SQL Job Trends in the North West

SQL (Structured Query Language)
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the North West requiring SQL skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 18 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 33 11 9
Rank change year-on-year -22 -2 -3
Permanent jobs citing SQL 348 497 873
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 4.71% 10.90% 13.10%
As % of the Programming Languages category 36.71% 37.57% 37.78%
Number of salaries quoted 265 259 760
10th Percentile £35,000 £31,250 £32,500
25th Percentile £41,000 £37,625 £40,831
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% - 0.00%
75th Percentile £65,000 £62,500 £68,750
90th Percentile £78,250 £77,500 £85,000
England median annual salary £57,500 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year -4.17% +4.35% -4.17%

All Programming Languages
North West

SQL falls under the Programming Languages category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring coding skills in the North West.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for coding skills 948 1,323 2,311
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 12.84% 29.03% 34.69%
Number of salaries quoted 788 781 1,979
10th Percentile £33,125 £35,802 £33,950
25th Percentile £45,000 £45,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% +4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £72,500 £72,500 £68,750
90th Percentile £86,450 £87,500 £82,500
England median annual salary £62,500 £65,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -3.85% +8.33% -7.69%

SQL
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing SQL relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the North West.

SQL job vacancy trend in the North West

SQL
Salary Trend in the North West

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing SQL.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing SQL

SQL
Salary Histogram in the North West

Salary distribution for jobs citing SQL in the North West over the 6 months to 18 February 2026.

Salary histogram for SQL in the North West

SQL
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 SQL within the North West region over the 6 months to 18 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 -18 196 £57,500 +4.55% 143
Cheshire -21 55 £55,000 +10.00% 21
Merseyside -8 53 £48,000 +47.69% 26
Lancashire +7 42 £40,000 -21.99% 72
SQL
England

