Freelance Income Statistics
Last updated: 2026-10-28 · 11 sourced statistics
How much do freelancers actually make? The most reliable US answer comes from tax returns: for 2022, the IRS counted 31.0 million nonfarm sole proprietorship returns reporting $410.7 billion in profit. Most of those businesses are small, and income is uneven: 58% of self-employed adults told the Federal Reserve their income varies from month to month. This page collects official earnings and volatility figures first, then two clearly labelled vendor surveys, and explains what each number can and cannot tell you. For the size of the freelance workforce, see our freelance statistics page.
Key takeaways
- Nonfarm sole proprietors reported $410.7 billion in profit on 31.0 million returns for tax year 2022 (IRS).
- Returns with $100,000 or less in receipts were 88.7% of sole proprietor returns but earned 30.1% of profits (IRS, 2022).
- Full-time independent contractors had median weekly earnings of $949, vs $1,132 for full-time workers in traditional jobs (BLS, July 2023).
- 58% of self-employed adults say their income varies month to month, and 22% struggled to pay bills because of it (Federal Reserve, 2025).
- Self-employment tax is 15.3% of net earnings, on top of income tax (IRS).
At a glance.
Every figure on this page in one table, each linked to its named source. Scroll down for the full context behind each number.
| Figure | What it measures | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $410.7B | For tax year 2022, about 31.0 million individual tax returns reported nonfarm sole proprietorship activity, with total profits (net income less deficits) of $410.7 billion. | IRS Statistics of Income, Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2022 (SOI Bulletin, Spring 2025) | 2022 |
| $2.08T | Nonfarm sole proprietors reported $2,080.7 billion in business receipts for 2022, up 11.4% from 2021, while profits fell 0.2% (6.8% in constant dollars). | IRS Statistics of Income, Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2022 (SOI Bulletin, Spring 2025) | 2022 |
| 19.7% | Sole proprietor profits were 19.7% of business receipts in 2022, down from 22.0% in 2021 and the lowest share since 1990. | IRS Statistics of Income, Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2022 (SOI Bulletin, Spring 2025) | 2022 |
| 88.7% | Returns with business receipts of $100,000 or less made up 88.7% of all nonfarm sole proprietor returns but earned just 30.1% of total profits in 2022. | IRS Statistics of Income, Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2022 (SOI Bulletin, Spring 2025) | 2022 |
| $101.6B | Professional, scientific and technical services, the sector that includes many consultants, designers and developers, earned the largest share of sole proprietor profits: 24.7%, or $101.6 billion, in 2022. | IRS Statistics of Income, Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2022 (SOI Bulletin, Spring 2025) | 2022 |
| $949/week | Full-time independent contractors had median weekly earnings of $949 on their main job in July 2023, compared with $1,132 for full-time workers in traditional arrangements. | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, July 2023 | 2023 |
| 58% | 58% of self-employed adults said their income varied from month to month in 2025, compared with 28% of people who worked for someone else. | Federal Reserve Board, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 | 2025 |
| 22% | 22% of self-employed adults struggled to pay their bills in the prior 12 months because their income varied, versus 10% of employees. The gap remained after the Fed controlled for income. | Federal Reserve Board, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 | 2025 |
| 15.3% | The self-employment tax rate is 15.3% (12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare), due when net self-employment earnings are $400 or more, on top of income tax. | Internal Revenue Service, Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) | 2026 |
| $85,000 | Vendor survey: US knowledge workers who earn exclusively through freelance work reported a median income of $85,000, versus $80,000 for full-time employees (Upwork Research Institute, 3,000 skilled knowledge workers surveyed December 2024 to February 2025). | Upwork Research Institute, Future Workforce Index 2025 (press release) | 2025 |
| ~6M | Vendor survey: almost 6 million US independent workers now earn more than $100,000 a year, according to MBO Partners. | MBO Partners, State of Independence 2026 | 2026 |
The statistics
For tax year 2022, about 31.0 million individual tax returns reported nonfarm sole proprietorship activity, with total profits (net income less deficits) of $410.7 billion.
Source:IRS Statistics of Income, Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2022 (SOI Bulletin, Spring 2025)2022
Nonfarm sole proprietors reported $2,080.7 billion in business receipts for 2022, up 11.4% from 2021, while profits fell 0.2% (6.8% in constant dollars).
Source:IRS Statistics of Income, Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2022 (SOI Bulletin, Spring 2025)2022
Sole proprietor profits were 19.7% of business receipts in 2022, down from 22.0% in 2021 and the lowest share since 1990.
Source:IRS Statistics of Income, Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2022 (SOI Bulletin, Spring 2025)2022
Returns with business receipts of $100,000 or less made up 88.7% of all nonfarm sole proprietor returns but earned just 30.1% of total profits in 2022.
Source:IRS Statistics of Income, Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2022 (SOI Bulletin, Spring 2025)2022
Professional, scientific and technical services, the sector that includes many consultants, designers and developers, earned the largest share of sole proprietor profits: 24.7%, or $101.6 billion, in 2022.
Source:IRS Statistics of Income, Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2022 (SOI Bulletin, Spring 2025)2022
Full-time independent contractors had median weekly earnings of $949 on their main job in July 2023, compared with $1,132 for full-time workers in traditional arrangements.
