How this data is collected

Every figure on this site comes from a recorded evidence entry: a page URL, its publisher, its publication date, the exact text that holds the figure, and the date a verifier opened the page.

Collection and verification

1. Collectors record candidate observations per country from statutory sources, salary and rate surveys, job boards, freelance platforms and vendor rate cards, in that priority.
2. A verifier opens each URL, confirms the quoted figure is on the page, and accepts or rejects the entry with a reason.
3. Freshness limits: 18 months for rates and salaries, 24 months for overhead rates, the current quarter for FX.
4. The outlier rule excludes observations above 2.5 times or below 0.4 times the running median (the middle value of the observations so far) of a combination.

Computation and thresholds

Weighted percentiles give p25 and p75 (the bounds of the middle half of the observations) and the median; a published rate, salary or overhead record needs at least 2 independent sources; engagement model pages also list figures with 1 source, marked single-source. Withheld routes and their reasons are listed on the not-published page.

Worked example from published records

Median: the middle value of the weighted observations; p25 and p75: the bounds of their middle half.

• Lead / Principal QA Lead, United Kingdom, Hourly (time and materials): median $108 per hour (p25 $95, p75 $116), A: high confidence, n=5; at 160 hours per month: $17,280 per month.

Sources for this example

1. job-board IT Jobs Watch. Test Leader Contract Job Trends, Contractor Rates & Skill Sets | IT Jobs Watch. Published 2026-10-18, verified 2026-10-18. ev-rate-united-kingdom-008
2. vendor-rate-card Vendor rate card (delivery country: United Kingdom); vendor name and link are published only in the evidence file. Published 2026-01-26, verified 2026-10-18. ev-rate-united-kingdom-011
3. vendor-rate-card Vendor rate card (delivery country: United Kingdom); vendor name and link are published only in the evidence file. Published 2026-01-01, verified 2026-10-18. ev-rate-united-kingdom-020
4. vendor-rate-card Vendor rate card (delivery country: United Kingdom); vendor name and link are published only in the evidence file. Published 2026-01-01, verified 2026-10-18. ev-rate-united-kingdom-025
5. vendor-rate-card Vendor rate card (delivery country: United Kingdom); vendor name and link are published only in the evidence file. Published 2026-01-19, verified 2026-10-18. ev-rate-united-kingdom-031
6. fx European Central Bank. ECB euro foreign exchange reference rates (SDMX EXR). Published 2026-10-16, verified 2026-10-18. ev-fx-2026-q4-gbp