Freelancing spans independent contracting, skilled knowledge work, side gigs, and other forms of independent work. The latest figures below show how participation, earnings, benefits, skills, and employer strategies differ across these groups. BLS figures describe the U.S. labor market in July 2023, while the Upwork and MBO figures come from studies identified by their 2025 publication year and include measurements from 2024 or 2025 where stated.
Contents
- How large is contingent and independent work?
- Who freelances and where?
- Earnings, insurance, and preferences
- Freelancing as skilled knowledge work
- Skills and artificial intelligence
- How companies and workers view independence
How large is contingent and independent work?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 6.9 million U.S. workers with contingent sole or main jobs in July 2023. That represented 4.3% of employed people. In the same BLS release, 11.9 million people were independent contractors on their sole or main job. Independent contractors accounted for 7.4% of all workers, compared with 1.7% for on-call workers, 0.6% for temporary help agency workers, and 0.5% for workers provided by contract firms. These categories describe different arrangements and should not be added together as though they were mutually exclusive measures.
The BLS also reported that 1,603,000 workers with alternative arrangements were contingent on their sole or main job, equal to 9.8% of workers with alternative arrangements. Overall, 4.3% of employed people were contingent on their sole or main job and 95.7% were not. Among independent contractors, 483,000 were also contingent on that job, or 4.1% of independent contractors. By comparison, 476,000 on-call workers were contingent, equal to 17.2% of on-call workers; 518,000 temporary help agency workers were contingent, or 54.8%; and 194,000 workers provided by contract firms were contingent, or 22.5%. BLS Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, July 2023
On-call work was another sizeable category: 2.8 million people were on-call workers in July 2023, equal to 1.7% of total employment. Contingency also extended into second jobs. The BLS counted 1.1 million multiple jobholders whose second job was contingent, representing 12.8% of all multiple jobholders. A further 1.9 million people were independent contractors on their second job, or 22.8% of multiple jobholders.
Who freelances and where?
Age, gender, work schedule, occupation, and industry all shaped the BLS picture of independent contracting. Workers ages 16 to 24 were four times more likely to have contingent jobs than workers age 25 and older. Men were independent contractors at an 8.7% rate, compared with 5.8% for women. By race and ethnicity, the independent-contractor rates were 7.9% for White workers, 7.4% for Hispanic or Latino workers, 5.4% for Black workers, and 5.4% for Asian workers.
Part-time workers were about twice as likely as full-time workers to be independent contractors: 13.1% versus 6.2%. At the same time, 70.7% of independent contractors worked full time. This combination shows why the overall contractor rate and the composition of the contractor population answer different questions: part-time workers had the higher rate, while most contractors worked full time.
The highest independent-contractor rate by occupation was 28.1% in arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations. Other comparatively high rates included 19.7% in personal care and service occupations, 15.1% in construction and extraction occupations, and 13.2% in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations. By industry, the rate was 24.2% in real estate and rental and leasing and 18.5% in construction. BLS Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, July 2023
Multiple jobholding added another dimension. Among multiple jobholders, 18.7% of people ages 16 to 24 had a contingent second job, compared with 12.6% of those ages 25 to 54 and 9.6% of those age 55 and over. About 186,000 multiple jobholders, or about 2%, were contingent on both their main and second jobs. Their second-job arrangements included 348,000 on-call workers, equal to 4.2% of multiple jobholders; 118,000 temporary help agency workers, or 1.4%; and 26,000 workers provided by contract firms, or 0.3%.
Earnings, insurance, and preferences
The July 2023 BLS data show meaningful differences in weekly earnings and access to employer-provided health insurance. Contingent workers earned a median of $838 per week, compared with $1,137 for noncontingent workers. Contingent workers were also much less likely to have employer-provided health insurance: 19.9% had that coverage, compared with 51.2% of noncontingent workers.
Independent contractors had health insurance from any source at a 74.2% rate. The comparable rates were 78.2% for on-call workers, 60.8% for temporary help agency workers, and 79.4% for workers provided by contract firms. Workers with traditional arrangements had an 84.9% rate of health insurance from any source, and 54.4% received employer-provided coverage. BLS Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, July 2023
Among full-time workers, median weekly earnings were $949 for independent contractors. The corresponding figures were $1,125 for on-call workers, $818 for temporary help agency workers, $1,014 for workers provided by contract firms, and $1,132 for workers with traditional arrangements.
The BLS gender comparison also showed an earnings gap within full-time arrangements. Full-time men who were independent contractors earned a median of $1,004 per week, compared with $1,233 for men in traditional arrangements. Full-time women who were independent contractors earned $857, compared with $1,019 for women in traditional arrangements.
