Best Freelance Jobs: Fourteen Highest-Paying Fields

Freelancing is on the rise, and for good reason: pay rates are climbing and job flexibility is the new normal. If you have an in-demand skill to offer, freelance work as a side hustle or even a full-time career could blow the ceiling off your earning potential — all while affording you a level of freedom that a nine-to-five never could.

Make a Free Invoice Now

Keep scrolling for the most desirable freelancing gigs, taking into account pay rates, market demand, schedule autonomy, and industry trends, as well as the best methods for finding work in each category based on your field and skill level.

Are You Destined for Freelancing?

The nature of today’s digital economy means there is a need for virtually every skill that can be offered online. Think about it: Almost every business needs a website, and every website needs development, design, writing, and a way to draw in traffic. Beyond these digitally rooted services, jobs once performed in an office like accounting, public relations and consulting are now taking place online.

Businesses are always looking to hire the most qualified specialist to get the job done efficiently.

The work is there waiting. To be successful in freelance, all you need is:

• An internet connection
• A marketable skill
• A strong work ethic
• A desire to boost your income

The rest is up to you, from your work schedule to the clients with whom you choose to work. 

Sound enticing? It should. Those working in the gig economy are happier, take more pride in their careers, and have a stronger sense of purpose compared to employees.

If you’re ready to take the plunge and pick up some freelance work, here are some of the best jobs to consider.

Accountant

Accountants help people in business to keep track of cash flow and report earnings and expenses accurately to the IRS. Accounting is a consistently in-demand service, especially around the time taxes are due. Studies show that well over half of small business owners don’t feel comfortable handling their own accounting.

Accountants generally get degrees in accounting. Some go on to get certified as a Certified Public Accountant by completing a certification program and passing the CPA exam. Many who go out on their own begin by working at an accounting firm to gain experience.

With the advent of cloud-based accounting software, accountants no longer need to be tied to an office. Accounting software such as Quickbooks, Xero, and AccountEdge Pro allow accountants to manage and record financial transactions, including revenue and expenses. In addition to accounting software, it’s a good idea for accountants to set up a way to get paid, which can range from an online shopfront to a solution as simple as PayPal.

• Average salary for freelance accountants: $95,679/year (source: Glassdoor)

Copywriter/Writer

Good writers are indispensable to businesses and organizations of all kinds. Writing shows up everywhere, from billboards to shampoo bottles to legal briefs to Instagram captions to webpages to scientific white papers to press releases—and the list doesn’t end.

If you know your way around a sentence and can write compelling copy, your freelancing prospects are boundless. But it helps to figure out what service type fits your style best and where your industry-specific expertise can give you an edge.

Lucrative freelance writing jobs include: 

• Blog writing
• Social media caption writing
• Ad copywriting
• Website copywriting
• Script writing
• Video transcribing
• Ghostwriting

Whether you have a strong creative voice or lean more towards a technical style, writers are in demand everywhere you look. 

• Average salary for freelance copywriters: (source: Glassdoor)

Data Analyst

Data analysts gather and analyze data in order to answer a question. They can work in a wide range of industries, including business, criminal justice, technology, government, science, and medicine. They’re sometimes referred to as market research analysts or business analysts. 

There is high demand for data analytics work. The World Economic Forum listed data analyst as the second-fastest growing job in the U.S. Data analysts often get a bachelor’s degree in statistics, but there are plenty of professional certification programs that can impart all required skills.

To become a data analyst, you’ll need to understand statistics and learn a statistical language such as R or Python in order to visually organize and analyze data. You’ll also need to be familiar with programs such as Microsoft Excel and Tableau in order to be able to communicate your results.

If you want to become a freelance data analyst, you’ll need to build a portfolio of work. Sometimes the best way to do this is to take an entry-level data analyst job so as to build your skill set, experience, and repertoire of projects. Once you do, you’ll be marketable and likely successful on a freelance platform such as Upwork or Fiverr.  

