Upwork Jobs by Country 2026: Where They Come From and When
Vibeworker observed 116,224 public Upwork job postings in September 2026, from clients in 292 countries and territories. This page answers four questions with that data: which countries post the most Upwork jobs, what clients in each country pay, when new jobs land in your time zone, and how many jobs ask for freelancers from your country.
The short version
- The United States posted 45% of all Upwork jobs. The US, UK, India, Australia and Canada together posted 69%.
- India was the 3rd-largest client country and Pakistan the 6th, ahead of the UAE, Germany and the Netherlands.
- Ukrainian clients paid the most for hourly work among large client countries: a typical posted top of $47 an hour, against $27 across all jobs.
- For freelancers in South and Southeast Asia, most jobs land in the evening and overnight. In India and Pakistan the busiest hours are 8 p.m. to midnight; in Jakarta, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
- About 1 in 10 jobs states a location preference. The country named most often was the Philippines (514 jobs in the first week of October), then India (277) and Pakistan (138).
Which countries post the most Upwork jobs
| Rank | Client country | Jobs | Share | Median fixed budget | Typical hourly top | Payment verified | Entry level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 52,508 | 45.2% | $100 | $28 | 80% | 7% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 8,758 | 7.5% | $100 | $27 | 80% | 11% |
| 3 | India | 6,928 | 6.0% | $100 | $27 | 50% | 13% |
| 4 | Australia | 6,201 | 5.3% | $110 | $27 | 75% | 6% |
| 5 | Canada | 5,260 | 4.5% | $150 | $25 | 77% | 7% |
| 6 | Pakistan* | 3,228 | 2.8% | $30 | $20 | 72% | 32% |
| 7 | United Arab Emirates | 2,283 | 2.0% | $136 | $25 | 71% | 7% |
| 8 | Germany | 1,841 | 1.6% | $120 | $30 | 80% | 11% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 1,712 | 1.5% | $150 | $25 | 81% | 12% |
| 10 | France | 1,351 | 1.2% | $100 | $25 | 74% | 16% |
| 11 | Philippines | 1,068 | 0.9% | $100 | $35 | 67% | 23% |
| 12 | Nigeria | 1,033 | 0.9% | $15 | $30 | 77% | 11% |
| 13 | China* | 943 | 0.8% | $50 | $30 | 91% | 41% |
| 14 | Saudi Arabia | 930 | 0.8% | $80 | $30 | 64% | 5% |
| 15 | Singapore | 929 | 0.8% | $150 | $25 | 79% | 13% |
| 16 | Spain | 923 | 0.8% | $150 | $25 | 69% | 7% |
| 17 | Ukraine | 854 | 0.7% | $60 | $47 | 84% | 18% |
| 18 | Bangladesh | 709 | 0.6% | $50 | $25 | 60% | 18% |
| 19 | Switzerland | 707 | 0.6% | $195 | $30 | 78% | 6% |
| 20 | Israel | 679 | 0.6% | $100 | $30 | 78% | 6% |
| All countries | 116,224 | 100% | $100 | $27 | 76% | 10% |
"Typical hourly top" is the median of the highest rate clients posted on hourly jobs. *A large share of jobs from Pakistan, China and Brazil were AI data-collection projects (voice and phone recording tasks for AI training), which pulls down their median budgets and raises their Entry-level share. In Pakistan they were 26% of all jobs from local clients.
Three things stand out:
- India and Pakistan are big client markets, not only freelancer markets. Clients there posted more Upwork jobs than clients in Germany, the Netherlands or France.
- Verification varies a lot. Only half of the jobs posted by clients in India came with a verified payment method, against about 80% for the US, UK and Germany. Check the badge before spending Connects, whatever the country.
- Budgets differ by country. Canadian clients listed a $150 median fixed budget against $100 for the US, and Switzerland posted few jobs but a $195 median.
Other freelancer markets ranked lower as client countries: Indonesia (#27, 510 jobs), Egypt (#28, 469), Turkey (#29, 464), Thailand (#45, 215) and Vietnam (#49, 202).