SQL
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 11 (3.16%) Apache Airflow
2 4 (1.15%) Apache Spark
2 4 (1.15%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.57%) Apache
3 2 (0.57%) FactoryTalk
3 2 (0.57%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.57%) WinCC
4 1 (0.29%) CMS
4 1 (0.29%) Confluence
4 1 (0.29%) IIS
4 1 (0.29%) JBoss
4 1 (0.29%) Jupyter
4 1 (0.29%) LiveLink
4 1 (0.29%) SAS
Applications
1 95 (27.30%) Microsoft Excel
2 9 (2.59%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (1.72%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.29%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 9 (2.59%) SAP Business One
2 6 (1.72%) NEC Housing
3 2 (0.57%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.57%) Magento
3 2 (0.57%) Oracle Applications
3 2 (0.57%) Payment Gateway
4 1 (0.29%) Advent Geneva
4 1 (0.29%) Dynamics AX
4 1 (0.29%) NetSuite
4 1 (0.29%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 134 (38.51%) Azure
2 107 (30.75%) Power Platform
3 56 (16.09%) AWS
4 42 (12.07%) Azure AI
5 23 (6.61%) GCP
6 16 (4.60%) Microsoft 365
7 13 (3.74%) Snowflake
8 12 (3.45%) SaaS
9 11 (3.16%) Azure AKS
10 9 (2.59%) Azure Data Factory
11 8 (2.30%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 8 (2.30%) Power Automate
11 8 (2.30%) PowerApps
12 7 (2.01%) Cloud Computing
12 7 (2.01%) Entra ID
12 7 (2.01%) Serverless
13 5 (1.44%) AWS Lambda
13 5 (1.44%) Azure DevOps
14 4 (1.15%) Amazon EKS
14 4 (1.15%) dbt
Communications & Networking
1 6 (1.72%) Firewall
2 2 (0.57%) Ethernet
3 1 (0.29%) DHCP
3 1 (0.29%) DMZ
3 1 (0.29%) DNS
3 1 (0.29%) HTTP
3 1 (0.29%) Network Security
3 1 (0.29%) SD-WAN
3 1 (0.29%) TCAP
3 1 (0.29%) TCP/IP
3 1 (0.29%) VLAN
3 1 (0.29%) VPN
3 1 (0.29%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 106 (30.46%) Power BI
2 89 (25.57%) Tableau
3 57 (16.38%) SQL Server
4 36 (10.34%) NoSQL
5 34 (9.77%) Data Mining
6 24 (6.90%) Data Warehouse
7 18 (5.17%) MySQL
8 17 (4.89%) Relational Database
9 16 (4.60%) Data Lake
10 15 (4.31%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 14 (4.02%) MongoDB
12 11 (3.16%) Azure SQL Database
12 11 (3.16%) PostgreSQL
13 10 (2.87%) BigQuery
14 9 (2.59%) Crystal Reports
15 8 (2.30%) Amazon Redshift
15 8 (2.30%) SQL Server Integration Services
16 6 (1.72%) Semantic Layer
16 6 (1.72%) SQL Server Analysis Services
17 5 (1.44%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 11 (3.16%) Git
2 8 (2.30%) GitLab
3 3 (0.86%) Bitbucket
3 3 (0.86%) JIRA
4 2 (0.57%) Claude Code
4 2 (0.57%) Oracle Forms
5 1 (0.29%) Cucumber
5 1 (0.29%) NUnit
5 1 (0.29%) Postman
5 1 (0.29%) Selenium
5 1 (0.29%) SoapUI
5 1 (0.29%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 121 (34.77%) Social Skills
2 88 (25.29%) Finance
3 83 (23.85%) Analytical Skills
4 14 (4.02%) Marketing
5 13 (3.74%) Public Sector
6 12 (3.45%) Law
7 10 (2.87%) Retail
8 8 (2.30%) Banking
9 7 (2.01%) Legal
9 7 (2.01%) Manufacturing
10 5 (1.44%) Advertising
11 4 (1.15%) Games
11 4 (1.15%) Investment Banking
11 4 (1.15%) Organisational Skills
11 4 (1.15%) Presentation Skills
12 3 (0.86%) Documentation Skills
12 3 (0.86%) French Language
12 3 (0.86%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 3 (0.86%) Italian Language
12 3 (0.86%) Portuguese Language
Job Titles
1 127 (36.49%) Analyst
2 91 (26.15%) Data Analyst
3 72 (20.69%) Senior
4 71 (20.40%) Developer
5 47 (13.51%) Data Engineer
6 42 (12.07%) Junior
7 41 (11.78%) Junior Analyst
7 41 (11.78%) Junior Data Analyst
8 31 (8.91%) Trainee
8 31 (8.91%) Trainee Analyst
8 31 (8.91%) Trainee Data Analyst
9 29 (8.33%) Software Developer
10 28 (8.05%) Software Engineer
11 21 (6.03%) Senior Data Engineer
12 20 (5.75%) Lead
13 18 (5.17%) Senior Developer
14 17 (4.89%) Senior Analyst
15 14 (4.02%) Support Engineer
16 13 (3.74%) SQL Developer
17 12 (3.45%) .NET Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (15.23%) .NET
2 32 (9.20%) .NET Framework
3 27 (7.76%) .NET Core
4 23 (6.61%) RESTful
5 22 (6.32%) ASP.NET
6 15 (4.31%) CSS
6 15 (4.31%) HTML
