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 12 April 2026.

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

6 months to
12 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 28 19 9
Rank change year-on-year -9 -10 +6
Contract jobs requiring a Developer 205 111 227
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 6.77% 8.14% 11.74%
As % of the Job Titles category 7.37% 9.04% 12.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 139 70 166
10th Percentile £363 £363 £259
25th Percentile £412 £409 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £463 £425
Median % change year-on-year +2.70% +8.82% -15.00%
75th Percentile £522 £540 £505
90th Percentile £578 £614 £611
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -6.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 6
10th Percentile - - £38.75
25th Percentile - £56.88 £40.13
Median hourly rate - £58.75 £49.00
Median % change year-on-year - +19.90% +46.77%
75th Percentile - £60.63 £55.94
90th Percentile - - £56.25
England median hourly rate £60.00 £63.00 £61.25
% change year-on-year -4.76% +2.86% +2.08%

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 2,783 1,228 1,761
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.94% 90.10% 91.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,807 832 1,190
10th Percentile £305 £200 £259
25th Percentile £403 £375 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £482 £488 £475
Median % change year-on-year -1.13% +2.63% -5.00%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £595
90th Percentile £673 £650 £700
England median daily rate £509 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -3.05% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 127 65 136
10th Percentile £14.07 £12.62 £12.08
25th Percentile £21.36 £14.00 £15.00
Median hourly rate £30.00 £18.00 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year +66.67% -18.18% +15.79%
75th Percentile £53.75 £28.18 £40.81
90th Percentile £68.00 £34.56 £55.63
England median hourly rate £44.00 £32.50 £34.21
% change year-on-year +35.38% -5.00% -21.70%

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 12 April 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 12 April 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 +2 74 £475 +4.97% 42
Warwickshire +1 30 £488 -15.22% 8
Coventry -4 30 £460 -2.13% 7
Shropshire -41 26 £481 +3.89%
Solihull +1 18 £438 +4.17% 2
Worcestershire -4 8 £700 - 5
Herefordshire -12 6 £700 - 1
Dudley - 3 £400 - 2
Staffordshire -1 2 £325 -18.75% 5
Wolverhampton -6 1 - - 3
Brierley Hill - 1 £390 -
Developer
England

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

For the 6 months to 12 April 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 69 (33.66%) SQL
2 52 (25.37%) CI/CD
3 51 (24.88%) Security Cleared
4 47 (22.93%) Azure
5 45 (21.95%) Agile
5 45 (21.95%) SC Cleared
6 43 (20.98%) DevOps
6 43 (20.98%) Java
7 41 (20.00%) AWS
8 37 (18.05%) Microsoft
9 35 (17.07%) Problem-Solving
10 34 (16.59%) Docker
11 33 (16.10%) Containerisation
12 32 (15.61%) Full-Stack Development
13 31 (15.12%) Git
14 30 (14.63%) Microservices
14 30 (14.63%) REST
15 29 (14.15%) Python
16 28 (13.66%) PostgreSQL
17 27 (13.17%) JavaScript
17 27 (13.17%) Power Platform
18 26 (12.68%) Node.js
18 26 (12.68%) Spring
18 26 (12.68%) Spring Boot
19 25 (12.20%) Data Modelling
19 25 (12.20%) Scrum
20 23 (11.22%) Business Intelligence
21 22 (10.73%) AngularJS
21 22 (10.73%) React
21 22 (10.73%) Workflow

