SQL Server DBA Contract Job Trends

SQL Server Database Administrator
UK

The median SQL Server Database Administrator daily rate in the UK is £500, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 14 December 2025.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 574 530 572
Rank change year-on-year -44 +42 +200
Contract jobs requiring a SQL Server DBA 7 34 40
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.019% 0.098% 0.090%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.021% 0.11% 0.096%
Number of daily rates quoted 7 18 26
10th Percentile £405 £346 £404
25th Percentile £450 £375 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £400 £478
Median % change year-on-year +25.00% -16.23% -2.05%
75th Percentile £556 £601 £588
90th Percentile £588 £625 £600
UK excluding London median daily rate - £400 £450
% change year-on-year - -11.11% +12.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 0
Median hourly rate - £22.48 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate - £22.48 -

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 33,137 32,079 41,606
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.94% 92.76% 93.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,987 19,722 27,981
10th Percentile £290 £300 £292
25th Percentile £404 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £638 £644
90th Percentile £723 £738 £740
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £490 £500
% change year-on-year -3.06% -2.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,959 1,044 1,467
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.48 £15.16
25th Percentile £17.98 £21.05 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.47 £35.00 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -27.23% -21.35% +48.33%
75th Percentile £57.50 £63.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.46 £73.28 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £45.00
% change year-on-year -22.62% -27.78% +80.00%

SQL Server DBA
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'SQL Server DBA' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

SQL Server DBA job vacancy trend in the UK

SQL Server DBA
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for SQL Server DBA job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for SQL Server DBA job vacancies in the UK

SQL Server DBA
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SQL Server DBA over the 6 months to 14 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for SQL Server DBA in the UK

SQL Server DBA
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for SQL Server DBA job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for SQL Server DBA job vacancies in the UK

SQL Server DBA
Top 3 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing SQL Server DBA within the UK over the 6 months to 14 December 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
London -9 6 £500 -16.67% 3
England -61 6 £500 +21.95% 3
Work from Home +7 2 £475 +15.85% 1

SQL Server DBA Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 14 December 2025, SQL Server DBA contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring SQL Server DBA in the job title.

1 7 (100.00%) SQL Server
2 5 (71.43%) Azure
2 5 (71.43%) SQL
3 4 (57.14%) Performance Tuning
4 3 (42.86%) Azure SQL Database
4 3 (42.86%) High Availability
4 3 (42.86%) QA
4 3 (42.86%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 3 (42.86%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 2 (28.57%) Azure Cosmos DB
5 2 (28.57%) Database Security
5 2 (28.57%) Disaster Recovery
5 2 (28.57%) Knowledge Transfer
5 2 (28.57%) Performance Testing
5 2 (28.57%) PowerShell
5 2 (28.57%) SQL Server Analysis Services
5 2 (28.57%) Task Automation
5 2 (28.57%) Test Strategy
6 1 (14.29%) Active Directory
6 1 (14.29%) AWS
6 1 (14.29%) Azure Certification
6 1 (14.29%) Capacity Planning
6 1 (14.29%) Data Encryption
6 1 (14.29%) Data Security
6 1 (14.29%) Database Mirroring
6 1 (14.29%) Degree
6 1 (14.29%) ETL
6 1 (14.29%) Key Management
6 1 (14.29%) Logistics
6 1 (14.29%) Migration

SQL Server DBA Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Cloud Services
1 5 (71.43%) Azure
2 2 (28.57%) Azure Cosmos DB
3 1 (14.29%) AWS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (100.00%) SQL Server
2 3 (42.86%) Azure SQL Database
2 3 (42.86%) SQL Server Integration Services
2 3 (42.86%) SQL Server Reporting Services
3 2 (28.57%) SQL Server Analysis Services
4 1 (14.29%) MongoDB
4 1 (14.29%) NoSQL
4 1 (14.29%) PostgreSQL
4 1 (14.29%) RDBMS
4 1 (14.29%) Relational Database
General
1 3 (42.86%) Social Skills
2 2 (28.57%) Banking
2 2 (28.57%) Finance
3 1 (14.29%) Financial Institution
3 1 (14.29%) Public Sector
Miscellaneous
1 1 (14.29%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 1 (14.29%) Windows
1 1 (14.29%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (57.14%) Performance Tuning
2 3 (42.86%) High Availability
3 2 (28.57%) Database Security
3 2 (28.57%) Disaster Recovery
3 2 (28.57%) Knowledge Transfer
3 2 (28.57%) Performance Testing
3 2 (28.57%) Task Automation
3 2 (28.57%) Test Strategy
4 1 (14.29%) Capacity Planning
4 1 (14.29%) Data Encryption
4 1 (14.29%) Data Security
4 1 (14.29%) Database Mirroring
4 1 (14.29%) ETL
4 1 (14.29%) Key Management
4 1 (14.29%) Logistics
4 1 (14.29%) Migration
4 1 (14.29%) Open Source
4 1 (14.29%) Server Migrations
4 1 (14.29%) Wealth Management
Programming Languages
1 5 (71.43%) SQL
2 2 (28.57%) PowerShell
3 1 (14.29%) Python
3 1 (14.29%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 1 (14.29%) Azure Certification
1 1 (14.29%) Degree
1 1 (14.29%) SC Cleared
1 1 (14.29%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (42.86%) QA
System Software
1 1 (14.29%) Active Directory