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 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 | 547 | 408 | 315 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -139 | -93 | +106 |
| Contract jobs citing R | 150 | 168 | 243 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.27% | 0.49% | 0.67% |
| As % of the Programming Languages category | 1.02% | 1.50% | 2.07% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 82 | 98 | 132 |
| 10th Percentile | £259 | £307 | £284 |
| 25th Percentile | £406 | £413 | £330 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £475 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | +5.26% | -9.52% |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £595 | £611 |
| 90th Percentile | £688 | £688 | £675 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £450 | £503 | £513 |
| % change year-on-year | -10.45% | -1.95% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 4 | 6 | 18 |
| 10th Percentile | £28.97 | £24.55 | £20.08 |
| 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 | £27.88 |
| 90th Percentile | £65.35 | £51.25 | £53.75 |
| 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 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 |
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 5 November 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 5 November 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 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 | -159 | 126 | £525 | +5.00% | 185 |
| London | -73 | 89 | £540 | +8.00% | 77 |
| Work from Home | -77 | 54 | £593 | +9.12% | 45 |
| UK excluding London | -113 | 45 | £450 | -10.45% | 145 |
| South East | -72 | 13 | £525 | +2.44% | 50 |
| Midlands | -46 | 8 | £450 | -16.28% | 18 |
| East of England | -30 | 7 | £413 | -28.26% | 21 |
| Scotland | -25 | 6 | £194 | -64.66% | 3 |
| West Midlands | -41 | 5 | £451 | -21.65% | 7 |
| South West | -38 | 4 | £505 | -37.36% | 14 |
| Wales | -13 | 3 | £401 | +9.56% | 6 |
| East Midlands | -15 | 3 | £252 | -32.67% | 11 |
| North West | -58 | 2 | £525 | +21.39% | 17 |
| North of England | -80 | 2 | £525 | +14.75% | 32 |
| Northern Ireland | - | 2 | £363 | - | 3 |
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 | 84.0% | 126 |
| 2 | SQL | 50.7% | 76 |
| 3 | Java | 4.7% | 7 |
| 4 | C++ | 4.0% | 6 |
| 5 | JavaScript | 3.3% | 5 |
| 6 | C# | 2.0% | 3 |
| 6 | Scala | 2.0% | 3 |
| 8 | Bash | 1.3% | 2 |
| 8 | Cypher | 1.3% | 2 |
| 8 | Data Analysis Expressions | 1.3% | 2 |
| 8 | PowerShell | 1.3% | 2 |
| 8 | SHACL | 1.3% | 2 |
| 8 | TypeScript | 1.3% | 2 |
| 14 | C | 0.7% | 1 |
| 14 | Embedded C | 0.7% | 1 |
| 14 | MATLAB | 0.7% | 1 |
| 14 | Shell Script | 0.7% | 1 |
| 14 | T-SQL | 0.7% | 1 |
| 14 | VB | 0.7% | 1 |
| 14 | VBA | 0.7% | 1 |