• Average salary for freelance data analysts: $99,239/year (source: Glassdoor)

Digital Marketer

These days, most marketing is digital. Businesses pay for advertising on platforms with millions of users, such as Google and YouTube. They also pay influencers on social media to market their brands. 

Digital marketing requires understanding search engine optimization, or how to make something on the Internet easily accessible to users who look for something in a search engine. This process requires researching and using the right keywords, creating content that search engines consider useful and compelling, and building backlinks. 

Digital marketers should also be familiar with marketing channels. They’re generally good at writing and creating content, meaning they have an eye for good copy and imagery. Most are versed in video production, from ideation to scriptwriting to video editing. They’re also familiar with tools that track the success of a digital campaign, such as Google Analytics. 

• Average salary for freelance digital marketers: $72,095/year (source: Glassdoor)

Graphic Designer

Graphic designers are like copywriters in that they’re useful in pretty much every industry. They design everything from apparel to corporate logos and lay out everything from newspapers to conference booklets.   

Some designers go the traditional education route; many don’t. All you need to become a designer is a computer, a subscription to software such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, and the knowledge of how to use it.

To go out on your own as a freelancer, you’ll generally need to have some experience and a portfolio of work to show clients. Sometimes it’s helpful to work for a business or publication as an in-house designer in order to amass an array of work. Another way to build a portfolio is to do some work for free or for a lower rate than other designers on freelance platforms such as Fiverr. 

• Average salary for freelance graphic designers: $92,470/year (source: Glassdoor)

Editor

Editors take writing and make it better. Sometimes they’ll edit for grammar and syntax, a process known as copyediting; other times, they’ll perform a more in-depth developmental edit, which means they’ll look at improving the structure and impact of a piece of writing.

The path to becoming a freelance editor generally involves experience in journalism, communications, or public relations. Most good editors were writers before they were editors. This makes them able to relate to and work with writers, and it gives them insight into how to structure a piece of writing. 

If you want to become a freelance editor, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with style guides such as The Chicago Manual of Style. It’s also a good idea to practice both writing and editing. A surefire way to build a client base is to offer your editing services to writers, academics, and businesses; make your clients happy; and ask them to write testimonials, which are great marketing collateral.

• Average salary for freelance editors: $107,339/year (source: Glassdoor)

Media Buyer

Media buyers basically help businesses place ads. They choose the right platforms for an ad campaign by considering a company’s target customer and where that customers is likely to see an ad. 

If you’re considering becoming a freelance media buyer, it’s helpful to be familiar with all forms of advertising and with tools that track the success of advertising campaigns. In today’s media climate, it’s also essential to understand search engine optimization (SEO), or tailoring webpages to rank well in search engines, and search engine marketing (SEM), or promoting websites by paying to increase their visibility in search engine results. 

Media buyers should also be adept at making Excel spreadsheets and organizing a lot of data. 

• Average salary for freelance media buyers: $62,090/year (source: Glassdoor)

Illustrator

Freelance illustrators draw for clients. They work in a range of industries, including toy production, clothing, animation, video games, publishing, and films. They use a range of mediums, from pencil to digital art. Many work in advertising. 

The most important prerequisite for landing freelance illustration gigs is being a good illustrator. Clients generally like to see some type of certification, but if you’re a naturally skilled artist, all you really need is a portfolio of work. It’s a good idea to put this portfolio online so potential clients can easily access the kind of illustrations you do and have done.

• Average salary for freelance illustrators: $62,707/year (source: Glassdoor)

SEO Specialist

SEO is the basis of a good digital marketing campaign. In the age of information, webpages are competing with millions of other webpages to be seen. Users clicking on a webpage drives sales, so visibility is good business. There are many ways to optimize a website so that when a potential client or customer searches for something on the Internet, that website is likely to catch their attention. 

Good SEO specialists will understand the algorithms used by Google and other search engines that rank pages. They’ll know how to find keywords the algorithm is looking for, how to improve the front and back ends of a webpage in order to optimize it, and how to build links to other sites that are likely to be seen by a high volume of users.

