How to read these rates
Employee references are annual US median wages for the cited BLS occupation, which may cover several career paths. Freelance examples add $15,000 for benefits and $20,000 for business costs, then divide by 1,200 billable hours a year. Annual figures are rounded to the nearest $1,000 and hourly figures to the nearest dollar. Figures are before personal taxes, with no percentage fees. Open a guide to see the source or adjust the assumptions in the calculator.
Cross-industry
- Employee reference
- $77K/yr
- Freelance example
- $93/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Writers and authors
A copywriter creates persuasive messages that help an audience understand an offer and decide what to do next. Effective copy connects customer needs, credible claims, and a clear action.
View career → Copywriter
Fintech & financial services
- Employee reference
- $106K/yr
- Freelance example
- $117/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Computer systems analysts
Helps financial institutions configure banking systems, migrate approved data, validate workflows, and prepare operational handovers under institutional control and review.
View career → Core banking implementation consultant
Cross-industry
- Employee reference
- $69K/yr
- Freelance example
- $87/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Training and development specialists
A corporate trainer helps employees practice a specific workplace skill. They turn subject knowledge into clear exercises, useful feedback, and job-relevant examples so participants can apply what they learn after the session.
View career → Corporate trainer
Media & entertainment
- Employee reference
- $102K/yr
- Freelance example
- $114/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Project management specialists
Track a script's costume requirements across characters, scenes, changes, and shooting order so wardrobe planning has an organized and current information base.
View career → Costume breakdown coordinator
Legal & compliance
- Employee reference
- $106K/yr
- Freelance example
- $117/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Computer systems analysts
Helps courts or legal institutions adopt technology through workflow discovery, configuration, accessibility, training, and controlled handover under institutional governance and authorized procedural review.
View career → Court technology implementation consultant
Content creation
- Employee reference
- $79K/yr
- Freelance example
- $95/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Market Research Analysts
Interpret channel and content data to distinguish audience behavior, distribution effects, and decisions that production teams can actually test.
View career → Creator analytics analyst
Content creation
- Employee reference
- $75K/yr
- Freelance example
- $91/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Public relations specialists
Organize member benefits, communication rhythms, access questions, and feedback so a creator's paid or free membership has a clear operating promise.
View career → Creator membership manager
Content creation
- Employee reference
- $102K/yr
- Freelance example
- $114/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Management analysts
Organize a creator business's production calendar, asset library, collaborators, and routine handoffs so output does not depend on improvised coordination.
View career → Creator operations manager
Content creation
- Employee reference
- $75K/yr
- Freelance example
- $91/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Public relations specialists
Coordinate creator collaborations by clarifying audience fit, deliverables, approvals, and the responsibilities attached to sponsored work.
View career → Creator partnerships coordinator
Content creation
- Employee reference
- $102K/yr
- Freelance example
- $114/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Management analysts
Track sponsor requirements, proposals, asset approvals, and delivery records so commercial partnerships remain organized across a creator's publishing schedule.
View career → Creator sponsorship coordinator
Fintech & financial services
- Employee reference
- $103K/yr
- Freelance example
- $115/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Financial and investment analysts
Evaluates credit-related evidence and portfolio patterns under approved institutional models, explaining assumptions, uncertainty, and decision limitations rather than promising accurate individual predictions.
View career → Credit risk analyst
Negotiation & communication coaching
- Employee reference
- $69K/yr
- Freelance example
- $87/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Training and development specialists
Helps leaders rehearse clear communication under uncertainty, coordinating message discipline, responsibilities, and specialist review without replacing legal, safety, or incident-management expertise.
View career → Crisis communication coach
Physical sciences
- Employee reference
- $118K/yr
- Freelance example
- $127/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Materials Scientists
Determine and evaluate structural information from diffraction evidence. Assess model fit, symmetry, and uncertainty so a structural interpretation remains traceable to observations rather than a preferred visual model.
View career → Crystallographer
Nutrition & wellness coaching
- Employee reference
- $64K/yr
- Freelance example
- $83/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Health Education Specialists
Connects general nutrition literacy with practical cooking instruction, helping learners understand ingredients and preparation while keeping clinical dietary questions within qualified professional care.
View career → Culinary nutrition educator
Education & learning
- Employee reference
- $77K/yr
- Freelance example
- $94/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Instructional Coordinators
Organize a sequence of learning experiences around defined outcomes, prerequisite knowledge, practice opportunities, and evidence that the sequence supports the intended task.
View career → Curriculum developer
Negotiation & communication coaching
- Employee reference
- $69K/yr
- Freelance example
- $87/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Training and development specialists
Teaches service teams to understand customer needs, explain options, and handle difficult interactions using accurate information and clear escalation rather than scripts that conceal responsibility.
