Developer Contract Job Trends in the West Midlands

Developer
England > West Midlands

The median Developer daily rate in the West Midlands is £475, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 7 March 2026.

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

6 months to
7 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 27 23 8
Rank change year-on-year -4 -15 +7
Contract jobs requiring a Developer 194 100 228
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 6.89% 7.25% 11.83%
As % of the Job Titles category 7.54% 7.97% 12.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 136 60 162
10th Percentile £367 £363 £259
25th Percentile £413 £406 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £470 £425
Median % change year-on-year +1.17% +10.47% -15.97%
75th Percentile £538 £555 £536
90th Percentile £644 £614 £625
England median daily rate £500 £537 £525
% change year-on-year -6.89% +2.29% -8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 0 5
10th Percentile - - £17.28
25th Percentile - - £17.50
Median hourly rate - - £40.00
75th Percentile - - £56.25
90th Percentile - - -
England median hourly rate £63.14 £65.00 £62.50
% change year-on-year -2.87% +4.00% -

All Contract IT Job Roles
West Midlands

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the West Midlands. 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 West Midlands with a recognized job title 2,573 1,255 1,766
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.40% 90.94% 91.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,693 835 1,175
10th Percentile £300 £200 £235
25th Percentile £400 £375 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -1.60% +5.26% -3.85%
75th Percentile £581 £588 £588
90th Percentile £688 £700 £676
England median daily rate £505 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -3.81% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 97 54 140
10th Percentile £14.00 £12.98 £12.22
25th Percentile £17.14 £15.24 £15.00
Median hourly rate £25.15 £19.00 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year +32.37% -15.56% +26.98%
75th Percentile £30.00 £28.94 £41.94
90th Percentile £47.50 £35.00 £58.75
England median hourly rate £35.71 £36.00 £32.90
% change year-on-year -0.81% +9.44% -20.73%

Developer
Job Vacancy Trend in the West Midlands

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Developer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands.

Developer job vacancy trend in the West Midlands

Developer
Daily Rate Trend in the West Midlands

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the West Midlands.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the West Midlands

Developer
Daily Rate Histogram in the West Midlands

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Developer in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 7 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Developer in the West Midlands

Developer
Hourly Rate Trend in the West Midlands

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the West Midlands.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the West Midlands

Developer
Contract Job Locations in the West Midlands

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Developer within the West Midlands region over the 6 months to 7 March 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
Birmingham -11 54 £475 - 45
Warwickshire +10 31 £485 -15.65% 16
Coventry -7 31 £461 +0.27% 19
Shropshire -23 31 £455 -2.31% 10
Worcestershire -2 16 £700 - 9
Solihull 0 14 £450 +7.14% 11
Herefordshire -4 14 £675 -3.57% 2
Dudley - 3 £400 - 5
Wolverhampton -3 1 - - 7
Staffordshire -6 1 £338 -28.95% 9
Brierley Hill - 1 £390 - 1
Developer
England

Developer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the West Midlands

For the 6 months to 7 March 2026, Developer 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 across the West Midlands region featuring Developer in the job title.

1 70 (36.08%) SQL
2 65 (33.51%) CI/CD
3 56 (28.87%) Security Cleared
4 54 (27.84%) Azure
5 51 (26.29%) DevOps
5 51 (26.29%) SC Cleared
6 48 (24.74%) Agile
7 46 (23.71%) Java
7 46 (23.71%) Problem-Solving
8 42 (21.65%) AWS
9 40 (20.62%) Microsoft
10 38 (19.59%) Git
11 35 (18.04%) Docker
12 34 (17.53%) Containerisation
12 34 (17.53%) JavaScript
12 34 (17.53%) Microservices
12 34 (17.53%) Python
12 34 (17.53%) REST
13 30 (15.46%) PostgreSQL
14 29 (14.95%) Node.js
15 28 (14.43%) Full-Stack Development
15 28 (14.43%) Scrum
15 28 (14.43%) Spring
16 27 (13.92%) React
17 26 (13.40%) Azure DevOps
17 26 (13.40%) Power Platform
18 24 (12.37%) Grafana
18 24 (12.37%) Kubernetes
18 24 (12.37%) Spring Boot
19 22 (11.34%) Business Intelligence

Developer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the West Midlands 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:

Application Platforms
1 9 (4.64%) WebLogic
2 5 (2.58%) Apache
2 5 (2.58%) Confluence
3 4 (2.06%) SharePoint
4 3 (1.55%) Drupal
4 3 (1.55%) JBoss
4 3 (1.55%) SugarCRM
5 2 (1.03%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.52%) CMS
6 1 (0.52%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.52%) Tuxedo
Applications
1 6 (3.09%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (1.03%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 1 (0.52%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.52%) SAP HR
1 1 (0.52%) SAP PSCD
Cloud Services
1 54 (27.84%) Azure
2 42 (21.65%) AWS
3 26 (13.40%) Azure DevOps
3 26 (13.40%) Power Platform
4 19 (9.79%) Serverless
5 15 (7.73%) Power Automate
6 14 (7.22%) GitHub
7 13 (6.70%) Azure Key Vault
7 13 (6.70%) PowerApps
8 11 (5.67%) GitHub Actions
9 10 (5.15%) Amazon S3
9 10 (5.15%) Amazon SQS
9 10 (5.15%) GCP
10 9 (4.64%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 9 (4.64%) Amazon EC2
10 9 (4.64%) AWS KMS
10 9 (4.64%) Route 53
11 7 (3.61%) Dynamics 365
12 6 (3.09%) Azure Logic Apps
13 5 (2.58%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 5 (2.58%) Firewall
2 1 (0.52%) SSL
2 1 (0.52%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (15.46%) PostgreSQL
2 18 (9.28%) Power BI
3 13 (6.70%) Relational Database
4 10 (5.15%) MongoDB
4 10 (5.15%) MySQL
4 10 (5.15%) Redis
5 9 (4.64%) Amazon Aurora
5 9 (4.64%) Amazon RDS
5 9 (4.64%) Data Warehouse
5 9 (4.64%) DynamoDB
6 6 (3.09%) SQL Server
7 5 (2.58%) BusinessObjects
7 5 (2.58%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 4 (2.06%) BusinessObjects XI
8 4 (2.06%) Metadata
8 4 (2.06%) Power Query
8 4 (2.06%) WebFOCUS
9 3 (1.55%) NoSQL
10 2 (1.03%) Data Hub
10 2 (1.03%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 38 (19.59%) Git
2 19 (9.79%) JUnit
3 15 (7.73%) Maven
3 15 (7.73%) Mockito
4 13 (6.70%) JIRA
5 12 (6.19%) Jenkins
6 9 (4.64%) SonarQube
7 7 (3.61%) DbUnit
7 7 (3.61%) jMock
7 7 (3.61%) Selenium
8 6 (3.09%) GitLab
9 5 (2.58%) Bitbucket Server
10 4 (2.06%) Cucumber
11 3 (1.55%) Eclipse
11 3 (1.55%) IntelliJ
12 1 (0.52%) Atlassian Bamboo
12 1 (0.52%) CA Gen
12 1 (0.52%) Cypress.io
12 1 (0.52%) MSTest
12 1 (0.52%) REST Assured
General
1 36 (18.56%) Public Sector
1 36 (18.56%) Social Skills
2 29 (14.95%) Analytical Skills
3 12 (6.19%) Finance
4 5 (2.58%) Presentation Skills
5 4 (2.06%) Banking
5 4 (2.06%) Marketing
6 3 (1.55%) Influencing Skills
6 3 (1.55%) Organisational Skills
7 2 (1.03%) Advertising
8 1 (0.52%) Documentation Skills
8 1 (0.52%) Law
8 1 (0.52%) Legal
8 1 (0.52%) Police
8 1 (0.52%) Retail Banking
8 1 (0.52%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (17.53%) REST
2 29 (14.95%) Node.js
3 28 (14.43%) Spring
4 27 (13.92%) React
5 24 (12.37%) Spring Boot
6 21 (10.82%) HTML
7 19 (9.79%) AngularJS
7 19 (9.79%) Flask
8 16 (8.25%) JPA
8 16 (8.25%) SOAP
8 16 (8.25%) Web Services
9 15 (7.73%) CSS
10 14 (7.22%) Hibernate
10 14 (7.22%) RESTful
11 13 (6.70%) FastAPI
12 10 (5.15%) Spring Batch