Work arrangement was not simply a fallback preference. In July 2023, 80.3% of independent contractors preferred their arrangement, while 8.3% said they would prefer a traditional work arrangement. The BLS found that 84.6% of independent contractors on their sole or main job were self-employed, and nearly two-thirds of self-employed workers were independent contractors.
| BLS measure, July 2023 | Percentage or median |
|---|---|
| Independent contractors preferring their arrangement | 80.3% |
| Independent contractors preferring a traditional arrangement | 8.3% |
| Independent contractors with health insurance from any source | 74.2% |
| Full-time independent-contractor median weekly earnings | $949 |
| Full-time workers in traditional arrangements: median weekly earnings | $1,132 |
Freelancing as skilled knowledge work
The Upwork Future Workforce Index 2025 focuses on skilled knowledge work, a narrower lens than the BLS labor-market categories. It reported that 28% of skilled knowledge workers in the U.S. said they worked as freelancers or independent professionals. Roughly 20 million U.S. workers performed skilled freelance knowledge work in 2024, generating more than $1.5 trillion in U.S. earnings. Full-time freelancers reported a median income of $85,000, while skilled moonlighters earned $40,000 in addition to their full-time wages.
The study also recorded differences in satisfaction and educational background. Seventy-eight percent of skilled freelancers reported satisfaction with their pay, versus 64% of full-time employees. Postgraduate degrees were held by 37% of skilled freelancers and 20% of full-time employees.
Freelancing was not limited to one career stage. Fifty-three percent of skilled Gen Z workers were already freelancing, and Gen Z is projected to make up 30% of U.S. workers by 2030. In the same study, 36% of full-time employees were considering freelancing for better opportunities, while 10% of freelancers were considering returning to traditional employment. Skilled freelancers were also more likely to report growing opportunity: 82% said they had more work opportunities than a year earlier, compared with 63% of full-time employees.
The Upwork findings include leadership experience as well. Sixty-three percent of C-suite leaders said they had freelanced at some point in their careers, and 42% of CEOs said they had done freelance work related to their current area of expertise. These are reported survey findings, not a count of all executives or CEOs.
Skills and artificial intelligence
The Upwork study found higher reported levels of several skills among skilled freelancers than among full-time employees. Advanced AI proficiency was reported by 54% of skilled freelancers and 38% of full-time employees. Extensive experience building, training, and fine-tuning machine-learning models was reported by 29% of skilled freelancers, compared with 18% of full-time employees.
Freelancers also reported stronger levels in several broadly useful capabilities: 47% reported strong communication skills versus 40% of full-time employees; 43% reported strong critical-thinking skills versus 38%; 49% reported strong problem-solving skills versus 44%; and 41% reported strong adaptability versus 37%.
Experience varied by subject area. Extensive experience in renewable energy and sustainability initiatives was reported by 31% of skilled knowledge freelancers and 17% of full-time employees. Software-development experience was reported by 35% of skilled knowledge freelancers and 28% of full-time employees. Across skilled workers, 32% said they were actively picking up new skills all the time. In the previous six months, 87% of freelancers and 82% of full-time employees said they had learned a new skill.
Looking forward, 36% of skilled freelancers anticipated working in AI-enabled freelancer models in five years. That figure is an expectation about a future work model, not a forecast of the total number of freelancers.
How companies and workers view independence
The MBO State of Independence 2025 counted 72.9 million independents in 2025, including 5.6 million who earned more than $100,000. Sixty-three percent said their independence was fully by choice. MBO also reported that 86% of independents were happier, 67% felt more secure, and 73% were optimistic about their careers.
Digital tools and platforms were central to this group. Seventy-four percent of independents used AI, and 61% said it saved time and increased output. Forty-two percent relied on digital platforms to find work, while 32% served global clients. Gen Z made up 28% of the independent workforce in 2025. MBO counted 10.1 million independent content creators, a 13% increase, and reported that 36% of traditional employees had side gigs.
Income outcomes were positive for many respondents: 59% of independents reported earning more while working independently. As with the other survey-based findings here, this is a reported share of respondents rather than a universal result for every independent worker.
The Upwork study examined how high-growth U.S. public companies built workforce strategies. Fifty percent used managed services, 45% embedded freelancers, 41% used human-plus-AI collaboration, and 39% used agencies. Together, these figures describe several ways companies combine internal employees with external expertise and technology; they are not mutually exclusive categories.