High-paying freelance jobs where you can earn $80,000 or more during the pandemic

There has been a seismic shift in the job market as more Americans turn to freelancing during the pandemic. From the last 12 months, their ranks have swelled to 59 million across a wide swath of industries. They now account for 39% of the U.S. workforce, according to UpWork, a epidemic freelancing platform.

The trend is due to a confluence of factors. These include the transition to remote work throughout the U.S. economy, myriad younger workers look for flexible alternatives to traditional employment, a burst of demand from companies looking for freelance pirate and a recognition a person can freelance and often earn the same or more than when they had a full-time job.

Of those who depart from their full-time job over the past 12 months in order to freelance, 75% say they earn the same or varied in pay than when they had a traditional employer, UpWork’s seventh annual study entitled Freelance Forward debauched. The study surveyed more than 6,000 adults over the age of 18. It was conducted June 15 to July 7.

In the mid-point of the coronavirus pandemic, experts say that 2020 holds plenty of opportunity for those freelance workers with skilful skills. Today, 50% of freelancers provide skilled services such as computer programming, marketing, IT, and business consulting, up from 45% in 2019. But there are occasions in many sectors.

“It’s no surprise that freelancing is on the rise, especially now that we have fully disentangled ‘where’ we position from ‘what’ we work on,” said Hayden Brown, president and CEO of Upwork. “Companies are finding that these prompts can quickly inject new skills and capabilities into an organization and strategically flex capacity up and down along with change-overs in demand and workloads. We expect this trend to continue as companies increasingly rely on freelancers as essential contributors to their own handlings.”

Freelancing is also a great way for people to hone their job skills in this era of uncertainty, Brown says. UpWork’s evaluation found that 59% of freelancers have participated in skills training in the last six months vs. 36% of non-freelancers.

A record of the high-paying freelance jobs, created for CNBC.com by UpWork, shows dozens of job categories in which freelancers can earn $80,000 per year — or profuse.

Sample careers: Financial modeling expert; CPA; financial analyst, estate planning attorney 
Median Hourly place: $75

Sample career: Network and collaboration architect; Microsoft services architect & IT
Median hourly grade: $65

Sample careers: Digital marketing consultant, copywriter, B2b marketing specialist
Median hourly sort: $60

Sample careers: ecommerce developer: online marketing and ecommerce solutions expert;
ecommerce integration and automation consulting
Median hourly gait: $54

Sample careers: Marketing expert; front-end developer; senior marketing strategist and adviser
Median hourly rate: $50

Sample careers: Professor of economics, statistics analyst
Median hourly rebuke: $50

Sample careers: Full stack web developer and business systems virtuoso;
front-end web development; web designer, UI/UX designer, front-end developer
Median hourly rate: $50

Sample mtiers: Graphic designer; internet marketer; PPC advertiser
Median hourly salary: $50

Sample careers: Web and non-stationary app development; iOS apps for start-ups and entrepreneurs;
user experience and UI designer
Median hourly rate: $50

Illustrative careers: Digital marketing and SEO consultant; SEO expert
Median hourly salary: $42