How much do freelance writers make?
Freelance and self-employed writers are excluded from the government's wage surveys, so there is no BLS salary for them. What can be sourced is the rate a freelance writer charges, published by the Editorial Freelancers Association from a survey of its members. Rates vary by project type, so the tables below show ranges rather than a single number.
The short answer
There is no official government salary for this work. Freelancers report charging$60 to $188 per hour, with per-word and per-page rates that swing by project type. The reported rates are broken down below.
Source: Editorial Freelancers Association Rates charged during the 2025 calendar year, reported by over 1,100 EFA members (more than a third of EFA membership); published as the EFA 2026 Rate Chart.
Reported rates by project type
Median rate ranges reported by Editorial Freelancers Association members. A page is 250 words. Rates vary widely by project, which is why they are shown by type rather than as a single number.
Work-for-Hire
| Project type | Per word | Per hour | Per page (250w) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Articles/essays | 25¢ to 45¢ | $70 to $100 | $62.50 to $112.50 |
| Blog posts | 25¢ to 45¢ | $74.50 to $87.50 | $62.50 to $112.50 |
| Business/marketing | 32¢ to 87.5¢ | $65 to $75 | $80 to $218.75 |
| Fiction, full-length | 13.5¢ to 20¢ | $80 to $100 | $33.75 to $50 |
| Graphic novels | 8¢ to 10¢ | $100 to $126 | $20 to $25 |
| Journalism | 40¢ to 50¢ | $75 to $85 | $100 to $125 |
| Legal | n/a | $75 to $126 | n/a |
| Medical | $1.00 to $1.50 | $90 to $113 | $250 to $375 |
| Medicolegal | n/a | $75 to $126 | n/a |
| Memoir | 11.5¢ to 20¢ | $95 to $125 | $28.75 to $50 |
| Nonfiction, full-length | 10¢ to 15¢ | $90 to $112.50 | $25 to $37.50 |
| Nonfiction, short-form | 30¢ to 30¢ | $65 to $75 | $75 to $75 |
| Scientific | $1.00 to $1.20 | $87.50 to $113 | $250 to $300 |
| Short story | 8¢ to 10¢ | $77.50 to $100 | $20 to $25 |
| Technical | $1.00 to $1.00 | $60 to $98.56 | $250 to $250 |
| Other | 25¢ to 40¢ | $65 to $82.50 | $62.50 to $100 |
Ghostwriting
| Project type | Per word | Per hour | Per page (250w) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Articles/essays | 15¢ to 30¢ | $75 to $100 | $37.50 to $75 |
| Blog posts | 25¢ to 40¢ | $75 to $100 | $62.50 to $100 |
| Business/marketing | 50¢ to $1.00 | $87.50 to $125 | $125 to $250 |
| Fiction, full-length | 25¢ to 50¢ | $80 to $100 | $62.50 to $125 |
| Graphic novels | 0.5¢ to 1¢ | $75 to $100 | $1.25 to $2.50 |
| Journalism | 23¢ to 29.5¢ | $87.50 to $163 | $57.50 to $73.75 |
| Legal | n/a | $75 to $126 | n/a |
| Medical | $1.00 to $1.50 | $100 to $126 | $250 to $375 |
| Medicolegal | n/a | $75 to $126 | n/a |
| Memoir | 50¢ to $1.00 | $80 to $100 | $125 to $250 |
| Nonfiction, full-length | 33¢ to 50¢ | $85 to $100 | $82.50 to $125 |
| Nonfiction, short-form | 27.5¢ to 50¢ | $70 to $75 | $68.75 to $125 |
| Scientific | 50¢ to 50¢ | $72.50 to $188 | $125 to $125 |
| Short story | 3¢ to 4¢ | $75 to $100 | $7.50 to $10 |
| Technical | 87.5¢ to $1.08 | $75 to $126 | $218.75 to $268.75 |
| Other | 50¢ to $1.25 | $77.50 to $100 | $125 to $312.50 |
Methodology
Data: Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) Rates - 2026 Rate Chart (Rates charged during the 2025 calendar year, reported by over 1,100 EFA members (more than a third of EFA membership); published as the EFA 2026 Rate Chart.), retrieved 2026-07-13. The caveats that travel with every figure:
- Hourly and per-word figures are the EFA's reported median rate ranges.
- A page is defined by the EFA as 250 words.
- The EFA neither sets rates nor advises members on what rates to charge.
Thinking about the career itself? See how to become a freelance writer.
Frequently asked questions
How much do freelance writers make?
There is no government salary for this work, so the honest benchmark is the reported freelance rate: $60 to $188 per hour across the project types in the Editorial Freelancers Association 2026 Rate Chart, with per-word and per-page rates varying by project. See the table below for the breakdown.
Why isn't there a freelance writer salary from BLS?
The BLS wage survey counts wage-and-salary jobs only. Self-employed and freelance writers are explicitly excluded, so their earnings never appear in the official figures. Reported freelance rates are the closest sourced benchmark.
How do I turn a per-word rate into a yearly income?
That depends on how much you write and sell, which no dataset can tell you, so this page does not estimate an annual total. Use the freelance writing rates calculator to convert a per-word rate to per-hour or per-project against the same EFA benchmarks.
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