Software Developer Job Trends in the North West

Software Developer
England > North West

The median Software Developer salary in the North West is £50,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 20 February 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 93 143 110
Rank change year-on-year +50 -33 +65
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Developer 113 53 138
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 1.51% 1.17% 2.06%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.74% 1.29% 2.17%
Number of salaries quoted 105 48 128
10th Percentile £28,250 £35,875 £36,250
25th Percentile £31,250 £41,188 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £50,000 £51,250
Median % change year-on-year - -2.44% +2.50%
75th Percentile £60,000 £55,000 £63,750
90th Percentile £68,750 £71,625 £70,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -4.35% +4.55% -

All Permanent IT Job Roles
North West

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the North West. 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 permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in the North West with a recognized job title 6,496 4,109 6,349
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 86.88% 90.73% 94.83%
Number of salaries quoted 3,852 2,217 5,229
10th Percentile £28,250 £32,500 £27,000
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,750 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £67,656 £67,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £82,500 £82,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -11.29%

Software Developer
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

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

Software Developer job vacancy trend in the North West

Software Developer
Salary Trend in the North West

Salary distribution trend for Software Developer job vacancies in the North West.

Salary distribution trend for Software Developer job vacancies in the North West

Software Developer
Salary Histogram in the North West

Salary distribution for jobs citing Software Developer in the North West over the 6 months to 20 February 2026.

Salary histogram for Software Developer in the North West

Software Developer
Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Software Developer within the North West region over the 6 months to 20 February 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
Manchester +35 49 £60,000 +19.40% 16
Cheshire +3 44 £50,000 - 8
Merseyside +1 17 £30,500 -57.93% 1
Lancashire -8 2 £77,500 +47.62% 8
Cumbria -12 1 - -
Software Developer
England

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

For the 6 months to 20 February 2026, Software Developer 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 permanent job ads across the North West region featuring Software Developer in the job title.

1 69 (61.06%) Azure
2 51 (45.13%) .NET
3 50 (44.25%) Microsoft
4 47 (41.59%) C#
5 36 (31.86%) ASP.NET
6 32 (28.32%) .NET Core
6 32 (28.32%) JavaScript
6 32 (28.32%) SQL Server
7 31 (27.43%) Agile
8 30 (26.55%) CSS
8 30 (26.55%) HTML
9 29 (25.66%) SQL
10 27 (23.89%) Git
10 27 (23.89%) Mentoring
11 25 (22.12%) AWS
11 25 (22.12%) Python
12 22 (19.47%) AWS Certification
12 22 (19.47%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
12 22 (19.47%) Azure Certification
12 22 (19.47%) Cybersecurity
12 22 (19.47%) GitHub
12 22 (19.47%) Internet
12 22 (19.47%) Microsoft Certification
13 21 (18.58%) Software Engineering
14 19 (16.81%) .NET Framework
14 19 (16.81%) RAD
15 12 (10.62%) Full-Stack Development
15 12 (10.62%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 11 (9.73%) Fintech
17 10 (8.85%) CI/CD

Software Developer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 3 (2.65%) nginx
2 1 (0.88%) Apache
2 1 (0.88%) IIS
Cloud Services
1 69 (61.06%) Azure
2 25 (22.12%) AWS
3 22 (19.47%) GitHub
4 2 (1.77%) GCP
5 1 (0.88%) Azure DevOps
5 1 (0.88%) Cloud Run
5 1 (0.88%) Firebase
5 1 (0.88%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 22 (19.47%) Internet
2 1 (0.88%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (28.32%) SQL Server
2 4 (3.54%) MySQL
3 2 (1.77%) PostgreSQL
3 2 (1.77%) Relational Database
4 1 (0.88%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 27 (23.89%) Git
2 1 (0.88%) GitLab
2 1 (0.88%) Jenkins
General
1 22 (19.47%) Multimedia
2 8 (7.08%) Finance
3 5 (4.42%) Social Skills
4 3 (2.65%) Electronics
5 2 (1.77%) Analytical Skills
5 2 (1.77%) Marketing
6 1 (0.88%) Manufacturing
6 1 (0.88%) Public Sector
6 1 (0.88%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 51 (45.13%) .NET
2 36 (31.86%) ASP.NET
3 32 (28.32%) .NET Core
4 30 (26.55%) CSS
4 30 (26.55%) HTML
5 19 (16.81%) .NET Framework
6 10 (8.85%) React
7 6 (5.31%) RESTful
8 4 (3.54%) ASP.NET Core
8 4 (3.54%) CSS3
8 4 (3.54%) HTML5
9 3 (2.65%) Node.js
9 3 (2.65%) REST
10 2 (1.77%) FastAPI
10 2 (1.77%) jQuery
10 2 (1.77%) Kafka
10 2 (1.77%) Laravel
11 1 (0.88%) Razor View Engine
11 1 (0.88%) Sass
11 1 (0.88%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 5 (4.42%) Greenfield Project
2 2 (1.77%) Cloud Native
2 2 (1.77%) Product Ownership
3 1 (0.88%) Legacy Systems
3 1 (0.88%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 2 (1.77%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 31 (27.43%) Agile
2 27 (23.89%) Mentoring
3 22 (19.47%) Cybersecurity
4 21 (18.58%) Software Engineering
5 19 (16.81%) RAD
6 12 (10.62%) Full-Stack Development
6 12 (10.62%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 11 (9.73%) Fintech
8 10 (8.85%) CI/CD
9 8 (7.08%) Collaborative Culture
10 7 (6.19%) DevOps
11 6 (5.31%) AI
11 6 (5.31%) Open Source
12 5 (4.42%) Problem-Solving
12 5 (4.42%) User Experience
13 4 (3.54%) Containerisation
13 4 (3.54%) Digital Innovation
13 4 (3.54%) Line Management
13 4 (3.54%) Responsive Web Design
14 3 (2.65%) Software Testing
Programming Languages
1 47 (41.59%) C#
2 32 (28.32%) JavaScript
3 29 (25.66%) SQL
4 25 (22.12%) Python
5 10 (8.85%) TypeScript
6 9 (7.96%) Java
7 5 (4.42%) PHP
8 2 (1.77%) Go
9 1 (0.88%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.88%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 22 (19.47%) AWS Certification
1 22 (19.47%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
1 22 (19.47%) Azure Certification
1 22 (19.47%) Microsoft Certification
2 7 (6.19%) Degree
3 1 (0.88%) BPSS Clearance
3 1 (0.88%) DV Cleared
3 1 (0.88%) Security Cleared
System Software
1 4 (3.54%) Docker
Systems Management
1 1 (0.88%) Terraform
Vendors
1 50 (44.25%) Microsoft
2 2 (1.77%) HubSpot
3 1 (0.88%) Adobe
3 1 (0.88%) Atlassian
3 1 (0.88%) Google
3 1 (0.88%) Oracle
3 1 (0.88%) SAP