Are you interested in adding occasional freelance jobs to your regular, traditional employment schedule? Maybe you’re looking to cut the cord from traditional work altogether. If you’re wondering whether you can earn a good income as a freelancer, the answer is yes. If you’re asking yourself whether you can build an entire career with freelance jobs, the answer is yes.
What are Freelance Jobs?
Many have chosen to reduce their reliance on, and commitment to, traditional full-time work schedules by securing freelance jobs. Freelance jobs are jobs that you engage in independently via some sort of contractual arrangement. As a freelancer, you earn money doing independent project work on an as-needed basis (typically short-term) for one or more clients.
The companies, entities or people who hire you are your clients. And, if you choose, you can simultaneously freelance for multiple different projects with multiple different clients (companies, entities or people). You’re not limited to working for only one client. Where time and contract terms permit, you are free to work with one or more clients within the same time frame.
The Top 3 Freelance Jobs For 2025 That Pay Very Well
Upwork is an all-inclusive platform that makes it easy to align available freelance jobs with freelance workers. People doing freelance work can search for project opportunities. And prospective clients can view and select from a myriad of freelance worker portfolios and skills to hire whom they need for open freelance jobs.
Prospective clients can post their projects on the platform, and freelance workers post their proposals, pricing and skills. Beyond a place to match freelancers with clients and vice versa, Upwork streamlines the project management components of contracting, invoicing and payment as well.
Upwork put together a listing of 25 of the highest paying freelance jobs for 2025. The top three highest-paying freelance jobs for 2025, according to Upwork, are:
1. Media Buyer
Media buyers work primarily with business clients to determine the best platforms from which to purchase advertising space. Freelance media buyers consider many different media spots (digital, print, radio and television) to help their clients run marketing campaigns and get maximum exposure for their advertisements.
These professionals make decisions about advertisement placement and also track performance data to recommend adjustments to their clients. Upwork identifies the pay range for freelance jobs in this category to be between $50 and $100 per hour.
2. Public Relations Manager
Public relations managers help companies and organizations with communication strategies, messaging, relationship development and brand management. Freelance public managers may be brought in to serve as a public (outward) face of the entity and to collaborate with an internal team to do things such as issue press releases and assess alignment between website design and other public-facing messaging with the organization’s brand.
They can also help draft messaging for interacting with news media and event managers accordingly. Upwork identifies the pay range for freelance jobs in this category to be between $50 and $100 per hour.
3. Business Consultant
Business consultants work with large and small companies and organizations to help executives and managers identify and solve simple and complex business problems as well as define and improve processes. Business consultants tend to provide services in one or more of these three areas: functional and specialized expertise, objective analysis and assessments and project management.
This work can cover the spectrum of financial analysis, human resources, sales and marketing issues, etc. Upwork identifies the pay range for freelance jobs in this category to be between $28 and $98 per hour.
More Freelance Jobs to Consider
Remote.com also tallied up a listing of 10 best freelance jobs that pay well. This listing aligns with Upwork’s at some points and differs in others. If you are truly interested in securing freelance jobs in 2025, I recommend you check out both articles for insights.
Of particular note from Remote.com is that it identifies a different set of top-three freelance jobs, but this listing prioritizes the work as popular and rewarding over pay. The top three freelance jobs according to Remote.com are:
- Content writer
- Graphic designer
- Web developer
Are Freelance Jobs a Good Fit for You?
As a freelancer, the client gets to define your work project outcomes (expected results), but you get the freedom to outline what you’ll do (and how you’ll go about it) to achieve those project outcomes. According to the IRS, “the general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if the person for whom the services are performed has the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not what will be done and how it will be done.”
The key difference here that the IRS highlights is that with employees, “the employer has the legal right to control the details of how the services are performed” and with non-employees (those in freelance jobs), they do not.
Unlike with a regular W-2 employee, a person working freelance jobs is considered an independent contractor and is specifically identified as not being an employee. While the work projects and deliverables may be done for your clients, when you work as a freelancer you are distinctly working for yourself and will be paid 1099-NEC (nonemployee compensation) under non-employee status.
Also, freelance workers are responsible for handling all tax withholdings as the client will not pay or withhold taxes on your behalf.
When you work freelance jobs, you’re basically trading established hours, more control over your work, regular paychecks, employee benefits and other perks for more freedom, flexibility and the option to secure as many client projects as you desire. Is that a trade you’d like to make?