Austin’s reputation as a thriving tech hub has coined the city “Silicon Hills,” but there’s a much more local aspect that’s boosting the city’s tech industry outside of big companies like Google, Tesla, or Amazon. Independent professionals — better known as freelance workers — are a major backbone benefitting Austin’s tech scene. They brought in nearly $4 billion to the city’s economy in 2023, according to the latest Freelance Economic Impact Report by Fiverr.
The seventh annual edition of the report, published May 22, examined freelance economic data across the top 30 metropolitan cities in the U.S. and categorized freelancers’ economic impact through three key industries: creative services, skilled technical services, and skilled professional services.
According to the report, Austin had more than 18,000 creative services freelancers in 2023, including artists, writers, performers, and video/audio producers. These creative freelancers brought in a projected revenue greater than $535.54 million last year, which was the 13th highest in the nation.
The report additionally found that independent creative workers in Austin, and in other cities within the top 30 markets, earn $32,085 on average, compared to the national average of $27,797.
Freelancers working in technical service roles in Austin – like data processing, architecture, design, engineering, IT, and scientific services – brought in a jaw-dropping $1.56 billion in projected revenue in 2023. There were fewer than 24,000 technical independent professionals working in Austin in 2023, the report estimated.
Freelance workers in the skilled professional services sector were defined as those working in legal services, accounting/bookkeeping, management consulting, marketing, and business support. The report estimated there were more than 38,000 professional service freelancers working in Austin that brought in over $1.87 billion in revenue in 2023.
Commonalities between the top freelancer markets
The Freelance Economic Impact Report additionally organized the top 50 U.S. freelancer markets into nine different categories: Diverse Professional Markets, Affordable Heartland Cities, Creative Destinations, Upscale Brain Markets, Sunbelt Professional Havens, Rising Tech Hubs, Lone Star Boom Towns, Middle Income Oases, and Big Tech Centers.
Rather than being grouped into the “Lone Star Boom Towns,” Austin was specifically called out as one of seven “Rising Tech Hubs” nationwide. The report says it is the third-fastest growing category out of the total nine market groupings in both revenue and the number of freelancers.
“With a highly educated, relatively young population with kids in the household, this group may be the next tech-hub for freelancers as the tech economy in general shifts from the large tech centers to smaller cities,” the report said.
Other “Rising Tech Hubs” include Atlanta, Georgia; Denver, Colorado; Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Elsewhere in Texas
Freelancers in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio are also raking in the big bucks for their respective city’s economies, the report found.
Dallas has the No. 5 biggest freelance workforce out of the top 30 markets in the country, with an estimated nearly 196,000 independent workers. Those freelancers brought in a projected $9.05 billion in 2023.
Houston was right behind Dallas with the No. 6-biggest freelance workforce in the U.S., whose 188,882 freelancers brought in more than $8.46 billion in 2023.
San Antonio fell towards the bottom of the list with the No. 28 biggest independent workforce and revenue projections in 2023. The report estimated 47,715 San Antonio-based freelancers earned just under $1.84 billion in revenue last year.
The top 10 U.S. cities that earned the highest projected revenue from its freelance workforce in 2023 are:
- No. 1 – New York, New York ($30,356,247,155)
- No. 2 – Los Angeles, California ($22,198,541,206)
- No. 3 – Miami, Florida ($15,687,788,406)
- No. 4 – Washington, D.C. ($9,668,332,941)
- No. 5 – San Francisco, California ($9,361,812,425)
- No. 6 – Dallas, Texas ($9,053,620,596)
- No. 7 – Houston, Texas ($8,459,360,530)
- No. 8 – Chicago, Illinois ($7,878,098,522)
- No. 9 – Atlanta, Georgia ($7,054,160,300)
- No. 10 – Boston, Massachusetts ($6,961,305,451)
The Freelance Economic Impact Report analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Nonemployer Statistics (NES) data series and the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to determine the number of individual tax filings for independent workers and the overall revenue for the top 30 metropolitan cities in the country.
The full report and its methodology can be found on fiverr.com.
Source: Austin freelancers brought in nearly $4 billion in 2023, new report finds