Source:US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, July 20232023
58% of self-employed adults said their income varied from month to month in 2025, compared with 28% of people who worked for someone else.
Source:Federal Reserve Board, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 20252025
22% of self-employed adults struggled to pay their bills in the prior 12 months because their income varied, versus 10% of employees. The gap remained after the Fed controlled for income.
Source:Federal Reserve Board, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 20252025
The self-employment tax rate is 15.3% (12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare), due when net self-employment earnings are $400 or more, on top of income tax.
Source:Internal Revenue Service, Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)2026
Vendor survey: US knowledge workers who earn exclusively through freelance work reported a median income of $85,000, versus $80,000 for full-time employees (Upwork Research Institute, 3,000 skilled knowledge workers surveyed December 2024 to February 2025).
Source:Upwork Research Institute, Future Workforce Index 2025 (press release)2025
Vendor survey: almost 6 million US independent workers now earn more than $100,000 a year, according to MBO Partners.
Source:MBO Partners, State of Independence 20262026
When these numbers don't apply
Aggregate statistics hide a lot. Read these caveats before quoting a figure as if it describes your specific situation.
- IRS sole proprietorship data covers every Schedule C filer, from full-time consultants to people with a small side business, so totals and shares describe that whole group, not full-time freelancers only.
- The BLS earnings figure is a median for full-time independent contractors on their main job in July 2023. It is weekly earnings reported in a household survey, not profit after business expenses.
- Upwork and MBO Partners figures are vendor surveys. Upwork surveyed 3,000 US skilled knowledge workers (December 2024 to February 2025) and extrapolated earnings with BLS occupation data; MBO's page does not publish its sample or method. Both companies sell services to independent workers.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage tables cover employees and exclude the self-employed, so they are not a direct benchmark for freelance rates. We did not use them here.
- The Federal Reserve income-variability figures describe self-employed adults as a whole, including business owners with employees, and are survey responses from October 2025.
- All figures are US data. Freelance income in other countries follows different tax and social insurance rules.
How we compiled this data
Reviewed 2026-10-28. We removed every figure from the previous version that we could not trace to the page that states it: the Payoneer "$28 an hour" global average (Payoneer's own reports give $19 for 2017 and $21 for 2020, and $28 was a single-field figure), the Upwork 2023 totals (now on our freelance statistics page) and a QuickBooks late-payment figure that belongs on our late-payment pages. We then preferred official sources: the IRS Statistics of Income bulletin on sole proprietorships (tax year 2022, published spring 2025), the BLS Contingent Worker Supplement (July 2023, released November 2024), the Federal Reserve's Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (fielded October 2025, published May 2026) and the IRS self-employment tax page (last reviewed June 2026). Two vendor surveys are kept only where the publisher's own page states the figure, and are labelled. Each figure was checked against the linked page on the review date.
We hand-collected each figure from its original publisher rather than recycling secondary round-ups, cross-checked the headline numbers against the source documents in 2026-10-28, and link every statistic to the report it came from so you can verify it yourself. Where a publisher issues annual updates, we cite the report edition and flag the year inline.
Frequently asked questions
How much do freelancers make on average?
There is no single official average for freelancers. The closest official measures are IRS sole proprietor data, which shows $410.7 billion in profit across 31.0 million returns for 2022, and BLS data showing median weekly earnings of $949 for full-time independent contractors in July 2023. A vendor survey by Upwork found a median of $85,000 for US knowledge workers who freelance exclusively.
Do freelancers earn more than employees?
It depends on who you measure. Across all full-time independent contractors, BLS median weekly earnings ($949) were below those of full-time traditional workers ($1,132) in July 2023. Upwork's survey of skilled knowledge workers found the reverse for its narrower group: $85,000 for exclusive freelancers vs $80,000 for full-time employees. Freelancers also pay 15.3% self-employment tax and fund their own benefits.
How unstable is freelance income?
Much less steady than a paycheck. In the Federal Reserve's 2025 survey, 58% of self-employed adults said their income varied month to month, compared with 28% of employees, and 22% struggled to pay bills because of that variation (10% of employees).
Why do most sole proprietors earn modest profits?
Many Schedule C filers run part-time or side businesses. In 2022, returns with $100,000 or less in receipts were 88.7% of all sole proprietor returns but earned only 30.1% of profits, and overall profit margins fell to 19.7% of receipts, the lowest since 1990.
How much tax do freelancers pay on their income?
On top of income tax, US freelancers pay 15.3% self-employment tax (12.4% Social Security and 2.9% Medicare) once net self-employment earnings reach $400. Setting money aside each time a client pays helps cover quarterly estimated payments.
Put these figures to use
- Tax hub: Guides to self-employment tax, sales tax and invoice tax details.
- How to price your freelance services: Build a rate floor from your own costs, taxes and billable hours, with a worked example.
- Quarterly tax payments for freelancers: IRS estimated tax due dates, safe harbors and a worked example for a $90,000 freelancer.
- Payment reminder templates: Three copy-and-paste reminder emails (gentle, firm, final) for invoices that are running late.
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