Fiverr’s Annual Freelance Economic Impact Report Identifies Top 25 Skilled Freelance Markets in the U.S., Study Finds Freel...
June 20 2019 - 6:00AM
Business Wire
Austin and Nashville highlighted as the two
fastest growing markets for skilled freelance workers
Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE: FVRR), the company that is
changing how the world works together, today revealed the findings
of its annual Freelance Economic Impact Report, a comprehensive
study that identifies and profiles the 25 largest markets in the
United States for skilled freelance workers.
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the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190620005166/en/
Freelance Economic Impact Report
Identifies Top 25 Skilled Freelance Markets in the US. (Photo:
Fiverr)
For the second year Fiverr commissioned market research firm
Rockbridge Associates to analyze a range of secondary data sources,
including the U.S. Census Bureau, to determine the size and
revenues of U.S. based skilled freelancers. Over 20 million tax
returns were classified by geography and industry, allowing
researchers to approximate that there are 5.6 million skilled
freelancers working in creative, technical or professional
positions across the country. Over half (54%) of these freelancers
live in the 25 metropolitan areas listed below and, combined, this
group generated an estimated $135 billion in the 2018 tax year.
Highlights Include:
- New York home to over half a million freelancers earning
estimated $25 billion
- Los Angeles leading with creative freelancers generating $5
billion
- Over six percent of San Francisco’s workforce employed as
skilled freelancers
- Austin experiencing talent boom, skilled freelancer population
up almost 26%
- Nashville increasing earnings, skilled freelancer revenue jumps
almost 40%
“Highly-skilled freelancers are an understudied and often
overlooked segment of the workforce,” said Brent Messenger,
Fiverr’s VP of Public Policy and Community. “By analyzing the data
around these digital workers we’re able to get a clear picture of
the types of jobs they're doing, the amount of revenue they're
generating and the cities in which they're having the most impact,”
he continued. “While every market identified in the top 25 is
unique, we can say that they're all characterized by high levels of
diversity, high educational attainment and younger adult
populations relative to the rest of the country,” he said.
Top 25 Markets for Skilled
Freelance Workers
Market (Metropolitan Statistical
Area)
Number of Skilled Freelance
Workers
(2018 Projected)
Revenues (000) (2018 Projected)
New York, NY
559,180
$ 25,327,806,896
Los Angeles, CA
420,300
$ 19,221,367,901
Chicago, IL
192,181
$ 6,797,252,616
Washington, DC
178,751
$ 8,082,337,397
Miami, FL
170,637
$ 6,442,678,226
San Francisco, CA
168,264
$ 8,416,103,382
Dallas, TX
154,617
$ 6,378,848,488
Atlanta, GA
141,648
$ 4,715,018,222
Boston, MA
130,901
$ 5,738,286,373
Philadelphia, PA
122,821
$ 5,171,786,951
Houston, TX
117,260
$ 4,114,778,786
Seattle, WA
92,715
$ 3,393,685,644
Minneapolis, MN
85,459
$ 2,727,113,086
San Diego, CA
85,195
$ 3,562,767,933
Phoenix, AZ
83,129
$ 3,219,611,664
Denver, CO
78,401
$ 2,920,211,545
Detroit, MI
74,757
$ 2,569,771,052
Austin, TX
67,044
$ 2,699,265,975
Riverside, CA
62,544
$ 2,001,661,107
Portland, OR
61,158
$ 2,021,104,607
Baltimore, MD
57,676
$ 2,093,895,409
San Jose, CA
54,710
$ 2,722,582,145
Tampa, FL
53,629
$ 1,829,359,366
Nashville, TN
52,947
$ 2,489,932,163
Orlando, FL
48,949
$ 1,503,507,523
Emerging Hotbeds for Skilled Freelancers
Though not among the 25 most populated metro areas in the U.S.,
Austin and Nashville have emerged as thriving hubs of skilled
freelance activity.
- Austin is the fastest growing market in the U.S. as skilled
freelancers have flocked to the area in large numbers. Austin’s
skilled freelancer population increased 26% from 2011- 2016. Metro
Austin is also the second-fastest growing market in terms of
revenue, up 31% during the same period.
- Nashville’s skilled freelance economy is also accelerating
quickly. Number 1 in revenue growth, skilled freelancers in metro
Nashville have seen their bottom line grow 39.8% over the period
studied. Creative services dominate Nashville’s freelance economy,
with creative freelancers accounting for a quarter of Nashville’s
entire freelance workforce.
Major Markets Rely Heavily on Skilled Freelancers
Data from New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco indicates the
larger the economy the heavier the reliance on skilled
freelancers.
- The New York metro area sits atop the list with over half a
million skilled freelance workers earning an estimated $25 billion
in the 2018 tax year. The massive metro area is also home to the
largest populations of professional and technical freelancers.
- The exception to New York’s dominance is Los Angeles. The Los
Angeles metro area is the overall revenue leader in creative
talent. Creative freelancers in metro Los Angeles generated an
estimated $5 billion in revenue in the 2018 tax year.
- San Francisco businesses are the most reliant on skilled
freelance workers. Skilled freelancers in San Francisco account for
6.1% of the city’s total workforce, this figure is almost double
the national average.
“Across the United States, revenue from skilled freelance work
represents 1.1% of national GDP, but in these top 25 markets that
number can get as high as 2%,” said Charles Colby, Principal, Chief
Methodologist and Founder of Rockbridge Associates. “It’s not only
that these markets have higher than average revenues per skilled
freelance worker. The implication is that their impact on local
economies is greater because of their ability to draw revenue from
outside their market and provide highly specialized services that
are critical to growing local businesses,” he concluded.
The entire, Freelance Economic Impact Report can be found at:
https://www.fiverr.com/freelance-impact.
About Fiverr
Fiverr’s mission is to change how the world works together. The
Fiverr platform connects businesses with freelancers offering
digital services in more than 200 categories, across 8 verticals
including graphic design, digital marketing, programming, video and
animation. Since inception, the platform has facilitated over 50
million transactions. Fiverr's global community of freelancers
spans across more than 160 countries.
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Chris O'Brien press@fiverr.com Abby Forman press@fiverr.com
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