How To Become A Freelance Web Developer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a freelance web developer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Brian Law,

Maria Larrondo Petrie Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a freelance web developer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.21 an hour? That's $37,880 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 13% and produce 20,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a freelance web developer?

Brian Law

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Illinois Wesleyan University

i) Explore your options thoroughly. Too many students get bewitched by Big Tech companies, with their bold promises, their fancy campuses, their big recruitment events, and their nice swag. Nowadays, this also happens to students with start-ups. But those jobs are not only highly competitive, but they also have very similarly exacting work cultures and very little work-life balance. These are cutthroat environments that are, frankly, not suited for everyone. Instead, many graduates would probably be happier working at, say, medium or small-size companies where they can find a workplace culture that fits them rather than the other way around, or non-tech companies where the pressure is lower because the goal is more stability and support rather than rapid innovation. Of course, this is the exact same dynamic that plays out with young consultants, accountants, lawyers, and doctors, who are also often initially attracted to high-powered, high-pressure environments but often end up deciding it's not for them, especially as they get older and start thinking about families.

ii) Specialize. There's no job out there with the title, "Computer Scientist." Employers are looking to hire you for a specific set of skills and knowledge. If you can identify the area of Computer Science you're interested in and the work you want to do in that area, you can again get a big leg up over your competition if you can demonstrate that you actually want to do what your future employer wants you to and that you're good at it. If you want to work with databases, then take those extra database electives and learn some other database technologies on your own time, and your resume will stand out amongst all the others for any DBA job.

iii) Don't sweat it too much. You've probably been alive for 22 years or so, so you'll probably be in the labor force for 50+ years. Your first job is not going to be your last job, and you may easily find your career path taking unexpected turns that you never even knew existed. Just like you didn't know what the areas of computer science were as a freshman, there are many many CS-related job types out there that you're not even aware of, and 50 years from now, there will probably be even more. While it may seem like your first job will set you on one path for the rest of your life, really it starts you towards 5000 possible paths out of millions in total. No, you don't get the stability of a "job for life" anymore, but that can also be freeing in a way. Don't worry about finding that "perfect" job; even if you did find it, you and the world around you will change over time anyway, so just take your first step confidently and always keep an eye out for your next one.

ScoreFreelance Web DeveloperUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $37,880

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.2

Growth rate 13%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%

Asian 13.30%

Black or African American 6.99%

Hispanic or Latino 12.98%

Unknown 6.66%

White 59.64%

Gender

female 22.44%

male 77.56%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress level

5.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a freelance web developer

Explore freelance web developer education requirements

Most common freelance web developer degrees

Bachelor's

68.5 %

Associate

14.7 %

Master's

10.4 %

Start to develop specific freelance web developer skills

Skills	Percentages
Web Design	24.17%
WordPress	8.00%
HTML	6.69%
CSS	6.69%
JavaScript	5.52%

Complete relevant freelance web developer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New freelance web developers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a freelance web developer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real freelance web developer resumes.

Gain additional freelance web developer certifications

Freelance web developer certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific freelance web developer certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for freelance web developers include Certified Web Professional - Web Developer and Master Certified Web Professional - Designer (CWP).

More About Certifications

Research freelance web developer duties and responsibilities

Develop a new platform to manage the storage boxes and inventory using Laravel and D3.js.
Ensure sound design and programming techniques are deployed using PHP, JavaScript, MySQL, CSS, XHTML.
Design and develop a new website for the department using HTML5, CSS3, PHP, and JavaScript.
Resolve issues on clients' websites that drastically affect their functionality and performance using PHP, JavaScript, and CSS customization.

Prepare your freelance web developer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your freelance web developer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a freelance web developer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable freelance web developer resume templates

Build a professional freelance web developer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your freelance web developer resume.