Growth in Independent Work in the United States, 1997–2023

Number of self-employed workers (nonemployer businesses)

Nonemployer businesses are operated by self-employed individuals with no paid employees and are the best publicly available proxy for independent workers.
Source: US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics (NES), last modified May 9, 2024, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics.html.