Editor’s Notice: This story initially appeared on Self.
Previous to the pandemic, self-employment was on the decline and had been falling since 2004. When the financial shutdown occurred within the spring of 2020, practically 22 million employees misplaced their jobs and the self-employment fee rose to 10.5%.
The next yr, employees started quitting their jobs on the highest charges for the reason that Nice Recession, and consequently, the self-employment fee held regular as a few of these employees sought to start out companies.
Whereas some industries and occupations have a lot greater charges of self-employment, all trade sectors noticed will increase of their self-employment charges compared with pre-pandemic ranges.
Manufacturing has the smallest self-employment fee, however noticed the most important enhance in complete self-employed employees at 13.3%. Equally, the finance trade noticed a 7.0% enhance within the complete variety of self-employed employees.
These trade variations in self-employment additionally create regional variations.
To search out the metropolitan areas with essentially the most self-employed employees, researchers on behalf of Self Monetary analyzed the newest knowledge from the U.S. Census Bureau. Discover particulars on our methodology on the finish.
Listed below are the U.S. metropolitan areas with essentially the most self-employed employees.
15. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 10.4%
- Complete self-employed employees: 350,713
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $50,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $50,000
- Inhabitants: 7,206,841
14. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 10.5%
- Complete self-employed employees: 126,262
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $45,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $45,000
- Inhabitants: 2,601,788
13. Oklahoma Metropolis, OK
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 10.6%
- Complete self-employed employees: 72,666
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $40,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $45,000
- Inhabitants: 1,441,647
12. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 10.6%
- Complete self-employed employees: 323,989
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $50,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $54,000
- Inhabitants: 6,144,050
11. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 10.9%
- Complete self-employed employees: 137,893
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $59,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $60,000
- Inhabitants: 2,511,612
10. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 10.9%
- Complete self-employed employees: 177,204
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $62,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $60,000
- Inhabitants: 2,972,566
9. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 10.9%
- Complete self-employed employees: 256,567
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $70,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $82,000
- Inhabitants: 4,623,264
8. New Orleans-Metairie, LA
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 11.0%
- Complete self-employed employees: 62,112
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $48,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $50,000
- Inhabitants: 1,261,726
7. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 11.0%
- Complete self-employed employees: 169,080
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $52,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $59,000
- Inhabitants: 3,286,069
6. Austin-Spherical Rock-Georgetown, TX
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 11.2%
- Complete self-employed employees: 142,711
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $60,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $60,000
- Inhabitants: 2,352,426
5. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 11.2%
- Complete self-employed employees: 145,480
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $50,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $45,000
- Inhabitants: 2,691,925
4. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 11.5%
- Complete self-employed employees: 175,962
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $50,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $48,000
- Inhabitants: 3,219,514
3. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 11.6%
- Complete self-employed employees: 120,898
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $50,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $50,000
- Inhabitants: 2,012,476
2. Los Angeles-Lengthy Seashore-Anaheim, CA
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 13.2%
- Complete self-employed employees: 820,969
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $50,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $53,000
- Inhabitants: 12,997,353
1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Seashore, FL
- Proportion of employees who’re self-employed: 15.8%
- Complete self-employed employees: 468,070
- Median revenue for full-time self-employed employees: $40,000
- Median revenue for all full-time employees: $44,200
- Inhabitants: 6,091,747
Methodology
To search out the metropolitan areas with essentially the most self-employed employees, researchers on behalf of Self Monetary analyzed the newest knowledge from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Neighborhood Survey.
The researchers ranked metro areas in accordance with the proportion of employees who’re self-employed. Within the occasion of a tie, the metro with the bigger variety of self-employed employees was ranked greater.
Researchers additionally calculated the median revenue for full-time self-employed employees and the median revenue for all full-time employees utilizing knowledge from 2020, the newest accessible.
To enhance relevance, solely metropolitan areas with no less than 100,000 individuals have been included within the evaluation.