The Upwork Niche Map: 26,544 Jobs Sorted Into 100 Niches

The biggest niche on Upwork is video editing, and the best-paying niches are small ones most freelancers never search for. We took the 26,544 public Upwork jobs we tracked between October 1 and October 8, 2026 and sorted them into 100 niches by what the work actually is. Video editing came out at 7.1% of all jobs with a median fixed budget near $60. Information security, at 0.4% of jobs, had a median of $625.

Upwork's own categories are broad. "Web Development" holds a $75 WordPress fix and a $500 full-stack build. So we ignored the categories and let the jobs group themselves. Each job has a numeric fingerprint built from its title and required skills. Jobs with similar fingerprints landed in the same group, and we named each group by hand from its most common skills and titles. The method is at the end.

The biggest niches

Some groups were plainly the same niche split in two, so they are combined here.

Niche	Jobs in the week	Share of all jobs	Median fixed budget
Video editing (short and long form)	1,881	7.1%	$60 to $73
Cold calling, telesales and appointment setting	1,089	4.1%	$200 to $250
Social media management	1,082	4.1%	$100 to $120
Virtual assistants and admin support	819	3.1%	$200
WordPress (site builds and WooCommerce)	591	2.2%	$75 to $100
AI video generation and AI UGC ads	544	2.0%	$60
Legal advice and contracts	461	1.7%	$250
Shopify development	451	1.7%	$135
Small business websites and landing pages	442	1.7%	$180
Logo and brand identity	436	1.6%	$150
Bookkeeping (QuickBooks)	414	1.6%	$100

No niche is large. The biggest single group was 4.1% of jobs and the typical one was under 1%. Upwork is a hundred small markets, which is why a general profile struggles: it is slightly relevant to many of them and the best fit for none.

The best-paying niches

Ranked by median fixed-price budget, for niches with at least 15 fixed-price jobs in the week.

Niche	Median fixed budget	Typical hourly range	Share of all jobs	Jobs asking for an Expert
Information security and compliance	$625	$27.50 to $50	0.4%	53%
Full-stack development (React, Node)	$500	$25 to $47	1.5%	57%
On-site videography	$500	$31 to $75	1.0%	17%
Marketing strategy and fractional CMO	$475	$17.50 to $42	0.7%	49%
Zoho, Dynamics and Power Platform	$400	$20 to $40	0.7%	43%
Electrical engineering	$363	$15 to $40	0.3%	37%
B2B sales and business development	$356	$15 to $30	1.5%	36%
PCB design and embedded systems	$350	$20 to $45	0.5%	40%
PR and content strategy	$325	$15 to $40	0.9%	42%
Python AI and machine learning	$300	$20 to $50	0.9%	52%
Google Ads and PPC	$300	$13 to $35	1.3%	46%
Structural and civil engineering	$300	$15 to $35	0.5%	34%

And by the top of the hourly range clients posted:

Niche	Typical hourly range
Legal advice and contracts	$30 to $100
On-site videography	$31 to $75
Financial modeling and fractional CFO	$20 to $70
Tax preparation and CPA work	$21 to $65
Voice-over	$20 to $60

Two patterns explain most of this list.

• Work that needs a license or carries liability pays best per hour. Law, tax, structural engineering and security audits. A client cannot hand these to a chatbot or to the cheapest bidder.
• Work that has to happen in a place pays well. On-site videography and product photography cannot be done from another country, so the pool of freelancers is small.

Neither is where the crowd is. The twelve best-paying niches together were about 10% of jobs.

The lowest-paying niches

Niche	Median fixed budget
Data annotation and transcription	$20
eBay and Etsy listings	$25
QA and app testing	$30
Data entry	$40
Translation and subtitles	$50
Canva design and templates	$50
Photo editing and retouching	$50
Wix and Squarespace sites	$50

These are tasks, not projects. Many are a fair way to earn a first review. Few are a place to stay.