12 10 (5.15%) Spring Integration
13 9 (4.64%) ActiveMQ
13 9 (4.64%) Django
13 9 (4.64%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 14 (7.22%) Cloud Native
2 8 (4.12%) Distributed Systems
3 6 (3.09%) Product Ownership
4 5 (2.58%) Credit Risk
5 3 (1.55%) Algorithms
5 3 (1.55%) Legacy Systems
6 2 (1.03%) CMDB
6 2 (1.03%) Derivative
6 2 (1.03%) Linux Command Line
6 2 (1.03%) Onboarding
7 1 (0.52%) Analytical Mindset
7 1 (0.52%) Client/Server
7 1 (0.52%) Data Centre
7 1 (0.52%) Data Protection Act
7 1 (0.52%) Enterprise Software
7 1 (0.52%) IoT
7 1 (0.52%) Learning Management System
7 1 (0.52%) Mainframe
7 1 (0.52%) Robotics
7 1 (0.52%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 12 (6.19%) Linux
2 5 (2.58%) Unix
3 2 (1.03%) Android
4 1 (0.52%) Apple iOS
4 1 (0.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.52%) VME
Processes & Methodologies
1 65 (33.51%) CI/CD
2 51 (26.29%) DevOps
3 48 (24.74%) Agile
4 46 (23.71%) Problem-Solving
5 34 (17.53%) Containerisation
5 34 (17.53%) Microservices
6 28 (14.43%) Full-Stack Development
6 28 (14.43%) Scrum
7 22 (11.34%) Business Intelligence
7 22 (11.34%) Data Modelling
8 19 (9.79%) Workflow
9 16 (8.25%) Continuous Improvement
9 16 (8.25%) Decision-Making
9 16 (8.25%) TDD
10 15 (7.73%) API Integration
10 15 (7.73%) Front End Development
11 14 (7.22%) Data Integration
12 13 (6.70%) ETL
13 12 (6.19%) Performance Tuning
13 12 (6.19%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 70 (36.08%) SQL
2 46 (23.71%) Java
3 34 (17.53%) JavaScript
3 34 (17.53%) Python
4 14 (7.22%) C#
5 9 (4.64%) Go
6 8 (4.12%) PL/SQL
6 8 (4.12%) TypeScript
7 6 (3.09%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 5 (2.58%) PHP
8 5 (2.58%) Scala
9 4 (2.06%) Shell Script
9 4 (2.06%) VBA
10 3 (1.55%) R
11 2 (1.03%) Kotlin
11 2 (1.03%) Ruby
12 1 (0.52%) ABAP
12 1 (0.52%) Groovy
12 1 (0.52%) Swift
12 1 (0.52%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 56 (28.87%) Security Cleared
2 51 (26.29%) SC Cleared
3 9 (4.64%) DV Cleared
4 7 (3.61%) BPSS Clearance
5 5 (2.58%) Azure Certification
6 4 (2.06%) Microsoft Certification
7 3 (1.55%) AWS Certification
7 3 (1.55%) Degree
8 2 (1.03%) Computer Science Degree
9 1 (0.52%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (4.12%) QA
2 5 (2.58%) WCAG
3 4 (2.06%) Accessibility
4 2 (1.03%) SLA
5 1 (0.52%) Data Quality
System Software
1 35 (18.04%) Docker
2 6 (3.09%) Postfix
Systems Management
1 24 (12.37%) Grafana
1 24 (12.37%) Kubernetes
2 13 (6.70%) Prometheus
3 6 (3.09%) Kibana
4 5 (2.58%) Ansible
5 4 (2.06%) Terraform
6 3 (1.55%) Control-M
6 3 (1.55%) IBM Guardium
6 3 (1.55%) Nessus
6 3 (1.55%) Puppet
Vendors
1 40 (20.62%) Microsoft
2 9 (4.64%) Jaspersoft
3 7 (3.61%) Atlassian
3 7 (3.61%) Google
3 7 (3.61%) ServiceNow
4 4 (2.06%) Oracle
4 4 (2.06%) SAP
5 3 (1.55%) Siemens
5 3 (1.55%) Tenable
5 3 (1.55%) webMethods
6 2 (1.03%) Calypso
6 2 (1.03%) IFS
6 2 (1.03%) NEC
7 1 (0.52%) Adobe
7 1 (0.52%) ICL
7 1 (0.52%) Red Hat
7 1 (0.52%) Salesforce