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 January 2026.

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

6 months to
20 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 94 144 107
Rank change year-on-year +50 -37 +48
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Developer 98 62 105
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 1.50% 1.23% 2.11%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.74% 1.34% 2.21%
Number of salaries quoted 89 57 95
10th Percentile - £35,750 £35,500
25th Percentile £28,250 £41,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £55,000 £55,000 £66,250
90th Percentile £75,000 £74,250 £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 5,622 4,625 4,741
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 86.12% 91.77% 95.09%
Number of salaries quoted 3,146 2,436 3,774
10th Percentile £28,250 £32,500 £28,000
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% +4.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £67,500 £66,250 £66,778
90th Percentile £81,250 £79,800 £80,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -8.00%

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 January 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 January 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
Cheshire +8 41 £50,000 - 10
Manchester +34 40 £50,000 -4.53% 14
Merseyside +2 15 £30,500 -56.43% 5
Lancashire +8 1 £100,000 +90.48% 10
Cumbria +1 1 - -
Software Developer
England

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

For the 6 months to 20 January 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 68 (69.39%) Azure
2 49 (50.00%) Microsoft
3 47 (47.96%) .NET
4 45 (45.92%) C#
5 35 (35.71%) ASP.NET
6 31 (31.63%) .NET Core
6 31 (31.63%) JavaScript
6 31 (31.63%) SQL Server
7 30 (30.61%) Agile
8 29 (29.59%) CSS
8 29 (29.59%) HTML
9 28 (28.57%) SQL
10 26 (26.53%) Git
11 25 (25.51%) Mentoring
12 24 (24.49%) AWS
12 24 (24.49%) Python
13 22 (22.45%) AWS Certification
13 22 (22.45%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
13 22 (22.45%) Azure Certification
13 22 (22.45%) Cybersecurity
13 22 (22.45%) GitHub
13 22 (22.45%) Internet
13 22 (22.45%) Microsoft Certification
14 19 (19.39%) .NET Framework
14 19 (19.39%) RAD
15 12 (12.24%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 10 (10.20%) DevOps
16 10 (10.20%) Software Engineering
17 9 (9.18%) React
17 9 (9.18%) TypeScript

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 (3.06%) Camunda
1 3 (3.06%) nginx
2 1 (1.02%) Apache
Cloud Services
1 68 (69.39%) Azure
2 24 (24.49%) AWS
3 22 (22.45%) GitHub
4 1 (1.02%) Azure DevOps
4 1 (1.02%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 22 (22.45%) Internet
2 1 (1.02%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (31.63%) SQL Server
2 4 (4.08%) MySQL
3 1 (1.02%) MongoDB
3 1 (1.02%) PostgreSQL
3 1 (1.02%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 26 (26.53%) Git
2 5 (5.10%) GitLab
2 5 (5.10%) Jenkins
3 4 (4.08%) Bitbucket
3 4 (4.08%) SonarQube
3 4 (4.08%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 22 (22.45%) Multimedia
2 9 (9.18%) Social Skills
3 6 (6.12%) Analytical Skills
4 3 (3.06%) Electronics
4 3 (3.06%) Finance
5 2 (2.04%) Marketing
6 1 (1.02%) Manufacturing
6 1 (1.02%) Public Sector
6 1 (1.02%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 47 (47.96%) .NET
2 35 (35.71%) ASP.NET
3 31 (31.63%) .NET Core
4 29 (29.59%) CSS
4 29 (29.59%) HTML
5 19 (19.39%) .NET Framework
6 9 (9.18%) React
7 6 (6.12%) REST
8 5 (5.10%) RESTful
9 4 (4.08%) ASP.NET Core
9 4 (4.08%) CSS3
9 4 (4.08%) HTML5
10 3 (3.06%) Node.js
11 2 (2.04%) jQuery
11 2 (2.04%) Kafka
11 2 (2.04%) Laravel
12 1 (1.02%) CodeIgniter
12 1 (1.02%) LAMP
12 1 (1.02%) RabbitMQ
12 1 (1.02%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 5 (5.10%) Greenfield Project
2 2 (2.04%) Product Ownership
3 1 (1.02%) Cloud Native
Operating Systems
1 2 (2.04%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 30 (30.61%) Agile
2 25 (25.51%) Mentoring
3 22 (22.45%) Cybersecurity
4 19 (19.39%) RAD
5 12 (12.24%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 10 (10.20%) DevOps
6 10 (10.20%) Software Engineering
7 8 (8.16%) CI/CD
7 8 (8.16%) Collaborative Culture
7 8 (8.16%) Full-Stack Development
7 8 (8.16%) Problem-Solving
8 7 (7.14%) Fintech
9 6 (6.12%) AI
10 5 (5.10%) Continuous Improvement
10 5 (5.10%) User Experience
11 4 (4.08%) Decision-Making
11 4 (4.08%) Line Management
11 4 (4.08%) Responsive Web Design
11 4 (4.08%) Secure Coding
11 4 (4.08%) Strategic Thinking
Programming Languages
1 45 (45.92%) C#
2 31 (31.63%) JavaScript
3 28 (28.57%) SQL
4 24 (24.49%) Python
5 9 (9.18%) TypeScript
6 7 (7.14%) Java
7 5 (5.10%) PHP
8 2 (2.04%) Go
9 1 (1.02%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 22 (22.45%) AWS Certification
1 22 (22.45%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
1 22 (22.45%) Azure Certification
1 22 (22.45%) Microsoft Certification
2 7 (7.14%) Degree
3 1 (1.02%) BPSS Clearance
3 1 (1.02%) DV Cleared
3 1 (1.02%) Security Cleared
System Software
1 3 (3.06%) Docker
Vendors
1 49 (50.00%) Microsoft
2 2 (2.04%) HubSpot
3 1 (1.02%) Adobe
3 1 (1.02%) Atlassian
3 1 (1.02%) Oracle
3 1 (1.02%) SAP