Software Developer Job Trends in the North West

Software Developer
England > North West

The median Software Developer salary in the North West is £55,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 28 October 2025.

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

6 months to
28 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 166 148 149
Rank change year-on-year -18 +1 -5
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Developer 52 85 61
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 1.09% 1.23% 1.49%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.20% 1.29% 1.55%
Number of salaries quoted 43 80 56
10th Percentile £28,250 £36,125 £41,250
25th Percentile £35,625 £40,000 £44,219
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £51,750 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year +6.28% -10.00% +9.52%
75th Percentile £60,000 £60,000 £68,750
90th Percentile £81,000 £69,800 £80,625
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% +4.55%

All Permanent IT Job Vacancies
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 4,326 6,602 3,933
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.37% 95.27% 96.37%
Number of salaries quoted 2,425 3,701 3,017
10th Percentile £26,500 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £33,750 £40,000 £42,439
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £48,136 £50,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.73% -9.09% +4.76%
75th Percentile £65,000 £65,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £78,000 £82,519
England median annual salary £53,500 £57,500 £60,000
% change year-on-year -6.96% -4.17% -

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 28 October 2025.

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 28 October 2025. 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 +14 29 £60,000 +9.09% 19
Cheshire -35 11 £55,000 +10.00% 7
Merseyside -9 8 £30,500 -44.55% 5
Lancashire -6 4 £40,000 -23.81% 18
Software Developer
England

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

For the 6 months to 28 October 2025, 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 26 (50.00%) Azure
2 23 (44.23%) Microsoft
3 22 (42.31%) .NET
4 19 (36.54%) C#
4 19 (36.54%) JavaScript
5 17 (32.69%) HTML
6 16 (30.77%) Agile
6 16 (30.77%) CSS
7 15 (28.85%) AWS
7 15 (28.85%) Mentoring
7 15 (28.85%) SQL
8 13 (25.00%) Git
8 13 (25.00%) Problem-Solving
9 12 (23.08%) Continuous Improvement
9 12 (23.08%) Python
10 11 (21.15%) Full-Stack Development
10 11 (21.15%) SaaS
11 10 (19.23%) GitHub
12 9 (17.31%) DevOps
13 8 (15.38%) AI
13 8 (15.38%) ASP.NET
13 8 (15.38%) AWS Certification
13 8 (15.38%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
13 8 (15.38%) Azure Certification
13 8 (15.38%) Cybersecurity
13 8 (15.38%) Decision-Making
13 8 (15.38%) Internet
13 8 (15.38%) Microsoft Certification
13 8 (15.38%) React
13 8 (15.38%) Stakeholder Engagement

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 4 (7.69%) Camunda
2 2 (3.85%) nginx
Cloud Services
1 26 (50.00%) Azure
2 15 (28.85%) AWS
3 11 (21.15%) SaaS
4 10 (19.23%) GitHub
5 2 (3.85%) GCP
6 1 (1.92%) Cloud Computing
6 1 (1.92%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 8 (15.38%) Internet
2 1 (1.92%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (11.54%) MySQL
1 6 (11.54%) SQL Server
2 3 (5.77%) MongoDB
2 3 (5.77%) PostgreSQL
2 3 (5.77%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 13 (25.00%) Git
2 6 (11.54%) GitLab
2 6 (11.54%) Jenkins
3 5 (9.62%) Bitbucket
3 5 (9.62%) SonarQube
3 5 (9.62%) Sonatype Nexus
4 1 (1.92%) JIRA
General
1 16 (30.77%) Social Skills
2 8 (15.38%) Analytical Skills
2 8 (15.38%) Multimedia
3 4 (7.69%) Marketing
4 2 (3.85%) Mandarin Language
4 2 (3.85%) Retail
5 1 (1.92%) Electronics
5 1 (1.92%) Finance
5 1 (1.92%) Manufacturing
5 1 (1.92%) Public Sector
5 1 (1.92%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (42.31%) .NET
2 17 (32.69%) HTML
3 16 (30.77%) CSS
4 8 (15.38%) ASP.NET
4 8 (15.38%) React
5 7 (13.46%) REST
6 6 (11.54%) RESTful
7 4 (7.69%) .NET Core
7 4 (7.69%) ASP.NET Core
7 4 (7.69%) CSS3
7 4 (7.69%) HTML5
7 4 (7.69%) Laravel
8 3 (5.77%) .NET Framework
8 3 (5.77%) Node.js
9 2 (3.85%) jQuery
9 2 (3.85%) JSON
9 2 (3.85%) Kafka
9 2 (3.85%) Vue
10 1 (1.92%) GraphQL
10 1 (1.92%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 5 (9.62%) Product Ownership
2 3 (5.77%) Client/Server
2 3 (5.77%) Distributed Systems
2 3 (5.77%) Greenfield Project
2 3 (5.77%) Mobile App
3 2 (3.85%) Marketing Technology
4 1 (1.92%) Cloud Native
4 1 (1.92%) Data Structures
Operating Systems
1 3 (5.77%) Linux
1 3 (5.77%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 16 (30.77%) Agile
2 15 (28.85%) Mentoring
3 13 (25.00%) Problem-Solving
4 12 (23.08%) Continuous Improvement
5 11 (21.15%) Full-Stack Development
6 9 (17.31%) DevOps
7 8 (15.38%) AI
7 8 (15.38%) Cybersecurity
7 8 (15.38%) Decision-Making
7 8 (15.38%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 8 (15.38%) Unit Testing
8 7 (13.46%) Business Strategy
8 7 (13.46%) Code Quality
9 6 (11.54%) CI/CD
9 6 (11.54%) Front End Development
9 6 (11.54%) Software Engineering
10 5 (9.62%) CRM
10 5 (9.62%) Microservices
10 5 (9.62%) Secure Coding
10 5 (9.62%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 19 (36.54%) C#
1 19 (36.54%) JavaScript
2 15 (28.85%) SQL
3 12 (23.08%) Python
4 8 (15.38%) TypeScript
5 7 (13.46%) Java
5 7 (13.46%) PHP
6 2 (3.85%) Go
7 1 (1.92%) Shell Script
7 1 (1.92%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 8 (15.38%) AWS Certification
1 8 (15.38%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
1 8 (15.38%) Azure Certification
1 8 (15.38%) Microsoft Certification
2 3 (5.77%) Degree
3 1 (1.92%) BPSS Clearance
3 1 (1.92%) DV Cleared
3 1 (1.92%) Security Cleared
System Software
1 4 (7.69%) Docker
Vendors
1 23 (44.23%) Microsoft
2 1 (1.92%) Atlassian
2 1 (1.92%) HubSpot
2 1 (1.92%) Oracle
2 1 (1.92%) SAP