Where beginners are wanted

Share of each niche's jobs that asked for entry-level freelancers:

Niche	Entry-level share	Median fixed budget
Voice recording for AI training data	64%	$100
Phone research and mystery shopping	48%	$70
Data annotation and transcription	39%	$20
Market and company research	38%	$80
QA and app testing	37%	$30
UGC video creators	37%	$80
Product photography	36%	$132
Data entry	35%	$40
Virtual assistants (general)	25%	$200

At the other end, fewer than 3% of jobs in PCB design, analytics tracking, security, electrical engineering, construction estimating and Meta ads management were open to beginners. See Is Upwork getting harder for beginners?

The AI niches

AI did not form one niche. It formed several, and they pay very differently.

Niche	Jobs	Median fixed budget	Typical hourly range	Expert
AI video generation and AI UGC ads	544	$60	$10 to $27	30%
AI agents and chatbots	338	$150	$20 to $40	47%
Workflow automation (n8n, Make, APIs)	254	$100	$15 to $35	34%
GoHighLevel and CRM automation	253	$23	$15 to $38	36%
Python AI and machine learning	227	$300	$20 to $50	52%
AI voice agents and business automation	216	$150	$15 to $30	37%

The four building niches (agents, automation, voice agents and Python AI) add up to 3.9% of all jobs. AI video is the largest single AI niche and the cheapest. See Do AI skills pay more on Upwork?

How to use the map

1. Find your niche in the full table below, not your category. Your competition and your pay are set by the niche.
2. Look one row over. A WordPress developer sits next to Shopify development ($135) and SaaS development ($200). A video editor sits next to motion graphics ($150) and on-site videography ($500). The closest better-paid niche is usually a small step.
3. Name the niche in your profile title. Clients search and skim for the exact thing. The free Upwork profile audit checks your title and skills against current job demand.
4. Small niches need alerts. A niche with 130 jobs a week is about 19 a day across every time zone. You will not catch them by checking twice a day.

All 100 niches

Sorted by number of jobs, October 1 to 8, 2026. "Expert" and "Entry level" are the share of the niche's jobs asking for that level. A blank cell means too few jobs of that type to give a median.

