In 2024, the American freelancers active in the 30 largest urban markets in the United States generated approximately 208 billion in revenues. This figure is up on the previous year and confirms the momentum that has been built up. This is no longer a weak signal or a peripheral phenomenon.
This economic volume places American freelancers at a level comparable to that of structured industrial sectors. The difference lies in the mode of production. Here, value is created without heavy infrastructures, without traditional hierarchies, often from individual organisations or small distributed teams.
The increase in freelancers Americans is not evenly distributed. Activities related to technology, digital marketing, product design, consulting and data are concentrating a growing share of value. Conversely, standardised or easily-automated services are making little progress, and are even declining in terms of average revenue.
For companies, this reality is changing the very nature of the use of American freelancers. They are no longer mobilised solely for one-off needs or execution tasks. They are now involved in structuring issues such as technical architecture, growth, overhauling offerings and managing complex projects. Freelancers are becoming a strategic lever, not simply a capacity adjustment.
This shift partly explains the overall increase observed in American freelancers. Assignments are longer, expectations are higher and remuneration levels are more closely correlated with the real impact on customers' business. The market values hourly volume less than the ability to solve specific problems.
The annual growth in revenues also shows that the model is here to stay. Visit American freelancers are benefiting from structural trends that are difficult to reverse: widespread teleworking, tighter budgetary choices on the corporate side, easier access to specialist talent without geographical constraints.
Finally, these 208 billion dollars are a reminder of something essential. The American freelancers no longer represent an alternative to traditional salaried employment. They are a fully-fledged pillar of the contemporary economy, with its own rules, imbalances and opportunities. Ignoring this reality, for businesses and decision-makers alike, is tantamount to underestimating an already established economic force.