View career → Customer conversation trainer
Business & leadership coaching
- Employee reference
- $102K/yr
- Freelance example
- $114/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Management analysts
Helps founders and product teams improve research habits by asking clearer questions and separating observed customer needs from positive reactions to proposed solutions.
View career → Customer discovery coach
Fintech & financial services
- Employee reference
- $102K/yr
- Freelance example
- $114/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Management analysts
Reviews onboarding information and risk evidence within a financial institution's approved customer due diligence process, documenting gaps and decisions for authorized reviewers.
View career → Customer due diligence analyst
Cross-industry
- Employee reference
- $102K/yr
- Freelance example
- $114/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Management analysts
A customer success consultant improves how a business helps customers achieve useful results after a sale. They connect onboarding, adoption evidence, support handoffs, and renewal conversations to the customer's actual goals.
View career → Customer success consultant
Transport & logistics
- Employee reference
- $82K/yr
- Freelance example
- $98/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Logisticians
Supports customs transactions within required authorization, gathering documentation and coordinating approved processes while maintaining clear responsibility for declarations, classification, and regulatory review.
View career → Customs broker
Cross-industry
- Employee reference
- $129K/yr
- Freelance example
- $137/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Information Security Analysts
Investigate security signals and help organizations reduce exposure to threats. Cybersecurity analysts connect logs, access reviews, and incident evidence to practical response decisions, while distinguishing urgent findings from background noise.
View career → Cybersecurity Analyst
Cybersecurity & IT
- Employee reference
- $129K/yr
- Freelance example
- $137/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Information Security Analysts
Organize security control evidence for a defined framework and organizational scope. Distinguish documented controls, verified implementation, and unanswered questions while leaving formal certification and legal conclusions to qualified authorities.
View career → Cybersecurity Compliance Analyst
Cybersecurity & IT
- Employee reference
- $90K/yr
- Freelance example
- $105/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Technical writers
Develop clear security documentation from approved technical and policy sources. Maintain terminology, access restrictions, and review traceability so simplified guidance does not introduce unapproved controls or unsupported compliance claims.
View career → Cybersecurity Documentation Specialist
Cybersecurity & IT
- Employee reference
- $102K/yr
- Freelance example
- $114/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Project management specialists
Coordinate cybersecurity initiatives across technical, business, and external teams. Keep dependencies, evidence, and decision ownership visible while avoiding unsupported claims that completing a project plan eliminates organizational risk.
View career → Cybersecurity Program Manager
Fitness & sport coaching
- Employee reference
- $47K/yr
- Freelance example
- $69/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Coaches and Scouts
Supports cycling development through structured sessions, ride analysis, and event preparation suited to the rider's discipline, experience, equipment, and available training time.
View career → Cycling coach
Media & entertainment
- Employee reference
- $75K/yr
- Freelance example
- $92/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Film and video editors
Prepare review-ready production footage with consistent identification, synchronized references, and clearly documented processing choices for editorial and production teams.
View career → Dailies technician
Food & beverage
- Employee reference
- $89K/yr
- Freelance example
- $103/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Food Scientists and Technologists
Assess dairy processing workflows with attention to material characteristics, equipment constraints, and required validation. Translate operating records into improvement questions for qualified engineering and food safety teams.
View career → Dairy Process Specialist
Transport & logistics
- Employee reference
- $82K/yr
- Freelance example
- $98/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Logisticians
Coordinates dangerous-goods documentation and compliance processes within required training, authorization, and current official procedures, keeping specialized handling decisions with qualified personnel.
View career → Dangerous goods compliance specialist
Cross-industry
- Employee reference
- $89K/yr
- Freelance example
- $103/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Operations Research Analysts
Turn messy records into clear answers for a business decision. Data analysts define useful measures, check data quality, and explain patterns without claiming that every observed relationship proves a cause.
View career → Data Analyst
Software & AI
- Employee reference
- $102K/yr
- Freelance example
- $114/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Management analysts
Coordinate annotation work around clear task definitions, authorized data, and quality evidence. Align reviewer training and disagreement handling without treating high agreement as proof that labels answer the intended product question.
View career → Data Annotation Operations Manager
Cross-industry
- Employee reference
- $105K/yr
- Freelance example
- $116/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Database Administrators
Keep business databases available, recoverable, and appropriately protected. Database administrators manage access, diagnose performance issues, and test recovery procedures so important records remain usable when systems or people make mistakes.
View career → Database Administrator
Cross-industry
- Employee reference
- $140K/yr
- Freelance example
- $145/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Database Architects
Build the pipelines that make data available for reporting and applications. Data engineers focus on dependable ingestion, clear schemas, recoverable failures, and a useful record of where each dataset came from.