#	Niche	Jobs	Share	Median fixed budget	Typical hourly range	Expert	Entry level
1	Short-form video editing	1,096	4.1%	$60	$10 to $27	21%	8%
2	Video editing (YouTube and long form)	785	3.0%	$72.5	$10 to $27	24%	8%
3	AI video generation and AI UGC ads	544	2.0%	$60	$10 to $27	30%	8%
4	Social media management	463	1.7%	$120	$8 to $20	19%	8%
5	Legal advice and contracts	461	1.7%	$250	$30 to $100	36%	5%
6	Shopify development	451	1.7%	$135	$12 to $27	33%	3%
7	Small business websites and landing pages	442	1.7%	$180	$15 to $30	27%	8%
8	Logo and brand identity	436	1.6%	$150	$15 to $35	26%	7%
9	Bookkeeping (QuickBooks)	414	1.6%	$100	$10 to $20	26%	3%
10	Virtual assistants (general)	413	1.6%	$200	$6 to $12	16%	24%
11	Print and layout graphic design	412	1.6%	$80	$15 to $35	22%	10%
12	Administrative support and email	406	1.5%	$200	$6 to $12	18%	13%
13	Article and blog writing	393	1.5%	$100	$15 to $35	29%	18%
14	B2B sales and business development	389	1.5%	$356	$15 to $30	36%	4%
15	Full-stack development (React, Node)	387	1.5%	$500	$25 to $47	57%	5%
16	Cold calling and telesales	387	1.5%	$200	$6 to $12	21%	9%
17	Social media assistants	380	1.4%	$100	$8 to $20	24%	16%
18	Translation and subtitles	377	1.4%	$50	$15 to $26	28%	18%
19	Social media and marketing graphics	377	1.4%	$137.5	$15 to $35	21%	9%
20	WordPress site builds	370	1.4%	$100	$15 to $30	23%	8%
21	Mobile app development (iOS, Android)	368	1.4%	$180	$15 to $30	39%	8%
22	Call center and outbound sales	363	1.4%	$200	$6 to $15	18%	16%
23	SaaS development (Next.js, APIs)	361	1.4%	$200	$15 to $35	45%	4%
24	Meta ads and paid social	359	1.4%	$200	$10 to $29	38%	4%
25	2D animation and motion graphics	356	1.3%	$150	$15 to $35	25%	6%
26	SEO (audits, on-page, backlinks)	355	1.3%	$110	$10 to $25	38%	5%
27	Canva design and templates	346	1.3%	$50	$15 to $35	25%	11%
28	Appointment setting	339	1.3%	$250	$6 to $10	22%	6%
29	AI agents and chatbots	338	1.3%	$150	$20 to $40	47%	3%
30	B2B lead lists and prospecting	338	1.3%	$100	$7 to $15	27%	6%
31	Google Ads and PPC	337	1.3%	$300	$13 to $35	46%	2%
32	Digital marketing generalists	308	1.2%	$125	$10 to $25	25%	6%
33	UGC video creators	297	1.1%	$80	$10 to $30	8%	37%
34	Social video content creation	292	1.1%	$103	$10 to $26	18%	10%
35	3D modeling and rendering	288	1.1%	$100	$15 to $35	27%	5%
36	Market and company research	276	1.0%	$80	$15 to $30	16%	38%
37	Customer support (phone, chat)	272	1.0%	$200	$7 to $11	21%	15%
38	AutoCAD and architectural drafting	268	1.0%	$120	$15 to $35	27%	4%
39	Voice recording for AI training data	266	1.0%	$100	$20 to $20	3%	64%
40	On-site videography	264	1.0%	$500	$31 to $75	17%	12%
41	LinkedIn and email outreach	261	1.0%	$72.5	$6 to $15	30%	10%
42	Local SEO and AI search visibility	261	1.0%	$100	$10 to $25	40%	9%
43	Workflow automation (n8n, Make, APIs)	254	1.0%	$100	$15 to $35	34%	8%
44	GoHighLevel and CRM automation	253	0.9%	$22.5	$15 to $38	36%	3%
45	Data annotation and transcription	251	0.9%	$20	$15 to $25	17%	39%
46	Website design and development (general)	245	0.9%	$300	$15 to $30	26%	6%
47	Recruiting and candidate sourcing	240	0.9%	$100	$10 to $20	23%	10%
48	Instagram management	239	0.9%	$100	$8 to $25	26%	14%
49	Email marketing (Klaviyo, Mailchimp)	239	0.9%	$100	$15 to $38	41%	4%
50	Wix and Squarespace sites	239	0.9%	$50	$15 to $30	25%	6%
51	PR and content strategy	233	0.9%	$325	$15 to $40	42%	5%
52	Illustration and children's books	229	0.9%	$200	$15 to $31.5	19%	10%
53	Data entry	227	0.9%	$40	$10 to $15	6%	35%
54	Python AI and machine learning	227	0.9%	$300	$20 to $50	52%	6%
55	Photo editing and retouching	224	0.8%	$50	$15 to $30	27%	7%
56	WordPress and WooCommerce development	221	0.8%	$75	$15 to $30	29%	5%
57	AI voice agents and business automation	216	0.8%	$150	$15 to $30	37%	9%
58	QA and app testing	211	0.8%	$30	$10 to $20	18%	37%