7 14 (4.02%) React
8 10 (2.87%) JSON
8 10 (2.87%) REST
9 8 (2.30%) Vue
10 6 (1.72%) Web Services
10 6 (1.72%) XML
11 5 (1.44%) Celery
11 5 (1.44%) Django
11 5 (1.44%) FastAPI
11 5 (1.44%) Flask
11 5 (1.44%) Kafka
11 5 (1.44%) Node.js
11 5 (1.44%) PySpark
Miscellaneous
1 29 (8.33%) Cloud Native
2 18 (5.17%) Analytical Mindset
3 11 (3.16%) Self-Motivation
4 9 (2.59%) Distributed Computing
4 9 (2.59%) Distributed Systems
5 8 (2.30%) Greenfield Project
5 8 (2.30%) Onboarding
6 7 (2.01%) Product Ownership
7 6 (1.72%) Legacy Systems
8 5 (1.44%) Public Cloud
9 4 (1.15%) Data Protection Act
9 4 (1.15%) Data Structures
9 4 (1.15%) Driving Licence
9 4 (1.15%) Legacy Applications
9 4 (1.15%) Low-Code
10 3 (0.86%) Algorithms
10 3 (0.86%) Management Information System
10 3 (0.86%) Operational Technology
10 3 (0.86%) Replication
10 3 (0.86%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 17 (4.89%) Windows
2 7 (2.01%) Mac OS
2 7 (2.01%) Windows 10
3 6 (1.72%) Windows Server
4 5 (1.44%) Linux
5 4 (1.15%) Android
6 3 (0.86%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 114 (32.76%) Business Intelligence
2 74 (21.26%) Agile
3 71 (20.40%) Problem-Solving
4 70 (20.11%) Analytics
5 67 (19.25%) AI
6 54 (15.52%) Data Analysis
7 47 (13.51%) Software Engineering
8 44 (12.64%) Data Analytics
9 42 (12.07%) CI/CD
9 42 (12.07%) Project Management
10 37 (10.63%) Decision-Making
10 37 (10.63%) ETL
11 36 (10.34%) Data Modelling
11 36 (10.34%) Data Science
12 34 (9.77%) Data Pipeline
13 33 (9.48%) Mentoring
14 31 (8.91%) Business Analysis
15 30 (8.62%) Data Engineering
15 30 (8.62%) DevOps
16 26 (7.47%) Visualisation
Programming Languages
1 140 (40.23%) Python
2 51 (14.66%) C#
3 26 (7.47%) Java
4 19 (5.46%) JavaScript
5 11 (3.16%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 10 (2.87%) PL/SQL
7 9 (2.59%) PowerShell
7 9 (2.59%) T-SQL
8 8 (2.30%) TypeScript
9 7 (2.01%) Go
9 7 (2.01%) VBScript
10 6 (1.72%) PHP
11 5 (1.44%) ANSI SQL
11 5 (1.44%) Bash
12 4 (1.15%) R
13 3 (0.86%) Scala
13 3 (0.86%) VBA
14 1 (0.29%) MATLAB
14 1 (0.29%) VB
14 1 (0.29%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 43 (12.36%) Azure Certification
2 40 (11.49%) Degree
3 10 (2.87%) Security Cleared
4 8 (2.30%) SC Cleared
5 7 (2.01%) Computer Science Degree
5 7 (2.01%) DBS Check
5 7 (2.01%) Master's Degree
6 2 (0.57%) DV Cleared
6 2 (0.57%) Numerate Degree
6 2 (0.57%) Six Sigma Green Belt
7 1 (0.29%) BPSS Clearance
7 1 (0.29%) HNC
7 1 (0.29%) HND
7 1 (0.29%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 1 (0.29%) MBA
7 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Certification
7 1 (0.29%) PhD
7 1 (0.29%) Postgraduate
7 1 (0.29%) Tableau Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (5.17%) Data Quality
2 6 (1.72%) QA
3 5 (1.44%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 3 (0.86%) HL7
5 2 (0.57%) Accessibility
5 2 (0.57%) Actionable Recommendations
5 2 (0.57%) Disclosure Scotland
6 1 (0.29%) GDPR
6 1 (0.29%) PCI DSS
6 1 (0.29%) SLA
System Software
1 20 (5.75%) Docker
2 12 (3.45%) Active Directory
3 9 (2.59%) Virtual Machines
4 8 (2.30%) VMware Infrastructure
5 5 (1.44%) Hyper-V
6 2 (0.57%) Virtual Desktop
6 2 (0.57%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.29%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 26 (7.47%) Kubernetes
2 8 (2.30%) Microsoft Intune
3 6 (1.72%) Terraform
4 4 (1.15%) SCCM
5 3 (0.86%) Ansible
5 3 (0.86%) Rancher
6 2 (0.57%) AssetCenter
6 2 (0.57%) BMC PATROL
6 2 (0.57%) FortiGate
7 1 (0.29%) Grafana
7 1 (0.29%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 133 (38.22%) Microsoft
2 20 (5.75%) Databricks
3 14 (4.02%) Google
3 14 (4.02%) Oracle
4 11 (3.16%) VMware
5 10 (2.87%) SAP
6 8 (2.30%) HubSpot
7 7 (2.01%) Northgate
7 7 (2.01%) Salesforce
7 7 (2.01%) Veeam
8 5 (1.44%) ServiceNow
9 4 (1.15%) Cisco
10 3 (0.86%) Aderant
10 3 (0.86%) Alteryx
10 3 (0.86%) Salesforce Marketing Cloud
11 2 (0.57%) Cognos
11 2 (0.57%) Dell
11 2 (0.57%) Freshdesk
11 2 (0.57%) Kepware
11 2 (0.57%) Rockwell