View career → Data Engineer
Legal & compliance
- Employee reference
- $129K/yr
- Freelance example
- $137/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Information Security Analysts
Performs a designated privacy oversight role where applicable, combining appropriate expertise, independence, monitoring, and stakeholder communication within jurisdiction-specific duties and professional requirements.
View career → Data protection officer
Cross-industry
- Employee reference
- $120K/yr
- Freelance example
- $129/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Data Scientists
Use statistical methods and models to investigate questions and support decisions under uncertainty. Data scientists judge whether available data can answer the question before investing in a more complicated prediction method.
View career → Data Scientist
Design
- Employee reference
- $120K/yr
- Freelance example
- $129/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Data Scientists
Sequence evidence and visual comparisons into a clear narrative without hiding uncertainty or using visual emphasis to overstate a finding.
View career → Data storytelling designer
Cross-industry
- Employee reference
- $120K/yr
- Freelance example
- $129/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Data Scientists
Help people understand evidence through charts and interactive explanations. Visualization specialists choose suitable visual encodings, preserve important uncertainty, and design accessible ways to inspect a comparison without distorting the underlying data.
View career → Data Visualization Specialist
Negotiation & communication coaching
- Employee reference
- $69K/yr
- Freelance example
- $87/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Training and development specialists
Teaches argument structure, evidence evaluation, rebuttal, and respectful participation through practice matched to a debate format and the learner's experience.
View career → Debate coach
Business & leadership coaching
- Employee reference
- $102K/yr
- Freelance example
- $114/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Management analysts
Helps clients examine reasoning, compare options, and review decision habits without assuming authority for choices requiring the client's judgment or specialist expertise.
View career → Decision making coach
Defense
- Employee reference
- $78K/yr
- Freelance example
- $94/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Buyers and purchasing agents
Help teams compare unclassified acquisition options against documented needs and constraints. Organize evaluation evidence, assumptions, and decision records without representing the work as an official procurement determination.
View career → Defense Acquisition Analyst
Defense
- Employee reference
- $90K/yr
- Freelance example
- $105/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Technical writers
Maintain traceability between approved configurations, changes, and supporting records in unclassified programs. Help teams understand which document or component version applies without assuming administrative control replaces technical verification.
View career → Defense Configuration Manager
Defense
- Employee reference
- $102K/yr
- Freelance example
- $114/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Management analysts
Support analysis and administration of unclassified defense contracts using authorized records. Track deliverables, changes, and evidence questions while leaving legal interpretations and contracting decisions to appropriately authorized professionals.
View career → Defense Contracts Analyst
Defense
- Employee reference
- $103K/yr
- Freelance example
- $115/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Financial and investment analysts
Assess unclassified program cost assumptions and their sensitivity to changing requirements. Distinguish estimates, committed costs, and uncertainty so decision-makers can understand the limitations of a budget comparison.
View career → Defense Cost Analyst
Defense
- Employee reference
- $129K/yr
- Freelance example
- $137/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Information Security Analysts
Review authorized cybersecurity evidence for unclassified defense support systems. Help teams document control gaps and response responsibilities while respecting strict access boundaries and ownership of security authorization decisions.
View career → Defense Cybersecurity Analyst
Defense
- Employee reference
- $89K/yr
- Freelance example
- $103/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Operations Research Analysts
Help unclassified programs organize data ownership, quality, and authorized uses. Connect reporting needs with classification guidance, access records, and documentation while reserving official marking decisions for authorized personnel.
View career → Defense Data Governance Analyst
Defense
- Employee reference
- $121K/yr
- Freelance example
- $130/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Electrical Engineers
Develop requirements and verification plans for unclassified support electronics. Coordinate power, interfaces, maintainability, and documented operating limits without working on weapons or sensitive operational capabilities.
View career → Defense Electronics Engineer
Defense
- Employee reference
- $82K/yr
- Freelance example
- $98/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
Organize environmental evidence and reporting for unclassified facilities or support activities. Explain record gaps and monitoring questions while reserving compliance determinations, field approvals, and legal interpretations for authorized specialists.
View career → Defense Environmental Compliance Analyst
Defense
- Employee reference
- $102K/yr
- Freelance example
- $114/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Project management specialists
Coordinate unclassified facilities work supporting civilian operations or training. Manage schedules, dependencies, and contractor communication while preserving licensed design, site safety, security, and official acceptance responsibilities.
View career → Defense Facilities Project Manager
Defense
- Employee reference
- $79K/yr
- Freelance example
- $95/hr
BLS · May 2025 · Market research analysts
Study how people interact with unclassified support systems and training workflows. Translate observed usability issues into evidence-based recommendations while respecting participant protections and qualified review of safety-related decisions.
View career → Defense Human Factors Specialist