Freelancers Earn, On Average, $93/Hour According to New Study

For the past few years, studies have trickled out detailing that most freelancers make more than their salaried counterparts. As more people than ever before quit their jobs to freelance full-time, even more information is becoming available – and it’s eye-opening.

Joblist conducted a study that found the average freelancer earns $93/hour while the average employee earns $72/hour, about $21 less. The study also found that 29% of freelancers are likely to make $100 or more per hour, noting that this isn’t the norm for freelancing newbies.

Joblist polled both full-time employees and full-time freelancers for a side-by-side glance. The study examined things like income, hours, lifestyle, and fulfillment, while concluding that freelancers face different tax and benefits burdens when compared to employees – which could skew the reported information.

Vastly Different Working Lifestyles

The study uncovered that freelancers were 50% more likely than full-time employees to put in 10+ hours on an average working day, while also showing that ‘freelancers were twice as likely to work six hours or less than employees on other days.’ At the same time, freelancers are much less likely to work in the traditional 9-to-5-hour bloc, opting for early morning and later evening hours.

By having the option to work when the person feels their most energized and focused, freelancers have an advantage in productivity and creativity when compared to their employee counterparts, noted the study. Allowing freelancers to curate a schedule around their personal energy periods could be one of the reasons why they are earning significantly more per hour than salaried individuals today.

Freelancers Have More Time to Focus on Non-Work Activities

One aspect to the study that really stuck out to me was: “Freelancers tend to have more time to focus on non-work activities and personal commitment.”

Is that not what this is all about? People are tired of sacrificing their happiness, personal lives, time with their families, and creativity to appease a boss that could hardly care about them. Human beings need to be treated like real, living, breathing creatures with souls that yearn for fun, excitement, self-expression, passion, and freedom. Since freelancers can access their own freedom, imagination, and scheduling whenever they want, they produce better ‘work’ than those strapped into an office. That explains why so many freelancers can work four-to-six hours per day, while earning more per hour simultaneously.

I predict many more studies detailing these kinds of findings will come out in the months to come, especially with more people than ever before leaving their jobs to freelance in the midst of a recession. Sites like Fiverr , Upwork , Revolancer , Facebook, and now LinkedIn are welcoming thousands of disgruntled ex-employees who want a taste of personal autonomy. It’s a very beautiful thing indeed.

What about you? Have you opened a freelancing profile yet? Do you plan to leave your 9-to-5 in the months to come and get in on the freelancing action? I’d love to know in the comments!

For more gig economy, writing, and freelancing news, feel free to check out my YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB_xyKds8PW1gMblI4qxbQw .