One of the biggest worries freelancers have at the beginning of their freelancing career is financial security. While the concern is genuine, you can plan your career in a way that you go after the freelance jobs that pay higher than others and are in demand.
Just like regular 9-5 jobs, certain freelance jobs pay more than the others. You simply need to have the skills that these high paying freelance jobs require and you are good to go.
We understand that not everyone will have skills that land them high income projects. That’s why we have listed the top six highest paying freelance jobs from varied sectors.
Five high paying freelance jobs
Below we have listed five freelance jobs that pay well and have a high demand in the freelance market:
- Web developer
Since web and mobile app development is a difficult skill to master and the demand for software developers is continuously increasing, it has become one of the most paid freelance jobs around the world.
There are more than 11,000 web programming freelance jobs on the freelancing website, Upwork.
Working as a freelance web developer requires you to know programming languages such as JavaScript, Python, R, SQL, PHP, etc.
Fee range of a freelance web developer
The fee of a freelance web and mobile developer depends on your proficiency level, number of web pages you need to create, and difficulty level of the project.
Freelance developers on Upwork charge anywhere between $30 to $120 per hour for web development. In addition to this, you can also make a deal with the client to help them with monthly or quarterly maintenance of the website.
As a beginner freelance developer, you can learn entry-level coding languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to learn the building blocks of how to make a website. You can either go for paid courses or learn from thousands of web development tutorials available on YouTube.
Related jobs:
| Job type | Number of jobs on Upwork | Hourly fee range |
| App developer | 5,000+ | $45 – $75 |
| Data scientist | 650+ | $25 – $50 |
| WordPress Developer | 8,000+ | $15 – $40 |
- Graphic designer
Right from new companies to well established ones, almost every company needs graphic designers to create visually appealing posters, banners, logos, etc. As more and more companies come up, the demand for graphic designers is expected to rise as well.
There are close to 9,000 freelance job listings for graphic designers on Upwork.
A few jobs of a freelance graphic designer include:
- Visual assets for a campaign
- Designing print ads
- Creating designs for website
- E-book design
- Signage for hoardings
Fee range of a freelance graphic designer
Graphic designing has one of the highest paying freelance salaries. According to Upwork, you can earn anywhere from $15 to $150 an hour.
Since this is a subjective field of work, the fee depends on various factors, such as quality of previous work and turnaround time.
If you have a creative bent of mind with interest in design and art, this is one of the best freelance jobs right now.
Related jobs:
| Job type | Number of jobs on Upwork | Hourly fee range |
| Illustrator | 1,400+ | $15 – $30 |
| Logo designer | 9,000+ | $25 – $75 |
| Web designer (UI/UX) | 6,600+ | $15 – $75 |
- Social media manager
Social media has become one of the biggest levers for brands to push their products and interact with users. This has made the role of social media manager one of the top online freelance jobs in India.
While large companies seek full-time employees, thousands of small online and offline businesses look for freelance social media managers.
There are about 6,000 freelance job enquiries posted on Upwork by companies around the world.
Fee range of a freelance social media manager
Running a simple Google search to ascertain the cost of a social media campaign suggests it can take anywhere between Rs.18,000 and Rs.65,000.
Freelance social media managers can set their price depending on the size of the campaign. The average fee of freelance social media managers ranges from $14 to $35 per hour.
Related jobs:
| Job type | Number of jobs on Upwork | Hourly fee range |
| Digital marketer | 970+ | $15 – $45 |
| Public relations | 450+ | $10 – $150 |
| Brand manager | 290 | $15 – $225 |
- Content writer
For any company content marketing is the backbone of its digital marketing strategy.
In the last few years the demand for freelance content writers has grown more than any other sector. According to HubSpot, 66% marketers expect a substantial jump in the content marketing budget for 2022 than the previous year.
There are more than 4.900 freelance content writing jobs available on Upwork. Most of them require about 30 hours a week of work with some looking for a contract of upto 6 months.
Fee range of a freelance content writer
Depending on your experience, you can earn $15 to $80 an hour as a freelance content writer. The sweet spot for most of the freelancers on Upwork is between $30 and $50.
Related jobs:
| Job type | Number of jobs on Upwork | Hourly fee range |
| Translator | 3,600+ | $15 – $25 |
| Ghost writer | 880+ | $20 – $45 |
| SEO writer | 3,600+ | $15 – $35 |
- Video editor
With the rise of video consumption in the last few years, more and more brands are using short videos to either promote their products or post explainer videos.
While social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook are increasingly pushing video content to their users, e-commerce platforms and D2C brands have also started using videos on their product pages.
The need to regularly upload professionally made videos has catapulted the demand for freelance video editors to the sky.
There are over 4,300 freelance video editor jobs available on Upwork.
Fee range of a freelance video editor
As a freelance video editor you can earn anywhere between $20 and $100 per hour.
The scope of work in video editing is vast. So while setting up your portfolio on any freelancing website, you need to clearly mention what you are best at.
Related jobs:
| Job type | Number of jobs on Upwork | Hourly fee range |
| Photo editor | 2,300+ | $10 – $25 |
| Videographer | 840 | $15 – $30 |
Conclusion
Apart from Upwork, you should check out other freelancing websites Fiverr, Freelancer.com, etc that list all the jobs mentioned above. Read our blog on how to navigate through the top five freelancing websites.
However, you shouldn’t rely on just freelancing websites to land you gigs. Friends in the professional circle are a good source to find relevant freelance work.
Working directly with individuals might cause payment friction in terms of delays as well as lack of payment options. Paytm Payment Link is a quick and simple way to accept digital payments using more than 100 payment modes.
