Software Engineer
UK
The median Software Engineer daily rate in the UK is £600, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 13 May 2025.
The table below provides contractor rate benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 13 May 2025 |
Same period 2024 | Same period 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 139 | 82 | 146 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -57 | +64 | -10 |
| Contract jobs requiring a Software Engineer | 608 | 1,095 | 1,064 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 2.09% | 2.55% | 1.83% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 2.26% | 2.74% | 1.93% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 413 | 563 | 662 |
| 10th Percentile | £400 | £430 | £438 |
| 25th Percentile | £470 | £500 | £500 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £600 | £625 | £590 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -4.00% | +5.93% | +0.55% |
| 75th Percentile | £775 | £750 | £675 |
| 90th Percentile | £875 | £850 | £750 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £485 | £525 | £538 |
| % change year-on-year | -7.62% | -2.42% | +4.98% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 52 | 336 | 136 |
| 10th Percentile | £51.33 | £46.25 | £46.50 |
| 25th Percentile | £59.75 | £52.50 | £53.75 |
| Median hourly rate | £65.00 | £65.00 | £63.75 |
| Median % change year-on-year | - | +1.96% | +10.87% |
| 75th Percentile | £68.00 | £70.00 | £70.08 |
| 90th Percentile | £76.63 | £80.00 | £77.00 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £65.00 | £65.00 | £65.00 |
| % change year-on-year | - | - | +8.33% |
All Contract IT Job Vacancies
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.
| Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title | 26,853 | 39,898 | 55,060 |
| % of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title | 92.43% | 92.77% | 94.65% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 17,486 | 25,961 | 38,445 |
| 10th Percentile | £300 | £280 | £313 |
| 25th Percentile | £406 | £410 | £425 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £513 | £525 | £540 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -2.38% | -2.78% | +2.86% |
| 75th Percentile | £625 | £638 | £650 |
| 90th Percentile | £738 | £750 | £750 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £475 | £490 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | -3.06% | -2.00% | +5.26% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 1,043 | 2,673 | 1,534 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.00 | £12.86 | £14.25 |
| 25th Percentile | £18.20 | £16.30 | £19.06 |
| Median hourly rate | £28.18 | £37.50 | £45.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -24.85% | -16.67% | +88.21% |
| 75th Percentile | £62.50 | £61.30 | £65.75 |
| 90th Percentile | £75.00 | £72.90 | £76.00 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £27.13 | £40.00 | £42.08 |
| % change year-on-year | -32.19% | -4.94% | +110.39% |
Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend
Job postings that featured Software Engineer in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.
Software Engineer
Contractor Daily Rate Trend
3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Software Engineer.
Software Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Software Engineer over the 6 months to 13 May 2025.
Software Engineer
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend
3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Software Engineer.
Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Engineer over the 6 months to 13 May 2025.
Software Engineer
Top 17 Contract Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Software Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 13 May 2025. 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 | -54 | 528 | £625 | -1.96% | 2,638 |
| London | -20 | 313 | £675 | - | 1,160 |
| Work from Home | -1 | 278 | £638 | -1.92% | 1,575 |
| UK excluding London | -69 | 245 | £485 | -7.62% | 1,984 |
| North of England | -27 | 56 | £463 | -11.90% | 479 |
| South West | 0 | 55 | £575 | +4.55% | 242 |
| South East | -22 | 51 | £575 | +21.05% | 608 |
| North West | -22 | 39 | £450 | -18.18% | 289 |
| Midlands | +32 | 22 | £438 | -16.67% | 197 |
| Scotland | +4 | 22 | £485 | +48.77% | 182 |
| East of England | -56 | 18 | £583 | +5.91% | 261 |
| Yorkshire | +13 | 16 | £480 | +20.00% | 116 |
| Northern Ireland | +1 | 12 | £325 | -51.85% | 56 |
| East Midlands | +16 | 10 | £475 | -17.39% | 78 |
| West Midlands | +21 | 9 | £450 | -10.00% | 106 |
| Wales | +8 | 9 | £425 | -7.10% | 31 |
| North East | -18 | 1 | - | - | 78 |
Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities
For the 6 months to 13 May 2025, Software Engineer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Software Engineer in the job title.
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Software Engineer Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category
The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:
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