Freelancing is becoming the new normal for American workers. Today, 40 percent of us use websites like Upwork and Guru to find gigs, which we perform as side hustles or as part of a larger freelance career.
For those of us who have yet to dip our toes in the freelance waters, the concept of taking on work at our own discretion is appealing. Work when you want, how you want, and for who want, at the prices you dictate. It’s a great way to test the entrepreneurial waters while keeping your 9 to 5 gig. Right?
Well, not exactly: Every freelance gig is different. Certain jobs are in greater demand and pay more as a result. Others are only open to people with certain skills—and those pay even more. And some jobs don’t require a very specific skillset at all, but their high client demand makes it a viable gig for hundreds of thousands of freelancers.
Related: 15 Quotes That Will Motivate You to Start a Side Hustle
For people who want to take on a side hustle while working their day job, or get a sense of how much they might enjoy working a new career full-time, knowing which freelance gigs are both the most lucrative and most in demand is a must. That’s where Fundera’s 10 Best Freelance Gigs and Side Hustles of 2019 Report comes in.
Fundera crunched the numbers behind postings on the top freelance gig websites (Upwork, Guru, PeoplePerHour and Simply Hired) to determine which hustles are most worth the effort as of the beginning of this year. While some gigs may be somewhat obvious, others may surprise you—and inspire you to find a new moonlighting career.
Key takeaways from the report include:
- Web and software development, design and creative and writing and translation took home the top three spots.
- Administrative support gigs like virtual assistants came in at number four, buoyed by opportunities for those with specialized expertise in industries like healthcare and real estate.
- Customer service made the list after review analysis found that “clients tend to use the same customer service workers over and over again.”
- Accounting and finance is one of the best performing categories on freelance sites in terms of pay—especially when freelancers can combine bookkeeping with strategy.
As you can see, the report takes a nuanced look at what makes a freelance gig one of the best. The report weighs factors such as pay levels, customer reviews, long-term earnings, and total freelancers across each gig website to come up with its rankings.
Check out the infographic below for a full rundown of the list, with key statistics for each freelance gig.