When new Upwork jobs land in your time zone
Most Upwork jobs are posted during US business hours, so the busiest hours depend on where you are. In September 2026:
| Freelancer country | Busiest 4 hours (local time) | Midnight to 6 a.m. | 6 p.m. to midnight |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 8 p.m. to midnight | 27% | 33% |
| Pakistan | 8 p.m. to midnight | 26% | 33% |
| Sri Lanka | 8 p.m. to midnight | 27% | 33% |
| Bangladesh | 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. | 29% | 32% |
| Nepal | 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. | 28% | 33% |
| Indonesia | 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. | 31% | 31% |
| Vietnam | 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. | 31% | 31% |
| Thailand | 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. | 31% | 31% |
| Philippines | 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. | 32% | 29% |
| Ukraine | 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. | 22% | 34% |
| Turkey | 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. | 22% | 34% |
| Egypt | 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. | 22% | 34% |
| Kenya | 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. | 22% | 34% |
| Nigeria | 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. | 19% | 31% |
| Morocco | 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. | 18% | 30% |
| Brazil | noon to 4 p.m. | 18% | 22% |
| Argentina | noon to 4 p.m. | 18% | 22% |
The busiest four hours carry about 23% of each day's jobs everywhere; what changes is where they fall in your day. From India eastward, more than half of all new jobs post between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time, which is why alerts matter more there than anywhere. From November 1, when US clocks go back, these peaks move one hour later in countries that do not change their own clocks (most of Asia and Africa). Ukraine and Egypt also move their clocks back in late October, so their peaks stay at about the same local time. The full hour-by-hour pattern is in the best time of day to apply to Upwork jobs.
Jobs that prefer freelancers from your country
Upwork clients can add a location preference to a job. For every country except the US and the UK, that preference does not hide the job: freelancers anywhere can still see it, but the client has said where they would like to hire. In the first week of October 2026, 2,616 of 25,583 new jobs (10%) carried a country or region preference. The countries named most often:
| Preferred country | Jobs (Oct 1 to 7, 2026) | Most common category |
|---|---|---|
| Philippines | 514 | Lead Generation & Telemarketing |
| India | 277 | Digital Marketing |
| Pakistan | 138 | Lead Generation & Telemarketing |
| South Africa | 130 | Lead Generation & Telemarketing |
| Ukraine | 102 | Virtual Assistance |
| Indonesia | 70 | Digital Marketing |
| Vietnam | 60 | Digital Marketing |
The Philippines alone was named on about one in five jobs with a location preference, mostly for lead generation, sales and virtual assistance. Latin American countries (Mexico 187, Colombia 185, Argentina 167, Brazil 112 and others) were usually listed together on the same jobs, often for nearshore virtual assistance. Region-level preferences were also common: Americas (370 jobs), Europe (327), Asia (218), Africa (92) and Oceania (88).
US and UK preferences are left out of this table: on those jobs Upwork can hide the posting from freelancers in other countries, so a public count would be incomplete.
Country guides
Guides for freelancers working from specific countries:
- India: best time to apply, first client, job alert tools, proposal sample
- Pakistan: best time to apply, first client, job alert tools, proposal sample
- Philippines: best time to apply, first client, job alert tools, raising your rate, proposal examples, Job Success Score
- Bangladesh: first client, job alert tools, less-competitive categories, RSS alternatives
- Nigeria: best time to apply, first client, job alert tools, proposal sample
- Egypt: best time to apply, first client, job alert tools, proposal examples
- Indonesia: best time to apply, first client, job alert tools, RSS alternatives
- Ukraine: best time to apply, job alert tools, raising your rate, less-competitive categories
- Thailand: best time to apply, first client, job alert tools, RSS alternatives
- Turkey: best time to apply, first client, job alert tools
- Vietnam: best time to apply, first client, job alert tools
Methodology
Client-country figures use 116,224 deduplicated public Upwork job postings observed by Vibeworker from September 1 to September 30, 2026 UTC. Client country is the location shown on the client's Upwork profile; country codes and full names were merged. Budget figures use postings with a positive listed budget; "typical hourly top" is the median of the highest rate on hourly postings. Posting times convert each job's posting timestamp to each country's local time zone, including daylight saving time where it applies. Location preferences use 25,583 postings from October 1 to 7, 2026; one job can name several countries, so country counts add up to more than the number of jobs.
Counts describe the postings Vibeworker observed and are not an official Upwork census. They do not measure proposals, hires or freelancer earnings. Monthly market data is in the September 2026 market report.
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You may quote these findings and republish the chart for editorial use. Please credit Vibeworker and link to this article as the original source.
Suggested citation: "Vibeworker, Upwork Jobs by Country 2026, October 2026."
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