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 (4.39%) Confluence
2 7 (3.41%) WebLogic
3 4 (1.95%) SharePoint
4 3 (1.46%) Apache
4 3 (1.46%) Drupal
5 2 (0.98%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.49%) ArcGIS
6 1 (0.49%) JBoss
6 1 (0.49%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.49%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.49%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.49%) SAS
6 1 (0.49%) Tuxedo
Applications
1 2 (0.98%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.49%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 10 (4.88%) Teamcenter
2 1 (0.49%) SAP EWM
2 1 (0.49%) SAP HR
2 1 (0.49%) SAP PSCD
Cloud Services
1 47 (22.93%) Azure
2 41 (20.00%) AWS
3 27 (13.17%) Power Platform
4 20 (9.76%) Azure DevOps
5 16 (7.80%) Amazon S3
5 16 (7.80%) Amazon SQS
6 15 (7.32%) Power Automate
7 14 (6.83%) Serverless
8 13 (6.34%) Amazon CloudWatch
8 13 (6.34%) GitHub
9 12 (5.85%) Amazon EC2
9 12 (5.85%) AWS KMS
9 12 (5.85%) PowerApps
9 12 (5.85%) Route 53
10 9 (4.39%) Azure Key Vault
10 9 (4.39%) GitHub Actions
11 7 (3.41%) Dynamics 365
12 6 (2.93%) GCP
13 5 (2.44%) Azure Data Factory
13 5 (2.44%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 4 (1.95%) Firewall
2 1 (0.49%) SSL
2 1 (0.49%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (13.66%) PostgreSQL
2 20 (9.76%) Power BI
3 14 (6.83%) DynamoDB
4 13 (6.34%) Amazon RDS
5 12 (5.85%) Amazon Aurora
5 12 (5.85%) Data Warehouse
6 10 (4.88%) Relational Database
7 8 (3.90%) SQL Server
8 6 (2.93%) MongoDB
8 6 (2.93%) Power Query
8 6 (2.93%) Redis
9 5 (2.44%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 4 (1.95%) BusinessObjects
10 4 (1.95%) BusinessObjects XI
10 4 (1.95%) Metadata
10 4 (1.95%) WebFOCUS
11 3 (1.46%) MySQL
11 3 (1.46%) NoSQL
12 2 (0.98%) Data Hub
12 2 (0.98%) IDMS
Development Applications
1 31 (15.12%) Git
2 16 (7.80%) JIRA
2 16 (7.80%) JUnit
3 15 (7.32%) Maven
3 15 (7.32%) Mockito
4 13 (6.34%) Jenkins
5 12 (5.85%) SonarQube
6 9 (4.39%) DbUnit
6 9 (4.39%) jMock
7 7 (3.41%) Bitbucket Server
8 3 (1.46%) GitLab
9 1 (0.49%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 1 (0.49%) CA Gen
9 1 (0.49%) Cypress.io
9 1 (0.49%) Eclipse
9 1 (0.49%) IntelliJ
9 1 (0.49%) MSTest
9 1 (0.49%) Selenium
General
1 37 (18.05%) Public Sector
2 29 (14.15%) Analytical Skills
3 25 (12.20%) Social Skills
4 10 (4.88%) Finance
5 8 (3.90%) Banking
6 5 (2.44%) Presentation Skills
7 4 (1.95%) Marketing
8 2 (0.98%) Advertising
9 1 (0.49%) Documentation Skills
9 1 (0.49%) Influencing Skills
9 1 (0.49%) Law
9 1 (0.49%) Legal
9 1 (0.49%) Organisational Skills
9 1 (0.49%) Pharmaceutical
9 1 (0.49%) Police
9 1 (0.49%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (14.63%) REST
2 26 (12.68%) Node.js
2 26 (12.68%) Spring
2 26 (12.68%) Spring Boot
3 22 (10.73%) AngularJS
3 22 (10.73%) React
4 18 (8.78%) Web Services
5 17 (8.29%) Flask
5 17 (8.29%) JPA
6 16 (7.80%) Hibernate
6 16 (7.80%) RESTful
7 15 (7.32%) SOAP
8 14 (6.83%) Spring Batch
8 14 (6.83%) Spring Integration
