £649 |
| 90th Percentile | £725 | £725 | £750 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £494 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.85% | -1.20% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 610 | 323 | 277 |
| 10th Percentile | £21.08 | £29.00 | £22.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £42.36 | £44.75 | £37.55 |
| Median hourly rate | £65.00 | £62.50 | £62.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +4.00% | +0.81% | +3.15% |
| 75th Percentile | £71.19 | £67.92 | £70.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £85.00 | £77.25 | £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 12 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 12 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 12 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 | -82 | 213 | £492 | -1.60% | 1,181 |
| UK excluding London | -75 | 175 | £462 | -5.33% | 831 |
| Work from Home | -46 | 64 | £500 | +5.26% | 402 |
| East of England | -16 | 57 | £705 | +48.42% | 232 |
| South East | -20 | 49 | £525 | +5.00% | 218 |
| London | -90 | 45 | £600 | +1.18% | 307 |
| South West | -33 | 35 | £450 | -14.29% | 116 |
| West Midlands | -22 | 17 | £450 | - | 37 |
| Midlands | -31 | 17 | £450 | - | 74 |
| North of England | -70 | 9 | £410 | -8.89% | 106 |
| Scotland | -45 | 7 | £480 | +9.71% | 47 |
| North West | -45 | 5 | £420 | +1.20% | 56 |
| Yorkshire | -30 | 4 | £400 | -20.00% | 33 |
| Wales | - | 2 | - | - | 28 |
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++ | 52.4% | 120 |
| 2 | Python | 22.3% | 51 |
| 3 | Embedded C | 18.3% | 42 |
| 4 | SQL | 14.0% | 32 |
| 5 | PL/SQL | 8.3% | 19 |
| 6 | Embedded C++ | 7.9% | 18 |
| 7 | MATLAB | 7.4% | 17 |
| 8 | ProC | 6.6% | 15 |
| 9 | C# | 5.7% | 13 |
| 9 | Java | 5.7% | 13 |
| 9 | Rust | 5.7% | 13 |
| 12 | JavaScript | 4.8% | 11 |
| 13 | Ada | 4.4% | 10 |
| 14 | Perl | 3.9% | 9 |
| 15 | PowerShell | 3.1% | 7 |
| 16 | Go | 2.6% | 6 |
| 17 | VB | 2.2% | 5 |
| 17 | VB6 | 2.2% | 5 |
| 19 | Bash | 1.7% | 4 |
| 19 | SystemVerilog | 1.7% | 4 |