Freelancing has turned the job market on its head. While freelancing has, of course,  always been around, in 2022 it’s definitely a thing. 

With a tight talent market, more people than ever are looking at how to be a freelancer in 2022. Remote work is now becoming the choice for many people who are self-employed, which allows more freedom in where they choose to live — not where they need to in order to be close to an office. 

With the trend of remote freelance work on the rise, we’ve taken a look at some of the best cities for freelancers across the country. 

Nashville

Your first thought may be country music, but Nashville has much more to offer. 

Nashville’s thriving community of freelancers makes up almost half the skilled workforce in the metropolitan area. 

New co-working spaces focused on creating a tight-knit community can be found to support self-employed folks looking to get out of the house. 

Diverse neighborhoods offer a rich cultural experience and various attractions, making this city an attractive one for tourists and locals alike. Overall, there seems to be a great vibe to Nashville lately —  even National Geographic Traveler says so.

Miami

Miami has possibly become the hottest city for freelancing in 2022. 

It all started at the beginning of 2021 on Twitter, when venture capitalist Delian Asparouhov tweeted about “relocating” Silicon Valley to Miami. The Mayor of the city, Francis Suarez himself, responded asking how he could support. 

Over the last year, there has been a mass exodus from The Valley, as companies lament paying climbing tax rates and employees feel the pandemic restrictions were cramping their lifestyle — literally. 

It’s not hard to see why people are going East. Miami offers sunshine, a reasonable housing market, low taxes, and is business friendly. The city is working to draw top-tier tech talent, from C-level to entry level. And it’s working. 

How to be a freelancer in 2022, you ask? Well, Miami is definitely bringing the Heat and freelancers are lining up courtside, laptop in hand, ready to soak it all in. 

Los Angeles 

The City of Angels is the original best spot for side-hustlers. Waiters turned actors, fitness instructors turned into fitness-studio moguls, Instagrammers turned millionaire influencers. If you have a creative side, LA is for you. 

According to a recent study by Fundera, LA ranked number 12 on the Top Cities to move to for freelancers. 

What’s interesting about the flourishing community of entrepreneurs in LA is how many support networks and programs are showing up for women-led businesses.

With LA being the second highest city for the volume of women-founded businesses, this city shows promise to support a diverse set of entrepreneurs who are driven to make their mark.

Austin

The city on everyone's lips these days: Austin. 

In 2020, skilled independent workers earned over $2.8 billion in Austin. These freelancers contribute massively to the local economy. While co-working spaces are not as common in Austin as other cities, that didn’t stop it from being crowned the best city in the world for remote work by a recent Carphone Warehouse study.

It scored high for quality of life and leisurely activities (BBQ, anyone?) showing that this is definitely one of the best cities for freelancers to live and work. 

Bonus: NYC 

While the pandemic shook NYC, the city is reopening and the buzz is back. New York City has always been a cultural hub, a city full of promise, business, and opportunities —  drawing freelancers from all over the country, even from all over the world to the Concrete Jungle. 

As of 2019, one in every three workers in NYC freelanced. We’ve all read about the Great Resignation over the last few months, so that stat is most likely even higher now. One thing is for certain: freelancers will certainly be living and working in New York in 2022. The NYC optimism of making it has never looked brighter.  

When asked about the security of freelancing and what keeps people in the 9–5, Hayden Brown, President and CEO of Upwork, said “I think the fundamental flaw in the American system is that so many of our benefits, including things like health, are tied to employment status. That is really the original sin of the system that we are living in today.” 

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