How much freelance workers are paid in Denver

Data: Census Bureau via Fiverr; Note: Analysis includes tax returns for non-employer entities with at least $1,000 in annual receipts; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

It's tough to make a living in Denver if you're a freelance worker.

State of play: The Mile High City sits in the middle of the pack among the 30 largest metro areas when it comes to freelancer wages, according to an exclusive new report from the freelance platform Fiverr.

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• The average annual earnings in Denver are $44,764, up from $39,268 in 2020.
• That's well below San Jose, California; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; and Nashville, Tennessee, where freelancers make about $55,000 or more per year.

Yes, but: The country's freelancers seem a generally optimistic bunch, with 55% expecting to earn more this year than in 2023, according to a survey.

The big picture: Freelancers account for 4.1% of the U.S. labor force, per the report.

• 29% also have a traditional job, though the share who solely freelance hit 71% in 2023 compared to 61% in 2021.
• A "striking" 75% of freelancers with a full-time gig say they're highly satisfied with their side hustle, per the report, compared to just 47% who feel the same way about their day jobs.

Zoom in: In Denver, freelancers in technical fields made the most at $58,114 followed by the professional sector at $44,732 and creative ventures at $22,398, the report states.

What they're saying: "We are in our seventh year of putting this report together, and year over year, we see more and more people choosing the freelance lifestyle," writes Fiverr founder and CEO Micha Kaufman.

The bottom line: Freelancing has challenges of its own, but a regular 9-5 simply isn't the only way to thrive anymore.