Highest Employee-Wage Anchors in the 2026 Catalog
This ranking uses the current U.S. employee-wage median attached to each mapped core occupation. It is not a survey of observed freelance rates.
How the ranking is built
Records with approved official percentile evidence are sorted by employee-wage P50. The modeled column is exactly P50 × 1.75. Model-estimate occupations are excluded from the ranking.
| Rank | Core occupation | Employee P50 | Modeled planning benchmark | Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Growth Marketer | $80.19/hr | $140.33/hr | Context-only U.S. occupation proxy |
| 2 | Marketing Strategist | $80.19/hr | $140.33/hr | Context-only U.S. occupation proxy |
| 3 | Product Marketing Manager | $80.19/hr | $140.33/hr | Strong official occupation proxy |
| 4 | Lawyer / Legal Consultant | $76.76/hr | $134.33/hr | Direct official occupation match |
| 5 | AI / ML Researcher | $67.45/hr | $118.04/hr | Direct official occupation match |
| 6 | Blockchain Developer | $67.45/hr | $118.04/hr | Context-only U.S. occupation proxy |
| 7 | Computer Vision Engineer | $67.45/hr | $118.04/hr | Strong official occupation proxy |
| 8 | ML Engineer | $67.45/hr | $118.04/hr | Strong official occupation proxy |
| 9 | NLP Engineer | $67.45/hr | $118.04/hr | Strong official occupation proxy |
| 10 | AR / VR Developer | $65.38/hr | $114.41/hr | Strong official occupation proxy |
| 11 | Backend Developer | $65.38/hr | $114.41/hr | Strong official occupation proxy |
| 12 | BI Developer | $65.38/hr | $114.41/hr | Context-only U.S. occupation proxy |
| 13 | DevOps Engineer | $65.38/hr | $114.41/hr | Strong official occupation proxy |
| 14 | Embedded Systems Developer | $65.38/hr | $114.41/hr | Strong official occupation proxy |
| 15 | Full-Stack Developer | $65.38/hr | $114.41/hr | Strong official occupation proxy |
Limitations
Official occupation groups can be broader than freelance specialties, and employee wages are not observed contractor prices. Country sources use different classifications, populations, periods, and units.