Developer Contract Job Trends in the West Midlands

Developer
England > West Midlands

The median Developer daily rate in the West Midlands is £463, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 14 September 2026.

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

6 months to
14 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 29 25 14
Rank change year-on-year -4 -11 -4
Contract jobs requiring a Developer 228 129 188
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 6.54% 7.12% 9.87%
As % of the Job Titles category 7.15% 7.98% 10.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 166 94 129
10th Percentile £401 £363 £313
25th Percentile £415 £408 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £463 £498 £450
Median % change year-on-year -6.87% +10.56% -
75th Percentile £538 £519 £550
90th Percentile £601 £625 £650
England median daily rate £520 £505 £525
% change year-on-year +2.97% -3.81% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 2
10th Percentile - - £41.95
25th Percentile - £56.88 £44.13
Median hourly rate - £58.75 £49.00
Median % change year-on-year - +19.90% +93.54%
75th Percentile - £60.63 £52.63
90th Percentile - - £54.05
England median hourly rate £55.00 £55.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year - -15.38% +8.91%

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 3,189 1,617 1,775
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.45% 89.29% 93.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,887 1,051 1,158
10th Percentile £325 £235 £231
25th Percentile £413 £375 £380
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £490 £485 £500
Median % change year-on-year +1.03% -3.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £581 £618
90th Percentile £675 £650 £713
England median daily rate £525 £506 £525
% change year-on-year +3.75% -3.62% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 241 109 63
10th Percentile £14.00 £12.62 £12.62
25th Percentile £19.34 £14.00 £14.63
Median hourly rate £30.00 £25.15 £21.00
Median % change year-on-year +19.28% +19.76% -
75th Percentile £53.75 £40.02 £33.74
90th Percentile £67.84 £50.00 £52.00
England median hourly rate £43.08 £25.15 £47.50
% change year-on-year +71.27% -47.05% +5.56%

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 14 September 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 14 September 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
Shropshire -3 88 £490 +5.95% 18
Birmingham -2 55 £475 -5.00% 66
Coventry +5 38 £425 +1.49% 10
Solihull -7 19 £450 -21.74% 7
Warwickshire -13 11 £475 -1.30% 10
Herefordshire -2 3 - - 1
Wolverhampton - 3 £350 - 2
Dudley - 2 £400 - 4
Worcestershire -1 1 £450 -30.77% 4
Staffordshire -12 1 £313 -30.56% 11
Developer
England

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

For the 6 months to 14 September 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 96 (42.11%) Agile
2 71 (31.14%) Security Cleared
3 66 (28.95%) Java
4 63 (27.63%) SC Cleared
5 55 (24.12%) Microsoft
6 53 (23.25%) CI/CD
7 52 (22.81%) JavaScript
8 49 (21.49%) SQL
9 46 (20.18%) BPSS Clearance
10 44 (19.30%) Continuous Improvement
11 42 (18.42%) Git
11 42 (18.42%) Scrum
12 41 (17.98%) DevOps
13 39 (17.11%) Microservices
13 39 (17.11%) SOAP
13 39 (17.11%) Sprint Planning
14 38 (16.67%) REST
15 37 (16.23%) Front End Development
15 37 (16.23%) Power Platform
15 37 (16.23%) Spring
16 36 (15.79%) Azure
16 36 (15.79%) Problem-Solving
16 36 (15.79%) Spring Boot
17 34 (14.91%) AWS
18 31 (13.60%) React
19 30 (13.16%) Power Automate
19 30 (13.16%) TDD
19 30 (13.16%) Test Automation
20 29 (12.72%) User Stories
21 28 (12.28%) Accessibility

