C Contract Job Trends
C
UK
The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring C skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 22 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 22 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 485 | 367 | 238 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -118 | -129 | -29 |
| Contract jobs citing C | 220 | 203 | 383 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.40% | 0.61% | 1.03% |
| As % of the Programming Languages category | 1.51% | 1.86% | 3.20% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 65 | 73 | 161 |
| 10th Percentile | £350 | £68 | £400 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £400 | £460 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £492 | £500 | £543 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -1.60% | -7.83% | -1.36% |
| 75th Percentile | £646 | £619 | £625 |
| 90th Percentile | £695 | £680 | £810 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £450 | £475 | £525 |
| % change year-on-year | -5.26% | -9.52% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 74 | 39 | 62 |
| 10th Percentile | £59.83 | £41.25 | £44.64 |
| 25th Percentile | £61.56 | £57.75 | £54.09 |
| 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 | £85.00 |
| 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 requiring coding skills.
| 6 months to 22 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies with a requirement for coding skills | 14,616 | 10,925 | 11,969 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK | 26.51% | 32.62% | 32.12% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 9,518 | 7,155 | 7,801 |
| 10th Percentile | £363 | £344 | £350 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £413 | £425 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £508 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +3.45% | -3.33% | -4.55% |
| 75th Percentile | £625 | £623 | £650 |
| 90th Percentile | £725 | £725 | £763 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £490 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.06% | -2.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 575 | 303 | 315 |
| 10th Percentile | £21.25 | £29.00 | £25.26 |
| 25th Percentile | £44.50 | £41.42 | £40.75 |
| Median hourly rate | £65.00 | £57.50 | £62.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +13.04% | -8.00% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £70.00 | £67.25 | £70.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £83.15 | £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 22 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 of jobs citing C over the 6 months to 22 October 2026.
C Top 13 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 22 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 |
Matching Contract IT Job Ads |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -83 | 207 | £484 | -3.30% | 1,116 |
| UK excluding London | -70 | 170 | £450 | -5.26% | 810 |
| Work from Home | -43 | 69 | £500 | +2.56% | 415 |
| East of England | -8 | 58 | £705 | +61.14% | 235 |
| South East | -17 | 52 | £450 | -10.00% | 191 |
| London | -103 | 42 | £600 | - | 264 |
| South West | -47 | 28 | £550 | +10.00% | 130 |
| West Midlands | -23 | 17 | £462 | - | 43 |
| Midlands | -29 | 17 | £462 | - | 82 |
| North of England | -73 | 8 | £420 | -6.67% | 100 |
| Scotland | -37 | 7 | £480 | +9.71% | 47 |
| North West | -55 | 5 | £420 | +10.53% | 48 |
| Yorkshire | -37 | 3 | £400 | -15.79% | 27 |
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++ | 51.4% | 113 |
| 2 | Python | 20.5% | 45 |
| 3 | Embedded C | 19.1% | 42 |
| 4 | SQL | 13.6% | 30 |
| 5 | PL/SQL | 8.2% | 18 |
| 6 | ProC | 6.8% | 15 |
| 7 | Java | 6.4% | 14 |
| 7 | MATLAB | 6.4% | 14 |
| 9 | Embedded C++ | 5.5% | 12 |
| 10 | Ada | 5.0% | 11 |
| 11 | C# | 4.1% | 9 |
| 11 | Perl | 4.1% | 9 |
| 13 | Rust | 3.6% | 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 |