9 13 (6.34%) HTML
10 12 (5.85%) ActiveMQ
10 12 (5.85%) CSS
10 12 (5.85%) Spring Cloud
11 11 (5.37%) Django
12 10 (4.88%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 11 (5.37%) Distributed Systems
2 8 (3.90%) Cloud Native
3 7 (3.41%) Product Ownership
4 5 (2.44%) Credit Risk
5 3 (1.46%) Algorithms
5 3 (1.46%) Legacy Systems
5 3 (1.46%) Linux Command Line
6 2 (0.98%) BYOD
7 1 (0.49%) Analytical Mindset
7 1 (0.49%) Client/Server
7 1 (0.49%) CMDB
7 1 (0.49%) Data Centre
7 1 (0.49%) Enterprise Software
7 1 (0.49%) Learning Management System
7 1 (0.49%) Legacy Applications
7 1 (0.49%) Mainframe
7 1 (0.49%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 13 (6.34%) Linux
2 4 (1.95%) Unix
3 2 (0.98%) Android
4 1 (0.49%) Apple iOS
4 1 (0.49%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.49%) VME
Processes & Methodologies
1 52 (25.37%) CI/CD
2 45 (21.95%) Agile
3 43 (20.98%) DevOps
4 35 (17.07%) Problem-Solving
5 33 (16.10%) Containerisation
6 32 (15.61%) Full-Stack Development
7 30 (14.63%) Microservices
8 25 (12.20%) Data Modelling
8 25 (12.20%) Scrum
9 23 (11.22%) Business Intelligence
10 22 (10.73%) Workflow
11 19 (9.27%) TDD
12 18 (8.78%) Decision-Making
13 17 (8.29%) Data Integration
14 16 (7.80%) Migration
15 15 (7.32%) Continuous Improvement
15 15 (7.32%) Front End Development
16 14 (6.83%) Kanban
17 13 (6.34%) Analytics
17 13 (6.34%) Performance Tuning
Programming Languages
1 69 (33.66%) SQL
2 43 (20.98%) Java
3 29 (14.15%) Python
4 27 (13.17%) JavaScript
5 13 (6.34%) C#
6 9 (4.39%) PL/SQL
7 8 (3.90%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 5 (2.44%) Go
9 4 (1.95%) Scala
9 4 (1.95%) Shell Script
9 4 (1.95%) TypeScript
10 3 (1.46%) R
11 2 (0.98%) Kotlin
11 2 (0.98%) PHP
11 2 (0.98%) Ruby
12 1 (0.49%) ABAP
12 1 (0.49%) C++
12 1 (0.49%) COBOL
12 1 (0.49%) Perl
12 1 (0.49%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 51 (24.88%) Security Cleared
2 45 (21.95%) SC Cleared
3 8 (3.90%) BPSS Clearance
4 5 (2.44%) DV Cleared
5 3 (1.46%) AWS Certification
5 3 (1.46%) Azure Certification
5 3 (1.46%) Microsoft Certification
6 2 (0.98%) Degree
7 1 (0.49%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (3.90%) QA
2 2 (0.98%) Accessibility
2 2 (0.98%) GRC
2 2 (0.98%) WCAG
3 1 (0.49%) Data Quality
3 1 (0.49%) SLA
System Software
1 34 (16.59%) Docker
2 8 (3.90%) Postfix
3 1 (0.49%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 20 (9.76%) Grafana
2 17 (8.29%) Kubernetes
3 11 (5.37%) Prometheus
4 6 (2.93%) Terraform
5 3 (1.46%) Ansible
5 3 (1.46%) Control-M
5 3 (1.46%) IBM Guardium
5 3 (1.46%) Kibana
5 3 (1.46%) Nessus
6 1 (0.49%) Puppet
Vendors
1 37 (18.05%) Microsoft
2 12 (5.85%) Jaspersoft
3 11 (5.37%) Atlassian
4 8 (3.90%) ServiceNow
5 5 (2.44%) Siemens
6 4 (1.95%) SAP
7 3 (1.46%) Google
7 3 (1.46%) Oracle
7 3 (1.46%) Tenable
8 2 (0.98%) IFS
8 2 (0.98%) NEC
8 2 (0.98%) Pega
9 1 (0.49%) Adobe
9 1 (0.49%) ICL
9 1 (0.49%) Infor
9 1 (0.49%) Red Hat
9 1 (0.49%) Salesforce
9 1 (0.49%) Splunk
9 1 (0.49%) webMethods