The Gender Pay Gap Is Even Bigger for Freelancers, New Survey Shows

Despite decades of effort to achieve better pay equity and equal opportunity in the workplace, the gender pay gap remains a complex and ongoing challenge in the United States. This is one of the most pernicious problems in the American economy because it's forcing half the population to be underpaid at work and under-resourced in investing for the future.

According to recent data from the Pew Research Center, American women get paid about $0.82 for every $1 that men get paid, or about 18% less. But the gender pay gap is not just an issue for big corporations. It's rearing its head in the world of small business and self-employment, too.

A new survey from OnDeck, a small business lender, found that freelancers and independent professionals are also vulnerable to a freelance gender pay gap. OnDeck's study shows that male freelancers charge about 26% more per hour than female freelancers do.

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Let's look at a few hard facts about the freelance gender pay gap between male and female freelancers.

Male freelancers charge 26.4% more than female freelancers

OnDeck did a survey on the Freelancer Pay Gap 2024, which included analysis of more than 9,000 freelancers on Upwork (a freelance talent platform) to compare hourly billing rates. OnDeck's research discovered that men tend to charge significantly more than women for their professional freelance services.

According to OnDeck's research, male freelancers charge an average of $75.44 per hour, while female freelancers charge an average of $59.70 per hour. This amounts to a difference of $15.74 per hour, or about 26.4%. That makes the freelance gender pay gap even bigger than the national average of 18%.

Freelance gender pay gaps are bigger for some professions

There's a wide range of services in the gig economy that count as "freelance" or "consulting." Not every freelancer is a creative professional like a writer or graphic designer; some have other business expertise or technical skills. The OnDeck survey examined the gender pay gap for a range of service categories and professions.

Here are a few professional fields that have the biggest freelance gender pay gaps, based on average billable rates per hour:

• Legal: Men charge $144.78 per hour vs. $68.19 for women (112% gap)
• Accounting & consulting: Men charge $92.17 per hour vs. $66.62 for women (38% gap)
• Engineering & architecture: Men charge $67.99 per hour vs. $55.25 for women (23% gap)
• Data science & analytics: Men charge $90.42 per hour vs. $77.11 for women (17% gap)

There's not always a clear cause for the freelance gender pay gap. But in general, the fact that women tend to charge lower freelance rates than men in certain technical professions like consulting, engineering, and legal work could be a sign of other systemic and cultural biases against women's labor and talent.

Women are often most underrepresented in the same professions that have the biggest freelance pay gaps. If a career field is unwelcoming to women, women might feel less valued and less confident charging as much as men charge for their skills (or men might feel confident charging more). The same gender disparities that appear in full-time jobs could also be showing up in the freelance pay gap.

Some good news on freelance gender pay gaps

Not all categories of freelance work have a big gender pay gap. The OnDeck study also found that women charge more than men do in a few categories of freelance services:

• Design & creative: Women charge an average of $62.86 per hour vs. $62.15 for men
• Customer service: Women charge an average of $36.07 per hour vs. $33.90 for men
• Admin support: Women charge an average of $57.95 per hour vs. $49.67 for men

This data shows some categories of freelance work that are more equitable -- and where women might even have a slight advantage in pricing their services. But these categories tend to be the lowest-paid types of freelance work. This is another reason why the gender pay gap persists: It's not always a matter of women getting paid less for the same work; it's that the market doesn't value the types of work that women are more likely to do.

Bottom line

The gender pay gap makes it harder for women to get ahead, no matter how clever they are at budgeting. Unfortunately, gender-based wage disparities happen not only in traditional employment but also with freelancers who can set their own hourly rates. If you're a freelancer, you have the right to negotiate your own pay on a project-by-project basis -- and you can decline to work for clients who don't pay your desired rates.

Freelancers also need to create a spirit of pay transparency within their industries. By networking with other freelancers and doing research into what "competitive" market pay rates truly are for your professional skill set, you can get more of what you deserve as a small business owner -- and get more cash in your business checking account.