Developer Contract Job Trends in Cheshire
Developer
North West > Cheshire
The median Developer daily rate in Cheshire is £513, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 16 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 35 | 21 | 16 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -14 | -5 | +16 |
| Contract jobs requiring a Developer | 43 | 67 | 55 |
| As % of all contract jobs in Cheshire | 5.56% | 9.68% | 10.28% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 6.21% | 10.84% | 11.00% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 26 | 59 | 39 |
| 10th Percentile | £267 | £315 | £308 |
| 25th Percentile | £409 | £350 | £321 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £513 | £375 | £372 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +36.67% | +0.81% | -22.70% |
| 75th Percentile | £550 | £448 | £469 |
| 90th Percentile | - | £488 | £548 |
| North West median daily rate | £492 | £420 | £438 |
| % change year-on-year | +17.20% | -4.00% | -10.26% |
All Contract IT Job Roles
Cheshire
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Cheshire. 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 contract jobs in our overall sample.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies in Cheshire with a recognized job title | 692 | 618 | 500 |
| % of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title | 89.52% | 89.31% | 93.46% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 377 | 469 | 289 |
| 10th Percentile | £248 | £275 | £312 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £358 | £375 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £473 | £447 | £463 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.70% | -3.35% | -6.57% |
| 75th Percentile | £573 | £538 | £567 |
| 90th Percentile | £623 | £688 | £645 |
| North West median daily rate | £500 | £450 | £475 |
| % change year-on-year | +11.11% | -5.26% | -5.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 76 | 34 | 26 |
| 10th Percentile | £15.93 | £12.82 | £13.49 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.25 | £15.50 | £15.36 |
| Median hourly rate | £41.07 | £25.15 | £23.05 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +63.28% | +9.13% | -24.54% |
| 75th Percentile | £85.00 | £36.06 | £35.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £111.25 | £67.25 | £43.75 |
| North West median hourly rate | £50.00 | £25.15 | £35.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +98.85% | -28.16% | +10.17% |
Developer Job Vacancy Trend in Cheshire
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Developer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Cheshire.
Developer Daily Rate Trend in Cheshire
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in Cheshire.
Developer Daily Rate Histogram in Cheshire
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Developer in Cheshire over the 6 months to 16 October 2026.
Developer Hourly Rate Trend in Cheshire
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in Cheshire.
Developer Contract Job Locations in Cheshire
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Developer within the Cheshire region over the 6 months to 16 October 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 Contract IT Job Ads |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | +17 | 24 | £550 | +15.79% | 9 |
| Knutsford | -15 | 12 | £445 | +18.73% | 3 |
| Winsford | - | 2 | £513 | - | |
| Warrington | -14 | 1 | - | - | 8 |
| Developer North West |
|||||
Developer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Cheshire
For the 6 months to 16 October 2026, Developer contract 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 contract job ads across the Cheshire region featuring Developer in the job title.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CI/CD | 37.2% | 16 |
| 2 | Observability | 32.6% | 14 |
| 3 | Incident Response | 30.2% | 13 |
| 3 | SQL | 30.2% | 13 |
| 5 | Git | 27.9% | 12 |
| 5 | Python | 27.9% | 12 |
| 7 | Agile | 25.6% | 11 |
| 7 | JSON | 25.6% | 11 |
| 9 | DevOps | 20.9% | 9 |
| 9 | GitLab | 20.9% | 9 |
| 9 | SQL Server | 20.9% | 9 |
| 12 | Java | 18.6% | 8 |
| 12 | Jenkins | 18.6% | 8 |
| 12 | Kafka | 18.6% | 8 |
| 12 | SD-WAN | 18.6% | 8 |
| 12 | Splunk | 18.6% | 8 |
| 12 | WAN | 18.6% | 8 |
| 12 | Wireless | 18.6% | 8 |
| 19 | Ansible | 16.3% | 7 |
| 19 | Confluence | 16.3% | 7 |
| 19 | JavaScript | 16.3% | 7 |
| 19 | Linux | 16.3% | 7 |
| 19 | REST | 16.3% | 7 |
| 24 | Clean Code | 14.0% | 6 |
| 24 | Django | 14.0% | 6 |
| 24 | Infrastructure as Code | 14.0% | 6 |
| 24 | Test Automation | 14.0% | 6 |
| 28 | AI | 11.6% | 5 |
| 28 | Claude Code | 11.6% | 5 |
| 28 | HTML | 11.6% | 5 |
Developer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Cheshire by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Automation Developer | 30.2% | 13 |
| 2 | Python Developer | 9.3% | 4 |
| 3 | Full-Stack Developer | 7.0% | 3 |
| 3 | SQL Developer | 7.0% | 3 |
| 5 | Java Developer | 4.7% | 2 |
| 5 | Senior Developer | 4.7% | 2 |
| 7 | Backend Developer | 2.3% | 1 |
| 7 | C# Developer | 2.3% | 1 |
| 7 | DevOps Developer | 2.3% | 1 |
| 7 | Lead Developer | 2.3% | 1 |
| 7 | React Developer | 2.3% | 1 |
| 7 | Senior Python Developer | 2.3% | 1 |
| 7 | ServiceNow Developer | 2.3% | 1 |
| 7 | SSRS Developer | 2.3% | 1 |