We Analyzed 2 Million Freelancer Profiles. Here’s Who Earns The Most Money

We analyzed more than 2 million freelancer profiles on Upwork to better understand which skills are paying the best right now.

Specifically, we identified which skills and categories have the most freelancers earning at least $1000 per month (ie. $60/hour rate with at least 100 hours billed in the last 6 months).

Summary of our Key Findings:



Many of the most lucrative skills on Upwork are related to programming, with 20.9% of freelancers who earn at least $1000/month describing themselves as developers and another 6.5% listing skills related to software.Marketing skills also appear to be quite lucrative. 7.7% of freelancers who charge more than $60/hour offer marketing-related services.WordPress is the single most lucrative programming skill. But freelancers who combine skills to become “full stack” developers seem to earn even more.Of all the freelancers who offer writing-related services, copywriters and editors appear to earn the most.For every 800 freelancers on Upwork, only 1 earns more than $1000 per month.Self-proclaimed experts do better than self-proclaimed professionals, gurus, ninjas, or wizards.Skills which appear to be the least lucrative on Upwork include transcription, life coach, and admin support.

Details and additional data from our study below.

Best Paying Freelance Jobs | Best Paying Programming Jobs | Best Paying Writing Jobs | Methodology | Limitations | Bonus

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81 Best Paying Freelance Jobs On Upwork









81 Best Paying Freelance Jobs On Upwork



RankSkill / CategoryNumber of freelancers earning at least $60/hour,
minimum 100 billed hours last 6 months1developer6452marketing2373consultant2364software2015full stack1996web developer1997wordpress1268seo879copywriter8310graphic designer7611software developer7012app developer6213editor6014web designer6015sales5316salesforce5217data scientist4418google ads4019shopify4020optimization3221facebook ads3122video3123social media3024research2225researcher2226cpa1827data visualization1828accountant1729coach1630Presentation1631technical writer1632PowerPoint1533programmer1334video editor1235bookkeeper1136data science1137landing page1038editing939accounting840blogger841lawyer842legal843video editing844trainer745assistant646bitcoin647conversion rate optimization648instagram649proofreader650animation551business coach552ghostwriter553bookkeeping454landing pages455photographer456translator457virtual assistant458youtube459affiliate360health361pinterest362programming363web development364affiliate marketing265audio production266customer service267data entry268games269music270testing271translation272videographer273voice over274audio engineer175autocad176blogging177customer support178executive assistant179ghost writer180ghostwriting181proofreading182admin support083crypto084ghost writing085life coach086nutritionist087photography088sound design089transcription090transcriptionist091videography092voice talent093voiceover0



Best Paying Freelance Jobs On Upwork – Breakdown







Key Takeaways



If you can code and/or sell, you’ll find plenty of high-paying jobs on Upwork.Web developers tend to earn more than web designersGoogle ads freelancers tend to earn more than Facebook ads freelancersHard to know if it’s causation or correlation, but the words freelancers use in their profiles seem to make a big difference. For example, if you use the words data scientist instead of data science, you’re 4x more likely to be a top earner.We didn’t find a single transcriptionist on Upwork earning $60/hour or more consistently. $40/hour seems to be the best-case scenario for freelance transcriptionists.



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