59	Tax preparation and CPA work	211	0.8%	$250	$21 to $65	34%	8%
60	Meta and Google ads management	211	0.8%	$200	$10 to $35	47%	2%
61	Voice-over	208	0.8%	$60	$20 to $60	17%	24%
62	UX and UI design	203	0.8%	$250	$15 to $35	47%	8%
63	Grant and proposal writing	203	0.8%	$200	$20 to $50	42%	2%
64	Project management	199	0.8%	$200	$11 to $25	36%	4%
65	Amazon seller services	193	0.7%	$60	$10 to $22	37%	2%
66	Fashion design and tech packs	192	0.7%	$200	$15 to $35	28%	4%
67	Vector art and logo tracing	189	0.7%	$50	$15 to $33	18%	12%
68	Marketing strategy and fractional CMO	186	0.7%	$475	$17.5 to $42	49%	1%
69	Zoho, Dynamics and Power Platform	182	0.7%	$400	$20 to $40	43%	2%
70	Spanish-language customer support	181	0.7%	$400	$8 to $14.3	12%	33%
71	Phone research and mystery shopping	181	0.7%	$70	$15 to $30	13%	48%
72	Interior design and rendering	180	0.7%	$200	$15 to $35	28%	5%
73	eBay and Etsy listings	177	0.7%	$25	$5 to $12	30%	8%
74	Audio editing and podcasts	175	0.7%	$75	$20 to $42	27%	5%
75	SolidWorks and product CAD	175	0.7%	$200	$15 to $35	35%	3%
76	TikTok Shop and TikTok marketing	174	0.7%	$90	$8 to $25	28%	18%
77	Book covers and book layout	173	0.7%	$100	$15 to $35	24%	5%
78	Network and system administration	173	0.7%	$65	$20 to $50	32%	4%
79	Product photography	170	0.6%	$132	$22.5 to $50	13%	36%
80	Manuscript editing and proofreading	156	0.6%	$100	$15 to $39	31%	19%
81	Data analysis and dashboards	155	0.6%	$135	$20 to $50	41%	4%
82	Product sourcing (China, Alibaba)	148	0.6%	$150	$10 to $28.5	32%	5%
83	Tutoring	141	0.5%	$150	$10 to $25	33%	6%
84	Structural and civil engineering	137	0.5%	$300	$15 to $35	34%	7%
85	Financial modeling and fractional CFO	135	0.5%	$200	$20 to $70	48%	3%
86	Mixed illustration and design	135	0.5%	$100	$15 to $35	15%	4%
87	PCB design and embedded systems	135	0.5%	$350	$20 to $45	40%	0%
88	Analytics and conversion tracking (GA4, GTM)	134	0.5%	$150	$19 to $50	48%	0%
89	DevOps and cloud (AWS)	130	0.5%	$225	$20 to $45	62%	6%
90	YouTube scriptwriting	127	0.5%	$120	$15 to $38	30%	4%
91	Shopify store support	125	0.5%	$250	$5 to $10	26%	10%
92	Game development (Unity)	122	0.5%	$177.5	$15 to $25	24%	12%
93	Information security and compliance	118	0.4%	$625	$27.5 to $50	52%	2%
94	Web scraping and data extraction	117	0.4%	$75	$8 to $25	30%	15%
95	Beta reading and fiction editing	116	0.4%	$65	$10 to $28.34	17%	10%
96	Presentation and pitch deck design	112	0.4%	$50	$20 to $47	32%	5%
97	Mechanical engineering	90	0.3%	$192.5	$15 to $40	41%	2%
98	Electrical engineering	82	0.3%	$362.5	$15 to $40	37%	1%
99	Construction estimating	79	0.3%	$155	$15 to $35	33%	1%
100	Trading bots and indicators	70	0.3%	$300	$20 to $37.5	41%	1%

Download the niche map (JSON) →

How the map was made

• Jobs: 26,544 public Upwork job posts we tracked from October 1 to October 8, 2026.
• Fingerprints: every job Vibeworker tracks gets an embedding of its title, required skills and category. This is the same data used to match jobs to freelancers.
• Grouping: k-means clustering into 100 groups. We chose 100 because it kept recognizable niches apart without splitting them into fragments. A different number would move some borders.
• Names: written by hand from each group's most common skills and titles. One group ("Mixed illustration and design") had no clear theme and is labeled that way.
• Pay: medians of what clients listed. Fixed-price medians are shown only where a niche had at least 15 fixed-price jobs. Hourly ranges are the median low and high end of posted ranges.
• Limits: one week of posts, so small niches can move a lot from week to week. The map counts job posts, not hires or final pay.

You may quote any figure with a link to this page.

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Related: Best Upwork niches for beginners, Best Upwork niches for developers, Upwork statistics and market reports