If you want to be a freelance SEO specialist, it’s a good idea to take online classes offered by SEO experts. It’s also wise to sign up for a software that analyzes the digital media landscape and suggests how to optimize for it. The next step is to start building your portfolio of clients. Often SEO specialists will directly email companies that sell services or products online and offer to improve their webpages as a means of gaining experience.

• Average salary for freelance SEO specialists: $72,371/year (source: Glassdoor)

Social Media Manager

A good social media post can go viral and expose a brand or business to millions of potential customers. It follows that social media experts are in high demand.

Social media management is the process of creating a social media strategy and executing it. This means creating content for social media, such as writing or imagery; scheduling and publishing posts; and measuring the success of a post or campaign.

Freelance social media managers tend to manage social media for various brands. They’re savvy on social media but they should also have some background knowledge about marketing and what kinds of advertising strategies are successful and why.

Good places to look for freelance social media management gigs are job boards such as Indeed, freelancing sites such as Upwork, and, of course, social media.

• Average salary for freelance social media managers: $64,275/year (source: Glassdoor)

Web Developer

Web developers make websites. They understand the code that goes into building the actual structure of a website, which is an acquired language. There’s high demand for web developers because websites are the most effective way to access a large customer base. A study by website host GoDaddy found that web developers and designers are seeing business growth of 25% or more per year. 

To learn how to become a developer, there are many training courses available on the Internet via such platforms as Coursera. Once you’ve learned how to develop websites, the best way to land gigs as a freelance web developer is to start reaching out to clients and offering to improve their websites so that you can begin building a portfolio of work.

• Average salary for freelance web developers: $94,828/year (source: Glassdoor)

UX Researcher

User Experience researchers, commonly known as UX researchers, focus on making products, services, and websites more useful and enjoyable for users. They paint a picture of the typical users of a product, service, or website by studying their needs, motivations, and “pain points,” or the things that annoy them and drive them away. They analyze data in order to improve the design of something being sold. 

UX researchers often have degrees in technology or social science. They are typically seasoned researchers and familiar with organizing and studying quantitative and qualitative data. They also know how to obtain the data by conducting interviews or usability tests. 

UX researcher is an increasingly popular job. Because UX researcher is a fairly new position, there’s not yet a ton of competition for work. Freelance UX researchers can land gigs on freelancing sites such as Toptal and Upwork.

• Average salary for freelance UX researchers: $75,389/year (source: Glassdoor)

Video Editor

Video editors take raw footage and shape it into a compelling video. They use audio, film, and design to create videos people want to watch. 

Video editors typically have some kind of training, whether from a traditional school or YouTube tutorials. The tools required to edit professional videos take some getting used to, so familiarity with using them is a must for a video editor.

Freelance video editors typically find work editing videos on freelancing sites such as Upwork and connect with other editors using sites such as Slack. Some get certified as a Vimeo Expert by attending the Vimeo Experts program. To land freelance gigs, video editors need a reel, or a portfolio showing clients past work. 

• Average salary for freelance video editors: $86,289/year (source: Glassdoor)

Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant is like a secretary or executive assistant, except virtual. They remotely complete administrative and business tasks ranging from emails to bookkeeping to managing social media platforms. 

They tend to work for small businesses that need help but aren’t prepared to pay for a full-time assistant. Companies looking for virtual assistants will often advertise on job boards such as FlexJobs or freelance sites such as Fiverr. 

• Average salary for freelance virtual assistants: $63,434/year (source: Glassdoor)

Whether your background is in finance or art, there’s a highly-paid freelance job available for you. The common thread through all of them is that you need clients, and in order to get clients you need to be able to show you’ve got experience. 

It’s also helpful to remember that you are not only working for your clients, but you are also your own sales and marketing department and your own accounting department. Using digital tools such as Invoice Maker, which makes sending invoices and following up on payments quick and easy, can take a lot of unnecessary stress out of being your own business.