R Contract Job Trends
R
UK
The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs citing R 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 | 540 | 399 | 327 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -141 | -72 | +96 |
| Contract jobs citing R | 155 | 169 | 242 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.28% | 0.49% | 0.66% |
| As % of the Programming Languages category | 1.06% | 1.52% | 2.05% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 91 | 95 | 133 |
| 10th Percentile | £259 | £306 | £285 |
| 25th Percentile | £406 | £413 | £331 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £465 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | +7.53% | -9.27% |
| 75th Percentile | £619 | £600 | £600 |
| 90th Percentile | £675 | £688 | £660 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £450 | £505 | £463 |
| % change year-on-year | -10.84% | +9.19% | -10.84% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 4 | 6 | 17 |
| 10th Percentile | £28.97 | £24.55 | £20.07 |
| 25th Percentile | £36.05 | £27.19 | £20.12 |
| Median hourly rate | £48.21 | £31.25 | £21.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +54.26% | +45.35% | -52.22% |
| 75th Percentile | £58.38 | £37.50 | £23.75 |
| 90th Percentile | £65.35 | £51.25 | £50.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £53.00 | £30.00 | £20.24 |
| % change year-on-year | +76.67% | +48.26% | -59.53% |
All Programming Languages
UK
R 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 |
R Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing R relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
R Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing R.
R Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing R over the 6 months to 29 October 2026.
R Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing R.
R Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution for jobs citing R over the 6 months to 29 October 2026.
R Top 15 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing R 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 | -148 | 130 | £500 | - | 81 |
| London | -69 | 89 | £525 | +1.35% | 21 |
| Work from Home | -91 | 52 | £575 | +5.89% | 25 |
| UK excluding London | -117 | 48 | £450 | -10.84% | 69 |
| South East | -68 | 14 | £500 | -4.76% | 14 |
| Midlands | -38 | 8 | £450 | -18.18% | 8 |
| East of England | -35 | 7 | £413 | -28.26% | 9 |
| Scotland | -24 | 6 | £194 | -64.66% | 2 |
| South West | -30 | 6 | £475 | -41.09% | 13 |
| West Midlands | -35 | 5 | £451 | -21.65% | 2 |
| Wales | -12 | 3 | £401 | +30.49% | 3 |
| East Midlands | -13 | 3 | £252 | - | 6 |
| North West | -54 | 2 | £525 | +56.72% | 9 |
| North of England | -74 | 2 | £525 | +23.53% | 21 |
| Northern Ireland | - | 2 | £363 | - | 1 |
R 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 | Python | 84.5% | 131 |
| 2 | SQL | 50.3% | 78 |
| 3 | Java | 6.5% | 10 |
| 4 | C++ | 5.8% | 9 |
| 5 | JavaScript | 3.2% | 5 |
| 6 | Scala | 2.6% | 4 |
| 7 | C# | 1.9% | 3 |
| 7 | Data Analysis Expressions | 1.9% | 3 |
| 9 | Bash | 1.3% | 2 |
| 9 | Cypher | 1.3% | 2 |
| 9 | PowerShell | 1.3% | 2 |
| 9 | SHACL | 1.3% | 2 |
| 9 | TypeScript | 1.3% | 2 |
| 14 | C | 0.6% | 1 |
| 14 | Embedded C | 0.6% | 1 |
| 14 | MATLAB | 0.6% | 1 |
| 14 | Shell Script | 0.6% | 1 |
| 14 | T-SQL | 0.6% | 1 |
| 14 | VB | 0.6% | 1 |
| 14 | VBA | 0.6% | 1 |