Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in United States
United States: Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) was 6.1% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in United States, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
The most recent figure for self-employed, total (% of total employment) in United States is 6.1%, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
The figure is down 1.8% on the previous year and down 11.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, total (% of total employment) in United States peaked at 9.6% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 6.1%, in 2025.
That places United States 180th out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in United States, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 9.6% | — |
| 1992 | 9.2% | -3.3% |
| 1993 | 9.4% | +1.3% |
| 1994 | 9.2% | -1.2% |
| 1995 | 9.0% | -2.6% |
| 1996 | 8.9% | -1.3% |
| 1997 | 8.7% | -1.9% |
| 1998 | 8.4% | -3.8% |
| 1999 | 8.1% | -3.4% |
| 2000 | 8.0% | -1.1% |
| 2001 | 7.9% | -1.0% |
| 2002 | 7.8% | -1.5% |
| 2003 | 8.0% | +2.6% |
| 2004 | 8.0% | +0.1% |
| 2005 | 7.9% | -1.3% |
| 2006 | 7.9% | -0.8% |
| 2007 | 7.7% | -2.3% |
| 2008 | 7.5% | -2.6% |
| 2009 | 7.5% | +1.0% |
| 2010 | 7.5% | -0.6% |
| 2011 | 7.3% | -3.0% |
| 2012 | 7.2% | -0.9% |
| 2013 | 7.0% | -2.2% |
| 2014 | 6.9% | -2.1% |
| 2015 | 6.9% | -0.0% |
| 2016 | 6.8% | -0.8% |
| 2017 | 6.7% | -2.0% |
| 2018 | 6.7% | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 6.5% | -2.8% |
| 2020 | 6.3% | -3.6% |
| 2021 | 6.6% | +4.4% |
| 2022 | 6.3% | -4.6% |
| 2023 | 6.1% | -3.2% |
| 2024 | 6.2% | +1.7% |
| 2025 | 6.1% | -1.8% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 6.1% is below the median for high income countries, which is 13.2%, 46% of the median. (62 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 8.9% | 8.1% | 9.6% | 9 |
| 2000s | 7.8% | 7.5% | 8.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.0% | 6.5% | 7.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.3% | 6.1% | 6.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More work & labour data for United States
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 113,208 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 61.24 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 178,849 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 4.4 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 1.05 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 159,991 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 141,322 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 58.55 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 1.27 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 0.3372 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is self-employed, total (% of total employment) in United States?
- Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in United States was 6.1% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 9.6% in 1991.
- What is the lowest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.1% in 2025.
- How does United States rank for self-employed, total (% of total employment)?
- United States ranks 180th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, total (% of total employment) rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Self-employed workers are those workers who, working on their own account or with one or a few partners or in cooperative, hold the type of jobs defined as a "self-employment jobs." i.e. jobs where the remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits derived from the goods and services produced. Self-employed workers include sub-categories of employers, own-account workers and members of producers' cooperatives and contributing family workers.