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 16 (7.02%) Confluence
2 9 (3.95%) SharePoint
3 6 (2.63%) SAS
4 2 (0.88%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 2 (0.88%) Oracle Workflow
5 1 (0.44%) ArcGIS
5 1 (0.44%) IIS
5 1 (0.44%) OpenStack
5 1 (0.44%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 1 (0.44%) WebLogic
Applications
1 1 (0.44%) Chatbot
1 1 (0.44%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 16 (7.02%) Teamcenter
2 6 (2.63%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.44%) SAP EWM
3 1 (0.44%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 37 (16.23%) Power Platform
2 36 (15.79%) Azure
3 34 (14.91%) AWS
4 30 (13.16%) Power Automate
5 26 (11.40%) PowerApps
6 21 (9.21%) Azure DevOps
7 18 (7.89%) Dynamics 365
8 11 (4.82%) Amazon S3
8 11 (4.82%) Amazon SQS
8 11 (4.82%) Microsoft 365
9 10 (4.39%) Microsoft Copilot
10 9 (3.95%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 9 (3.95%) Serverless
11 8 (3.51%) Amazon EC2
11 8 (3.51%) AWS KMS
11 8 (3.51%) Route 53
12 6 (2.63%) Azure Functions
13 3 (1.32%) Figma
14 2 (0.88%) Azure Data Factory
14 2 (0.88%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 1 (0.44%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (10.96%) PostgreSQL
2 17 (7.46%) Relational Database
3 12 (5.26%) MongoDB
3 12 (5.26%) Power BI
3 12 (5.26%) SQL Server
4 10 (4.39%) Amazon RDS
5 9 (3.95%) DynamoDB
6 8 (3.51%) Amazon Aurora
7 6 (2.63%) NoSQL
8 5 (2.19%) Data Warehouse
9 3 (1.32%) Base SAS
9 3 (1.32%) SAS Enterprise Guide
10 2 (0.88%) Data Hub
10 2 (0.88%) Data Mining
10 2 (0.88%) Power Query
11 1 (0.44%) Elasticsearch
11 1 (0.44%) Ingres
11 1 (0.44%) Metadata
11 1 (0.44%) Oracle Database
11 1 (0.44%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 42 (18.42%) Git
2 23 (10.09%) Maven
2 23 (10.09%) Mockito
3 22 (9.65%) JUnit
4 20 (8.77%) Jenkins
5 18 (7.89%) SonarQube
6 16 (7.02%) JIRA
7 13 (5.70%) Team Foundation Server
7 13 (5.70%) Visual Studio
8 6 (2.63%) Bitbucket Server
8 6 (2.63%) DbUnit
8 6 (2.63%) GitLab
8 6 (2.63%) jMock
9 3 (1.32%) Storybook
10 1 (0.44%) Artifactory
10 1 (0.44%) Hudson
10 1 (0.44%) NUnit
10 1 (0.44%) Oracle Forms
10 1 (0.44%) Rational Rhapsody
10 1 (0.44%) Selenium
General
1 83 (36.40%) Public Sector
2 45 (19.74%) Social Skills
3 27 (11.84%) Analytical Skills
3 27 (11.84%) Finance
4 18 (7.89%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 10 (4.39%) Banking
6 6 (2.63%) Organisational Skills
7 4 (1.75%) Manufacturing
8 2 (0.88%) Legal
8 2 (0.88%) Marketing
8 2 (0.88%) Military
8 2 (0.88%) Presentation Skills
8 2 (0.88%) Retail
9 1 (0.44%) Front Office
9 1 (0.44%) Investment Banking
9 1 (0.44%) Pharmaceutical
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (17.11%) SOAP
2 38 (16.67%) REST
3 37 (16.23%) Spring
4 36 (15.79%) Spring Boot
5 31 (13.60%) React
6 24 (10.53%) Web Services
7 22 (9.65%) AngularJS
7 22 (9.65%) JPA
8 21 (9.21%) XML
9 20 (8.77%) ActiveMQ
9 20 (8.77%) Hibernate
10 18 (7.89%) RESTful
11 17 (7.46%) JSON
11 17 (7.46%) Spring Cloud
12 16 (7.02%) CSS
12 16 (7.02%) HTML
12 16 (7.02%) Node.js
