75+ Shocking Freelance Statistics That’ll Waste Your Thoughts (2021)

On the lookout for the most recent freelance statistics?

Whether or not you’re looking for information to again up a weblog put up, whitepaper, or gross sales letter, otherwise you’re simply curious concerning the state of freelancing in 2021, we’ve bought you lined.

Our complete listing of statistics will paint you a vivid image of at present’s gig financial system.

Learn on to study the most recent developments in freelancing.

Prepared?

Let’s dig in!

U.S. Freelance Statistics Sign Constant Progress

Freelance workforce statistics issued by Upwork present that the freelance financial system made up almost 5% of U.S. Gross Home Product, outpacing building, transportation, and mining.

Stunned?

You shouldn’t be!

Freelance jobs have turn out to be a respectable possibility for a major variety of U.S. employees.  And that pattern continues to develop.

However don’t take our phrase for it. Try these statistics taken from Upwork (and others as cited).

1. Fifty-nine million American employees freelanced previously 12 months.
2. That quantity interprets to 36% of the overall U.S. workforce.
3. Figures are up 8% from the earlier 12 months; that’s 2 million new self-employed employees!
4. American freelancers earned $1.2 trillion in annual payouts.
5. The bulk (51%) of freelancers say that no amount of cash would entice them to take a conventional job.
6. Freelance job postings rose by 41% in the course of the second quarter of 2020 due primarily to the worldwide pandemic.
7. In line with a CNBC article, freelancers performing expert companies earned extra per hour than 70% of employees within the general U.S. financial system.

Are you searching for extra encouraging causes to freelance? These statistics provide extra proof:

8. For instance, 63% of freelancers and 70% of expert freelancers state that the freelance job market has modified considerably in comparison with three years in the past.
9. Practically 77% of freelancers and 80% of expert freelancers consider know-how makes it simpler to search out freelance work.
10. One other 70% of freelancers and 77% of expert freelancers say perceptions of freelancing as a profession are extra favorable than in earlier years.
11. Roughly 66% of freelancers and 71% of expert freelancers famous a extra vital demand for freelancers.

More and more, employees need to work on their phrases.

And a few discover that working as an unbiased contractor or part-time solopreneur eases the transition to full-time gig work. Freelancing presents the pliability to do exactly that.

So, what’s the important thing takeaway right here?

The freelance workforce is alive and nicely in the USA, and progress on this area reveals no signal of slowing down.

Freelance Demographics

So, who’s freelancing in the USA?

Try these figures from Statistica.com.

12. Practically 60% of gig employees began freelancing by alternative.
13. One other 40% of freelancers carry out unbiased work out of necessity.
14. Freelancers generally present expert companies, with 45% providing programming, advertising, and consulting.
15.  GenZ employees (18-22) comprise 53% of the freelance workforce.
16. 40% of millennials (ages 23-38) freelance.
17. About 31% of Gen X (ages 39-54) employees are freelancers.
18. Working child boomers (55+), to the tune of 29%, are freelancers.
19. 59% determine as male freelancers, and 40% as feminine freelancers.
20. Greater than half of freelancers are youthful than 38.
21. The common age of freelancers is 40.

Training appears to play a job as nicely:

22. 35% of individuals with a highschool training (or much less) are freelancers.
23. About 35% of individuals with some faculty and an affiliate diploma freelance.
24. A stable third of these incomes a Bachelor’s diploma (33%) are freelancers.
25. Publish-grads are most definitely to freelance, with 41% of this group collaborating.

Not surprisingly, a key cause individuals freelance is flexibility:

26. An astounding 46% agree {that a} expert freelancer enjoys extra freedom than the standard employee.
27. A majority of freelancers (71%) agree that freelancing permits them to work wherever they select.
28. One other 43% cite well being points as the foundation explanation for their want for flexibility.
29. 1 in 5 freelancers has a well being concern that forestalls them from working for a conventional employer.
30. 40% of freelancers cite private circumstances as driving a necessity for flexibility.
31. Practically half (46%) of freelancers are caregivers versus 38% of U.S. employees general.
32. About 40% of freelancers have youngsters below 18 versus 35% of U.S. employees general.

What Do Freelancers Earn?

In relation to common pay (extra from LinkedIn) a talented freelancer can do nicely:

33. The median hourly fee amongst expert freelancers is $28.
34. Expert gig employees make extra per hour than 70% of employees general within the U.S.
35. Amongst freelancers general, the median hourly fee is $20.
36. Primarily based on information from payscale, the common freelance author earns $23.57/hour.

To know the earnings potential for distant employees, contemplate this analysis by CNBC displaying the common pay for:

37. Community and system administration: Common wage of $69/hour.
38. Search engine advertising: Common hourly wage of $66.
39. Product design: Common wage of $61/hour.
40. Cell improvement: Common hourly wage of $58.
41. Electronic mail and advertising automation: Common wage of $61/hour.

These in-demand and high-paying alternatives can command six-figure salaries. Particular segments of freelancers definitely have excessive earnings potential!

Normally, an unbiased skilled makes extra money than they did when historically employed. As you will notice, not all reported the identical expertise.

