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Big Markets, Unsteady Pay: Where Gig Work Really Stands Out Across America

August 17, 2026

Big Markets, Unsteady Pay: Where Gig Work Really Stands Out Across America

Gig work can provide flexibility and new ways to earn, but local conditions vary widely. A metro with more opportunities may not offer the highest pay or the most predictable earnings, making it difficult to judge where gig-related work is strongest overall.

To examine these differences, Giggster analyzed the 30 largest U.S. metro areas using quarterly average weekly pay for independent artists, writers, and performers, median hourly wages across five gig-related occupations, and nonemployer business data. The report compares pay stability, hourly earnings, and gig business market size across major U.S. metros.

View our full methodology and breakdown here.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

  • No metro led across every measure. New York offered the largest freelancer business market, Washington had the highest typical hourly pay, and Minneapolis provided the most stable earnings.

  • Across the 26 ranked metros, average pay variation was 35%. Minneapolis had the most stable pay at 9%, while Tampa had the least stable at 139%.

  • Typical hourly pay averaged about $33 across the 29 qualifying metros. Washington ranked highest at $52 per hour, while Pittsburgh ranked lowest at $22 per hour.

  • Washington came closest to an all-around strong result. It ranked first for typical hourly pay, fourth for pay stability, and fifth for freelancer business market size. 

Where Gig Pay Is Most Predictable: Minneapolis Leads, While Tampa Swings Widest

What the Data Shows:

  • Minneapolis ranked as the most stable metro for gig pay, with a pay variation of 9%, about 73% below the 35% average across the 26 ranked metros. 

  • Tampa had the least stable gig pay, with a pay variation of 139% and an average weekly wage for independent artists, writers, and performers ranging from about $0.9K to $13.6K.

  • Three California metros ranked among the 10 least stable for pay in gig-related work: Los Angeles at No. 2, Riverside at No. 5, and San Diego at No. 6. All three recorded pay variation of at least 39%.

Washington Leads Gig Pay Across the Occupations Studied

What the Data Shows:

  • Washington ranked as the highest-paying metro for the five gig-related occupations, with a typical hourly pay of $52, followed by Atlanta at $49 and Seattle at $46.

  • Pittsburgh had the lowest typical hourly pay at $22, followed by Tampa at $23 and Phoenix, Orlando, and St. Louis each averaging about $24 per hour.

  • Musicians and singers were the highest-paying occupation across major metros, more than any other occupation. 

New York’s Gig Business Market Is the Largest, but Not the Most Stable

What the Data Shows:

  • New York had the largest freelancer business market, with 106.2K businesses, followed by Los Angeles with 93.4K. Chicago ranked third with 30.8K.

  • Los Angeles had the highest business share among the metros shown, with 7% of all businesses without paid employees classified as independent artists, writers, and performers.

  • Eight of the 10 largest markets had at least 20K freelancer businesses, while none of the 10 smallest markets had more than 10.1K. 

Key Terms

Metro Area

A metro area includes a principal city and nearby communities connected through employment and economic activity. Metro names in this report refer to the full metropolitan area, not only the central city.

Pay Variation

Pay Variation shows how much quarterly average weekly pay changed during the study period. A lower percentage indicates more stable pay, while a higher percentage indicates less predictable pay.

Average Weekly Pay

Average Weekly Pay refers to the average amount paid per worker per week during a quarter. It is based on payroll data for private-sector employees and does not represent individual freelancer earnings.

Typical Hourly Pay

Typical Hourly Pay is the median of the available median hourly wages for writers, artists, actors, photographers, and musicians in each metro.

Gig-Related Occupations

The five occupations included in the hourly pay analysis are writers and authors, artists and related workers, actors, photographers, and musicians and singers.

Freelancer Business

A Freelancer Business is a business with no paid employees in the independent artists, writers, and performers industry. The figures count businesses, not individual freelancers.

Business Share

Business Share is the percentage of all businesses without paid employees in a metro that are classified as independent artists, writers, and performers.

Nonemployer Business

A nonemployer business has no paid employees and is generally operated by a self-employed person or business owner. One person may operate more than one nonemployer business.

Methodology

This report compares gig-related pay and business conditions across the 30 largest U.S. metro areas. The metros were selected using U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 population estimates.

The analysis compares metros across three measures: pay stability, hourly pay for selected gig-related occupations, and gig business market size. Each category was ranked separately and was not combined into an overall score.

Gig Pay Stability

This category measures how much average weekly pay varied across quarters for independent artists, writers, and performers.

Data was retrieved from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) (2019 and 2022–2024). 

Industry: NAICS 7115, Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers.

The study period included quarterly data from 2019 and 2022 through 2024. The 2020 and 2021 data were excluded because pandemic-related shutdowns and unusual demand patterns could distort longer-term comparisons.

To measure pay stability:

  • Quarterly average weekly pay was collected for each metro.
  • Pay Variation was calculated using the coefficient of variation.
  • Metros were ranked from lowest to highest Pay Variation.
  • Lower percentages indicate more stable pay, while higher percentages indicate less predictable pay.

The calculation was: Pay Variation = population standard deviation of quarterly pay ÷ average quarterly pay × 100

Metros needed at least eight published quarters to qualify. Twenty-six metros met this requirement. Seattle, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Portland were not ranked because they had fewer than eight available quarters.

Gig Occupation Pay

This category compares median hourly pay across five gig-related occupations.

Data was retrieved from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (2025).

The occupations studied were:

  • Writers and Authors
  • Artists and Related Workers
  • Actors
  • Photographers
  • Musicians and Singers

To calculate Typical Hourly Pay:

  • The published median hourly wage was collected for each available occupation.
  • The median of the available occupational wages was calculated for each metro.
  • Metros were ranked from highest to lowest based on Typical Hourly Pay.

Metros needed published wage data for at least three of the five occupations to qualify. Twenty-nine metros qualified. San Francisco was excluded because published median wages were available for only two occupations.

The Highest-Paying Job identifies the occupation with the highest published median hourly wage in each metro.

Gig Business Market Size

This category measures the number of businesses without paid employees in the independent artists, writers, and performers industry.

Data was retrieved from the U.S. Census Bureau Nonemployer Statistics (2022, the most recent available).

Industry: NAICS 7115, Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers.

Freelancer Businesses refers to businesses with no paid employees. The figures count businesses, not individual freelancers.

Metros were ranked from highest to lowest based on the number of freelancer businesses.

Business Share was calculated as: Freelancer businesses ÷ all businesses without paid employees in the metro × 100

Business Share was included to show how much of each metro’s broader nonemployer business market was made up of independent artists, writers, and performers.

Ranking Convention

Each category was ranked separately. The tables show the 10 highest and 10 lowest results for each measure.

Rankings were calculated using unrounded figures. Metros displaying the same rounded value are not necessarily tied.

Things to Keep in Mind

The measures used in this report are approximate indicators designed to capture different aspects of gig-related work, rather than direct measures of conditions for every gig worker. The results should be interpreted as comparative and directional, not definitive. The relationships between pay stability, hourly pay, and freelancer business market size are analytical rather than causal. A larger market or higher hourly pay does not necessarily mean more stable earnings or better opportunities for every worker.