Systems Administrator Contract Job Trends
System Administrator (Sysadmin)
UK
The median System Administrator (Sysadmin) daily rate in the UK is £400, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 22 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 22 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 560 | 463 | 364 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -97 | -99 | +65 |
| Contract jobs requiring a Systems Administrator | 142 | 101 | 202 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.26% | 0.30% | 0.54% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.28% | 0.33% | 0.58% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 58 | 58 | 70 |
| 10th Percentile | £210 | £213 | £263 |
| 25th Percentile | £322 | £257 | £332 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £400 | £445 | £450 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -10.11% | -1.11% | -3.85% |
| 75th Percentile | £476 | £508 | £575 |
| 90th Percentile | £725 | £554 | £624 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £400 | £483 | £463 |
| % change year-on-year | -17.10% | +4.32% | +2.78% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 27 | 5 | 22 |
| 10th Percentile | £16.40 | - | £13.49 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.74 | £17.50 | £15.48 |
| Median hourly rate | £20.50 | £21.10 | £20.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -2.84% | +5.50% | -60.00% |
| 75th Percentile | £27.13 | £30.15 | £52.44 |
| 90th Percentile | £35.00 | £31.41 | £57.62 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £20.50 | £24.77 | £20.00 |
| % change year-on-year | -17.22% | +23.83% | -61.65% |
All Contract IT Job Roles
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.
| 6 months to 22 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title | 50,631 | 30,440 | 34,636 |
| % of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title | 91.82% | 90.88% | 92.94% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 29,785 | 19,249 | 20,905 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £280 | £300 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £402 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £623 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £738 | £725 | £738 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £490 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.06% | -2.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 4,176 | 1,674 | 1,381 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.25 | £13.80 | £15.03 |
| 25th Percentile | £19.25 | £17.30 | £20.30 |
| Median hourly rate | £41.06 | £25.15 | £40.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +63.25% | -37.13% | -10.11% |
| 75th Percentile | £67.55 | £50.00 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.00 | £68.75 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £40.32 | £24.56 | £40.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +64.17% | -38.60% | -9.60% |
Systems Administrator Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Systems Administrator' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
Systems Administrator Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Systems Administrator job vacancies in the UK.
Systems Administrator Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Systems Administrator over the 6 months to 22 October 2026.
Systems Administrator Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Systems Administrator job vacancies in the UK.
Systems Administrator Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Systems Administrator over the 6 months to 22 October 2026.
Systems Administrator Top 16 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Systems Administrator 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 | 113 | £393 | -15.14% | 133 |
| UK excluding London | -51 | 106 | £400 | -17.10% | 74 |
| South East | -42 | 29 | £243 | -52.91% | 17 |
| London | -93 | 29 | £388 | -8.82% | 55 |
| Work from Home | -78 | 26 | £420 | +5.00% | 43 |
| Midlands | - | 19 | £305 | - | 11 |
| North of England | -57 | 15 | £400 | -16.52% | 11 |
| Wales | - | 14 | £468 | - | 3 |
| East Midlands | - | 14 | £305 | - | |
| Scotland | -20 | 11 | £375 | -25.00% | 1 |
| South West | -39 | 11 | £500 | +2.04% | 22 |
| Yorkshire | - | 9 | £400 | - | 5 |
| East of England | -26 | 7 | - | - | 8 |
| West Midlands | - | 5 | - | - | 11 |
| North West | -52 | 3 | - | - | 6 |
| North East | - | 3 | £400 | - |
Systems Administrator Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 22 October 2026, Systems Administrator 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 Systems Administrator in the job title.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Microsoft | 27.5% | 39 |
| 2 | Windows | 26.1% | 37 |
| 3 | Linux | 19.0% | 27 |
| 4 | Active Directory | 17.6% | 25 |
| 4 | Security Cleared | 17.6% | 25 |
| 6 | Windows Server | 16.9% | 24 |
| 7 | Problem-Solving | 14.8% | 21 |
| 8 | SC Cleared | 14.1% | 20 |
| 9 | VMware | 13.4% | 19 |
| 10 | Microsoft 365 | 12.7% | 18 |
| 11 | ITIL | 12.0% | 17 |
| 12 | VMware Infrastructure | 11.3% | 16 |
| 13 | Entra ID | 10.6% | 15 |
| 14 | Cisco | 9.9% | 14 |
| 15 | DNS | 9.2% | 13 |
| 15 | SharePoint | 9.2% | 13 |
| 17 | Azure | 8.5% | 12 |
| 17 | Microsoft Intune | 8.5% | 12 |
| 19 | Hyper-V | 7.7% | 11 |
| 19 | Microsoft Excel | 7.7% | 11 |
| 21 | DV Cleared | 7.0% | 10 |
| 21 | Red Hat Enterprise Linux | 7.0% | 10 |
| 21 | Stakeholder Management | 7.0% | 10 |
| 21 | Validation | 7.0% | 10 |
| 25 | Configuration Management | 6.3% | 9 |
| 25 | Continuous Improvement | 6.3% | 9 |
| 25 | Data Quality | 6.3% | 9 |
| 25 | DHCP | 6.3% | 9 |
| 29 | Firewall | 5.6% | 8 |
| 29 | Microsoft Exchange | 5.6% | 8 |
Systems Administrator Skill Set 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.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Administrator | 95.8% | 136 |
| 2 | Linux Systems Administrator | 12.7% | 18 |
| 3 | Linux Administrator | 12.0% | 17 |
| 4 | Business Systems Administrator | 6.3% | 9 |
| 4 | Network Administrator | 6.3% | 9 |
| 4 | Windows Systems Administrator | 6.3% | 9 |
| 7 | Coordinator | 5.6% | 8 |
| 7 | Systems Engineer | 5.6% | 8 |
| 9 | IT Systems Administrator | 4.9% | 7 |
| 9 | Linux Engineer | 4.9% | 7 |
| 11 | Linux Systems Engineer | 4.2% | 6 |
| 12 | Data Administrator | 3.5% | 5 |
| 12 | ICT Administrator | 3.5% | 5 |
| 12 | Network Technician | 3.5% | 5 |
| 15 | Windows Administrator | 2.8% | 4 |
| 16 | Senior Systems Administrator | 2.1% | 3 |
| 17 | Cisco Administrator | 1.4% | 2 |
| 17 | Senior Linux Systems Administrator | 1.4% | 2 |
| 17 | Systems Support | 1.4% | 2 |
| 20 | ERP Analyst | 0.7% | 1 |