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 2 March 2026.

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

6 months to
2 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 91 145 114
Rank change year-on-year +54 -31 +66
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Developer 115 51 139
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 1.49% 1.20% 1.93%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.71% 1.33% 2.04%
Number of salaries quoted 108 46 129
10th Percentile £28,250 £36,625 £36,250
25th Percentile £45,000 £41,563 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £61,250 £55,000 £62,500
90th Percentile £68,625 £66,875 £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 6,725 3,849 6,829
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 87.22% 90.50% 94.89%
Number of salaries quoted 4,025 2,143 5,600
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,750 £27,000
25th Percentile £36,250 £40,620 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -7.41%
75th Percentile £69,000 £67,500 £65,050
90th Percentile £83,750 £82,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -9.97%

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 2 March 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 2 March 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 +33 50 £62,500 +24.38% 15
Cheshire -3 46 £50,000 - 12
Merseyside +3 16 £30,500 -35.11% 2
Lancashire -5 2 £77,500 +47.62% 6
Cumbria -8 1 - -
Software Developer
England

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

For the 6 months to 2 March 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 66 (57.39%) Azure
2 52 (45.22%) .NET
3 47 (40.87%) Microsoft
4 46 (40.00%) C#
5 35 (30.43%) ASP.NET
6 31 (26.96%) .NET Core
6 31 (26.96%) SQL Server
7 30 (26.09%) Agile
8 29 (25.22%) JavaScript
9 28 (24.35%) SQL
10 27 (23.48%) CSS
10 27 (23.48%) HTML
11 26 (22.61%) Mentoring
12 24 (20.87%) AWS
12 24 (20.87%) Git
13 23 (20.00%) Python
13 23 (20.00%) Software Engineering
14 20 (17.39%) AWS Certification
14 20 (17.39%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
14 20 (17.39%) Azure Certification
14 20 (17.39%) Cybersecurity
14 20 (17.39%) GitHub
14 20 (17.39%) Internet
14 20 (17.39%) Microsoft Certification
15 18 (15.65%) .NET Framework
15 18 (15.65%) RAD
16 14 (12.17%) Full-Stack Development
17 12 (10.43%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 11 (9.57%) CI/CD
18 11 (9.57%) Fintech

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 2 (1.74%) nginx
2 1 (0.87%) Apache
2 1 (0.87%) IIS
Cloud Services
1 66 (57.39%) Azure
2 24 (20.87%) AWS
3 20 (17.39%) GitHub
4 2 (1.74%) GCP
5 1 (0.87%) Azure DevOps
5 1 (0.87%) Cloud Run
5 1 (0.87%) Firebase
5 1 (0.87%) SaaS
5 1 (0.87%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 20 (17.39%) Internet
2 1 (0.87%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (26.96%) SQL Server
2 3 (2.61%) MySQL
3 2 (1.74%) PostgreSQL
3 2 (1.74%) Relational Database
4 1 (0.87%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 24 (20.87%) Git
2 1 (0.87%) GitLab
2 1 (0.87%) Jenkins
General
1 20 (17.39%) Multimedia
2 10 (8.70%) Finance
3 5 (4.35%) Social Skills
4 3 (2.61%) Electronics
5 2 (1.74%) Marketing
6 1 (0.87%) Analytical Skills
6 1 (0.87%) Manufacturing
6 1 (0.87%) Public Sector
6 1 (0.87%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 52 (45.22%) .NET
2 35 (30.43%) ASP.NET
3 31 (26.96%) .NET Core
4 27 (23.48%) CSS
4 27 (23.48%) HTML
5 18 (15.65%) .NET Framework
6 9 (7.83%) React
7 6 (5.22%) RESTful
8 4 (3.48%) ASP.NET Core
8 4 (3.48%) CSS3
8 4 (3.48%) HTML5
9 3 (2.61%) Node.js
10 2 (1.74%) FastAPI
10 2 (1.74%) Kafka
10 2 (1.74%) REST
10 2 (1.74%) Spring
10 2 (1.74%) Spring Boot
11 1 (0.87%) JSON
11 1 (0.87%) RabbitMQ
11 1 (0.87%) Sass
Miscellaneous
1 4 (3.48%) Greenfield Project
2 2 (1.74%) Cloud Native
2 2 (1.74%) Product Ownership
3 1 (0.87%) Legacy Systems
3 1 (0.87%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 2 (1.74%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 30 (26.09%) Agile
2 26 (22.61%) Mentoring
3 23 (20.00%) Software Engineering
4 20 (17.39%) Cybersecurity
5 18 (15.65%) RAD
6 14 (12.17%) Full-Stack Development
7 12 (10.43%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 11 (9.57%) CI/CD
8 11 (9.57%) Fintech
9 8 (6.96%) Collaborative Culture
9 8 (6.96%) DevOps
10 6 (5.22%) AI
10 6 (5.22%) Open Source
11 5 (4.35%) User Experience
12 4 (3.48%) Clean Code
12 4 (3.48%) Digital Innovation
12 4 (3.48%) Line Management
12 4 (3.48%) Problem-Solving
12 4 (3.48%) Responsive Web Design
13 3 (2.61%) Software Testing
Programming Languages
1 46 (40.00%) C#
2 29 (25.22%) JavaScript
3 28 (24.35%) SQL
4 23 (20.00%) Python
5 10 (8.70%) Java
5 10 (8.70%) TypeScript
6 4 (3.48%) PHP
7 2 (1.74%) Go
8 1 (0.87%) Shell Script
8 1 (0.87%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 20 (17.39%) AWS Certification
1 20 (17.39%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
1 20 (17.39%) Azure Certification
1 20 (17.39%) Microsoft Certification
2 6 (5.22%) Degree
3 1 (0.87%) BPSS Clearance
3 1 (0.87%) DV Cleared
3 1 (0.87%) Security Cleared
System Software
1 4 (3.48%) Docker
Systems Management
1 2 (1.74%) Terraform
2 1 (0.87%) Kubernetes
Vendors
1 47 (40.87%) Microsoft
2 2 (1.74%) HubSpot
3 1 (0.87%) Adobe
3 1 (0.87%) Atlassian
3 1 (0.87%) Google
3 1 (0.87%) Oracle
3 1 (0.87%) SAP