Do Upwork jobs actually hire?
617,336 postings followed to their final outcome, and why published hire rates disagree.
Filled43.9%
No hire56.1%
Freelancing Stats Read the outcome analysis
Most Upwork statistics count posts.
We track what happens next.
Freelancing Stats tracks what happens to Upwork jobs after they are posted: which niches actually hire, how quickly they fill, and which clients are worth a proposal, measured from 1,506,251 job postings followed over time.
1,506,251 Continuously monitored corpus Upwork job postings tracked since July 2025. We cover Upwork only. Read the methodology
617,336 Resolved postings Stable cohort, October 2025 through February 2026
15,970 Filled jobs Time-to-fill sample, jobs posted April 2026
The market at a glance
Three numbers to check before you apply.
Useful signals from the latest stable cohort, not vanity metrics or one-time snapshots.
01Outcome
43.9% The real fill rate
Fewer than half of resolved postings end in a hire. See how the rate changes by category and client history.
Compare categories02Timing
3–7 days The decisive window
Nearly half of fills happen in this period, and three quarters land within the first seven days.
See time-to-fill03Client quality
2,278 Chronic non-hirers
These accounts posted 17,895 jobs without an observed hire in this analysis. One reason client history matters.
Investigate client qualityCompare the observed hiring outcome in your category with the overall stable-cohort baseline.
Design & Creative
48.8% fill rate
159,114 resolved postings
4.9 percentage points above the overall 43.9% baseline.
Posted October 2025 through February 2026 · data as of July 3, 2026. These are observed category
outcomes, not your probability of winning a proposal.
Start with the evidence
Latest research
How many Upwork jobs are real?
Cross-client template clusters, chronic non-hirers, and their measured overlap.
The Upwork Fill Rate Index
Category, experience level, budget type, and client history.
Methodology and limitations
How the data is monitored, classified, and kept honest.
01
Followed, not sampled once
Each posting is observed repeatedly over its life so a final outcome can be measured.
02
Stable cohorts only
Headline rates use older cohorts, avoiding the inflated results created by still-open jobs.
03
Limits shown in public
Unvalidated signals stay unpublished, and known constraints are documented alongside the data.
Niche reports are coming
Tell us what you do.
We'll measure the market around it.
Upcoming deep dives cover demand volume, real rates, fill rate, time-to-fill, and client quality. The most-requested niches get researched first.