See which niches actually hire, how quickly they move, and which clients are worth a proposal: measured from 1,506,251 job postings followed over time.
of resolved Upwork jobs ended without an observed hire.
Postings from October 2025 through February 2026, old enough for outcomes to settle. Data as of July 3, 2026.
The market at a glance
Useful signals from the latest stable cohort, not vanity metrics or one-time snapshots.
Fewer than half of resolved postings end in a hire. See how the rate changes by category and client history.
Compare categories ↗Nearly half of fills happen in this period, and three quarters land within the first seven days.
See time-to-fill ↗These accounts posted 17,895 jobs without an observed hire in this analysis. One reason client history matters.
Investigate client quality ↗Start with the evidence
617,336 postings followed to their final outcome, and why published hire rates disagree.
Read the outcome analysis ↗Monthly index
Client-quality analysis
Research notes
Each posting is observed repeatedly over its life so a final outcome can be measured.
Headline rates use older cohorts, avoiding the inflated results created by still-open jobs.
Unvalidated signals stay unpublished, and known constraints are documented alongside the data.
Niche reports are coming
Upcoming deep dives cover demand volume, real rates, fill rate, time-to-fill, and client quality. The most-requested niches get researched first.