13 13 (5.70%) ActiveX
14 11 (4.82%) .NET
15 10 (4.39%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 21 (9.21%) Cloud Native
2 20 (8.77%) Product Ownership
3 8 (3.51%) Distributed Systems
4 7 (3.07%) Management Information System
5 6 (2.63%) Enterprise Software
5 6 (2.63%) Self-Motivation
5 6 (2.63%) Taxonomies
6 3 (1.32%) Virtual Team
7 2 (0.88%) BYOD
7 2 (0.88%) Legacy Systems
7 2 (0.88%) Linux Command Line
7 2 (0.88%) Mobile App
8 1 (0.44%) CMDB
8 1 (0.44%) Data Structures
8 1 (0.44%) Greenfield Project
8 1 (0.44%) Legacy Applications
8 1 (0.44%) Legacy Code
8 1 (0.44%) Low-Code
8 1 (0.44%) Onboarding
8 1 (0.44%) Reference Data
Operating Systems
1 11 (4.82%) Linux
2 6 (2.63%) Unix
3 1 (0.44%) Android
3 1 (0.44%) Mac OS X
3 1 (0.44%) Windows
3 1 (0.44%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 96 (42.11%) Agile
2 53 (23.25%) CI/CD
3 44 (19.30%) Continuous Improvement
4 42 (18.42%) Scrum
5 41 (17.98%) DevOps
6 39 (17.11%) Microservices
6 39 (17.11%) Sprint Planning
7 37 (16.23%) Front End Development
8 36 (15.79%) Problem-Solving
9 30 (13.16%) TDD
9 30 (13.16%) Test Automation
10 29 (12.72%) User Stories
11 27 (11.84%) Backlog Refinement
12 26 (11.40%) Migration
13 22 (9.65%) SDLC
13 22 (9.65%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 21 (9.21%) Containerisation
14 21 (9.21%) Technical Leadership
15 20 (8.77%) Kanban
15 20 (8.77%) Translating Business Requirements
Programming Languages
1 66 (28.95%) Java
2 52 (22.81%) JavaScript
3 49 (21.49%) SQL
4 26 (11.40%) C#
5 25 (10.96%) TypeScript
6 14 (6.14%) VB
6 14 (6.14%) VB6
7 13 (5.70%) VBA
8 10 (4.39%) PL/SQL
8 10 (4.39%) Python
8 10 (4.39%) Scala
9 4 (1.75%) COBOL
10 3 (1.32%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (1.32%) Kotlin
10 3 (1.32%) Shell Script
11 2 (0.88%) C
11 2 (0.88%) VB.NET
12 1 (0.44%) C++
12 1 (0.44%) ProC
12 1 (0.44%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 71 (31.14%) Security Cleared
2 63 (27.63%) SC Cleared
3 46 (20.18%) BPSS Clearance
4 17 (7.46%) Microsoft Certification
5 5 (2.19%) Azure Certification
6 3 (1.32%) Degree
7 2 (0.88%) AWS Certification
8 1 (0.44%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (12.28%) Accessibility
2 14 (6.14%) WCAG
3 11 (4.82%) QA
4 6 (2.63%) GDPR
5 3 (1.32%) Basel III
5 3 (1.32%) Data Quality
6 2 (0.88%) GRC
7 1 (0.44%) 21 CFR Part 11
7 1 (0.44%) GMP
7 1 (0.44%) GxP
7 1 (0.44%) HL7
7 1 (0.44%) ISO/IEC 17025
System Software
1 23 (10.09%) Docker
2 5 (2.19%) Postfix
3 1 (0.44%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 18 (7.89%) Grafana
2 14 (6.14%) Prometheus
3 9 (3.95%) Kubernetes
3 9 (3.95%) Single Sign-On
4 3 (1.32%) Kibana
Vendors
1 55 (24.12%) Microsoft
2 13 (5.70%) Oracle
3 9 (3.95%) ServiceNow
4 8 (3.51%) Atlassian
4 8 (3.51%) Jaspersoft
4 8 (3.51%) Talend
4 8 (3.51%) UiPath
5 2 (0.88%) Adobe
5 2 (0.88%) Databricks
5 2 (0.88%) Google
5 2 (0.88%) Informatica
5 2 (0.88%) Pega
5 2 (0.88%) SAP
6 1 (0.44%) Denodo
6 1 (0.44%) Dynatrace
6 1 (0.44%) Infor
6 1 (0.44%) NEC
6 1 (0.44%) Salesforce
6 1 (0.44%) Salesforce Marketing Cloud
6 1 (0.44%) Siemens