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Contractor rates, from live listings
Median and quartile pay by sector, computed directly from the listings currently advertised on the ContractorUK jobs board: not surveys, not estimates. Day rates, hourly rates and salaries are benchmarked separately, so every comparison is like for like. Refreshed throughout the day.
£215
UK median day rate
£110 – £400
Middle 50% of day rates
6,046
Live day-rate listings
37%
Outside IR35 (where stated)
Day rates £/day
Contract listings advertised at a day (or weekly) rate: the headline contractor benchmark. Figures are the advertised day rate of each live listing, midpoint where a range is given.
| Sector | Median | 25th percentile | 75th percentile | Listings | Outside IR35 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All sectors (UK) | £215 | £110 | £400 | 6,046 | 37% |
| Education & Training | £111 | £103 | £180 | 3,003 | 9% |
| Construction & Property | £325 | £260 | £400 | 1,220 | 68% |
| IT & Technology | £525 | £430 | £625 | 730 | 28% |
| Engineering | £401 | £325 | £500 | 532 | 45% |
| Business Support & Other | £375 | £255 | £525 | 193 | 37% |
| Public Sector & Defence | £503 | £375 | £610 | 144 | 11% |
| Finance & Accounting | £500 | £400 | £650 | 110 | 10% |
| Healthcare & Care | £380 | £263 | £513 | 60 | 63% |
| Logistics & Transport small sample | £185 | £159 | £221 | 22 | 0% |
| Marketing & Creative small sample | £243 | £202 | £400 | 16 | 50% |
| Manufacturing & Industrial small sample | £478 | £330 | £584 | 12 | 26% |
| Legal small sample | £531 | £285 | £775 | 4 | 0% |
“Outside IR35” is the share of listings advertising an outside-IR35 status among those in the sector that state one (whatever they pay by). Sectors with fewer than 50 listings on this pay basis are marked “small sample”.
Hourly rates £/hour, base rate
Listings advertised by the hour, compared on their base rate. Where the top of an advertised range is at least 1.8× the bottom, we treat it as an overtime or shift-premium rate and compare on the base figure. Otherwise we use the midpoint.
| Sector | Median | 25th percentile | 75th percentile | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All sectors (UK) | £22.50 | £16.50 | £30 | 5,131 |
| Construction & Property | £22 | £18 | £26.50 | 1,366 |
| Engineering | £30 | £22.29 | £43.13 | 1,084 |
| Education & Training | £22.50 | £15.28 | £27.50 | 792 |
| Business Support & Other | £15.81 | £13.50 | £20 | 477 |
| Public Sector & Defence | £32.50 | £22.56 | £52.46 | 340 |
| Healthcare & Care | £24 | £16.38 | £36.50 | 332 |
| Logistics & Transport | £16.54 | £13.61 | £19.50 | 307 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | £15.01 | £13.48 | £19.75 | 245 |
| IT & Technology | £55 | £23 | £72 | 112 |
| Finance & Accounting small sample | £22.50 | £17 | £30.50 | 47 |
| Legal small sample | £40 | £27.91 | £50 | 15 |
| Marketing & Creative small sample | £19 | £17.60 | £30.63 | 14 |
Base rates only: enhanced and overtime top rates never enter the benchmark. Hourly pay is common in healthcare, driving and industrial shift work, with different market dynamics from daily-rate contracting.
Salaried listings £/year
Fixed-term and permanent-style roles advertised with an annual salary. Employment economics are different (paid holiday, employer pension, PAYE), so these are benchmarked only against each other and never against contractor day rates.
| Sector | Median | 25th percentile | 75th percentile | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All sectors (UK) | £40,000 | £31,000 | £50,000 | 1,381 |
| Business Support & Other | £37,500 | £30,000 | £52,500 | 361 |
| Education & Training | £43,444 | £37,132 | £47,930 | 335 |
| Finance & Accounting | £38,169 | £31,500 | £54,000 | 155 |
| Construction & Property | £41,499 | £32,936 | £55,000 | 121 |
| Engineering | £42,000 | £27,865 | £50,000 | 103 |
| Healthcare & Care | £34,868 | £27,500 | £46,738 | 74 |
| Public Sector & Defence | £36,474 | £30,359 | £44,088 | 63 |
| IT & Technology | £50,000 | £37,500 | £62,831 | 60 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial small sample | £38,000 | £32,000 | £51,500 | 34 |
| Logistics & Transport small sample | £35,520 | £29,000 | £44,000 | 31 |
| Marketing & Creative small sample | £35,000 | £32,125 | £48,000 | 26 |
| Legal small sample | £38,777 | £32,750 | £59,507 | 18 |
Advertised annual salaries (midpoint where a range is given). These roles appear on the board alongside contracts but are employment, not contracting, so treat the figures accordingly.
Day rates by role
Median advertised day rates for the roles the board carries real inventory in, computed the same way as the sector figures above. Each links to the full role page: quartiles, regional rates and the IR35 mix.
| Role | Median | Listings |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching Assistant | £103 | 1,341 |
| Supply Teacher | £190 | 1,040 |
| Site Manager | £310 | 224 |
| Site Engineer | £350 | 207 |
| Project Manager | £450 | 166 |
| Quantity Surveyor | £450 | 102 |
| Cover Supervisor | £120 | 99 |
| Interim | £450 | 97 |
| Electrician | £260 | 89 |
| Behaviour Mentor | £110 | 75 |
| Security Cleared | £544 | 60 |
| Site Agent | £425 | 55 |
| Nursery Practitioner | £103 | 51 |
| Foreman | £325 | 45 |
| Site Supervisor | £300 | 43 |
| Business Analyst | £500 | 34 |
| Design Engineer | £425 | 31 |
| Design Manager | £450 | 30 |
| Data Engineer | £525 | 29 |
| DevOps Engineer | £575 | 29 |
| Support Worker | £103 | 29 |
| Project Engineer | £400 | 29 |
| Solutions Architect | £663 | 27 |
| Carpenter | £235 | 27 |
| Gas Engineer | £275 | 27 |
| Commercial Manager | £525 | 25 |
| Commissioning Engineer | £475 | 25 |
| Plumber | £225 | 24 |
| Construction Manager | £388 | 24 |
| Accountant | £395 | 24 |
| Java Developer | £525 | 23 |
| Programme Manager | £650 | 23 |
| Building Surveyor | £450 | 23 |
| Administrator | £133 | 23 |
| Cyber Security | £550 | 22 |
| Fitter | £230 | 22 |
| Painter and Decorator | £170 | 20 |
What contractors actually earn
These figures reflect what recruiters are advertising right now.
Updated 23 October 2026, 00:52.