PhD Job Trends in Cheshire

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil, EngD, Doctorate)
North West > Cheshire

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in Cheshire with a requirement for PhD qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 16 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 50 88
Rank change year-on-year +40 +38 +3
Permanent jobs citing PhD 499 1 10
As % of all permanent jobs in Cheshire 27.72% 0.23% 0.67%
As % of the Qualifications category 85.01% 0.51% 2.58%
Number of salaries quoted 3 0 8
10th Percentile - - £55,000
25th Percentile £93,750 - £70,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £102,500 - £80,000
75th Percentile £111,250 - £85,000
90th Percentile - - -
North West median annual salary £102,500 £45,000 £80,000
% change year-on-year +127.78% -43.75% -8.57%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
Cheshire

PhD falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in Cheshire.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 587 197 387
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in Cheshire 32.61% 44.57% 25.77%
Number of salaries quoted 72 73 271
10th Percentile £29,000 £32,500 £25,000
25th Percentile £39,625 £34,755 £29,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £54,418 £47,500 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year +14.56% +11.76% -8.11%
75th Percentile £63,750 £55,000 £57,500
90th Percentile £78,750 £68,500 £67,500
North West median annual salary £50,000 £50,055 £49,500
% change year-on-year -0.11% +1.12% -10.00%

PhD
Job Vacancy Trend in Cheshire

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing PhD relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in Cheshire.

PhD job vacancy trend in Cheshire

PhD
Salary Trend in Cheshire

Salary distribution trend for jobs in Cheshire citing PhD.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in Cheshire citing PhD

PhD
Job Locations in Cheshire

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing PhD within the Cheshire region over the 6 months to 16 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Warrington +17 97 £102,500 - 1
Lymm - 14 - - 1
Macclesfield - 14 - - 1
Northwich - 14 - - 1
Knutsford - 13 - - 1
Daresbury - 13 - - 1
Wilmslow - 12 - - 1
Alderley Edge - 12 - - 2
PhD
North West

PhD
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Cheshire 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
1 496 (99.40%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 496 (99.40%) Internet
General
1 496 (99.40%) Banking
1 496 (99.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
1 496 (99.40%) Social Skills
Job Titles
1 379 (75.95%) Lecturer
2 3 (0.60%) Machine Learning Engineer
2 3 (0.60%) Machine Learning Scientist
2 3 (0.60%) Research Engineer
2 3 (0.60%) Research Scientist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (0.60%) PyTorch
Miscellaneous
1 496 (99.40%) IoT
2 3 (0.60%) Algorithms
Processes & Methodologies
1 499 (100.00%) Machine Learning
2 496 (99.40%) AI
2 496 (99.40%) Cybersecurity
2 496 (99.40%) User Experience
2 496 (99.40%) Web Development
3 3 (0.60%) Applied Mathematics
3 3 (0.60%) Benchmarking
3 3 (0.60%) Computer Science
3 3 (0.60%) Mathematics
3 3 (0.60%) Physics
Programming Languages
1 3 (0.60%) Python
Qualifications
1 499 (100.00%) Degree
1 499 (100.00%) Master's Degree
2 496 (99.40%) Postgraduate