42. For instance, 60% of freelance professionals reported making extra money.
43. Alternatively, 30% did make much less whereas working as an unbiased gig employee.
44. A further 10% famous no distinction in pay.
45. Greater than half of freelancers make not less than as a lot as they did working for an employer inside the first six months of quitting a job to freelance.
46. 1 in 4 freelancers give up or left a job with an employer to freelance.

Freelancers receives a commission in numerous methods (usually working with a giant portfolio of purchasers).

47. Roughly 48% of freelancers obtain compensation on a set payment foundation.
48. One other 29% of gig employees generate pay hourly.
49. And about 23% of unbiased employees take pleasure in each mounted and hourly charges.

High Platforms to Discover Freelance Work

The expansion in freelancing job alternatives resulted in a surge of on-line job websites and marketplaces centered on freelance employment. These on-line platforms embody:

Upwork

Upwork is a well-liked job website for over 17 million customers within the freelancer trade, and right here’s why:

50. The skilled group earned over $2.3 billion on Upwork in 2020 throughout greater than 10,000 abilities.
51.  About 40% of purchasers employed expertise in a number of classes.
52. Roughly 50% of Fortune 500 corporations are Upwork purchasers.
53. 73% of job seekers have faculty levels, making this a sensible choice for expert freelancers.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the platform of alternative for a lot of professionals within the freelance trade.

54. Knowledgeable LinkedIn freelancers (powers customers) leverage their data to get higher outcomes than non-freelancers performing the identical job capabilities.
55. Freelancers obtained two instances as many suggestions.
56. Freelance professionals belong to 1.4 instances as many teams.
57. Freelancers obtain 1.3 instances as many endorsements.
58. A fast search of LinkedIn’s job postings utilizing ‘Freelance’ and ‘Worldwide’ generated over 55,000 outcomes.

FlexJobs

FlexJobs distinguishes itself from different platforms in that they’re a membership website that fees a weekly or month-to-month membership payment.

59. FlexJobs proclaims itself because the #1 website worldwide for locating distant, work-from-home versatile job alternatives since 2007.
60. The platform lists job alternatives spanning 50 classes in positions starting from entry-level to Govt in a number of profession fields.

Freelancer

Freelancer is an enormous, free-to-use crowdsourcing and freelancing market. Customers bid on jobs posted by employers positioned everywhere in the world.

61. This market connects over 53 million employers and international freelancers from over 247 international locations, areas, and territories.
62. Freelancer has grown by acquisition. They snatched up not less than 9 different market segments to create a very international supply for freelancers in various profession fields searching for gig work.

The Thrilling Way forward for Freelance

The present demand for gig employees is stable. However what does the long run appear like for freelancers?

63. Ever-increasing quantities of labor are sourced on-line, with 68% of expert freelancers saying the proportion of labor obtained on-line has elevated previously 12 months.
64. 66% of expert freelancers at the moment acquire tasks on-line.
65. Earlier purchasers provide spectacular new tasks that expert freelancers tackle, with 41% saying they discovered new work by these channels.
66. 67% of full-time freelancers agreed with the assertion ‘I count on my earnings from freelancing to extend within the subsequent 12 months’.
67. A stable 91% of freelancers consider the perfect days are forward!
68. Amongst freelancers who’re moonlighting (they haven’t give up their day job), 40% contemplate leaving their job to freelance full time.
69. And eight of 10 non-freelancers stated they’d do extra work if obtainable and if it enabled them to earn more money.
70. About 6 of 10 non-freelancers say it’s possible they are going to do freelance work sooner or later.

Bonus Freelance Information & Statistics

Are you questioning what industries or niches just lately carried out the perfect? A current FlexJobs report faucets a number of job classes which will shock you!

71. Healthcare companies, similar to billing, scheduling, and offering medical care, are standard.
72. Therapists, each bodily and psychological, are more and more offering remedy plans and rehabilitation on a contract foundation.
73. Freelance mortgage and actual property professionals independently assist individuals purchase, promote, or hire properties.

A couple of last enjoyable information about freelancing to spherical out our assortment of mind-blowing statistics :

74. Gig employees are typically extra politically energetic than non-freelancers. That is very true of youthful, expert, and full-time freelancers.
75. Freelancers take part in various work choices: 45% provide expert companies/labor, 30% unskilled, 28% promote items, and 29% interact in different actions.
76. Freelancing is tough work! In a 2020 survey by freelancemap.com, 57% admitted to working over 40 hours per week.

Alright! In case you are stunned, however not overwhelmed, we now have achieved our aim. So, what’s the subsequent step in your journey?

How Will YOU Use these Freelance Statistics?

You got here looking for essentially the most up-to-date freelance statistics.

You requested, and we delivered by displaying you the increasing panorama of the gig financial system by the numbers.

However what’s going to you do with this compelling information?

Whether or not you’re searching for onerous information to again up your subsequent weblog put up, whitepaper, or gross sales video, otherwise you’re simply curious concerning the altering face of the brand new financial system, the subsequent step is yours.

Let’s see what you possibly can produce with this nice useful resource!