The State of Gig Economy in Texas. Statistics and Trends [2022]

The sales and receipts from the gig work in Texas have increased over 55% in the last decade. Read along to get more insights on the trends for the rise of the freelance, independent and gig work in Texas.
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Updated Dec 6, 2022

The rise of the industrial economy in the 70s had the working population in Texas strive to get a full time job with an employer and show up for work. It has been the norm for decades, but if we study the shift in employment statistics closely, there is a big revolution in the making.

The working population in Texas is currently witnessing a post-industrial shift into a self dependent economy. Gen Z doesn’t want to fit in the industrial complex and look for flexibility and satisfaction in their job. 

How big is the gig economy workforce in Texas?

35% of the small business workforce in Texas work as independent workers.

Comparative analysis of gig economy and employment datasets for small businesses suggest a dramatic shift in how working population in Texas work: 35% of the small business workforce work as independent workers. In Texas there are 2,658,054 self employed gig workers ( freelancers and contractors ) compared to 4,936,912 salaried employees in small business payroll ( firms with less than 500 employees).

The gig economy workforce of self employed independent contractors, freelancers, also identified as non employer firms are becoming an important factor in Texas. As per the current 2019 NES ( released on June 30, 2022) there are 2,658,054 gig businesses in Texas, up from 1,934,472 in 2010. 


Year No. of gig workers Receipts ($billion)
2010 1,934,472 86
2011 1,975,620 91
2012 2,014,124 97
2013 2,039,732 99
2014 2,150,702 108
2015 2,205,149 108
2016 2,251,787 106
2017 2,399,267 118
2018 2,514,301 126
2019 2,658,054 134
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This increase in the gig worker population can be safely related to increase in employment opportunities created by the rise of online platforms such as Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, TaskRabbit.

Which industries contribute the most to the gig economy in Texas?

The sector " Construction " contributed the most whereas the lowest contribution came from Utilities sector.

We aim to look at the distribution of gig economy workforce across broad 17 industry levels as defined under NAICS. As per the current 2019 NES ( released on June 30, 2022), there are 6 sectors with more than 250,000 gig workers. The sector " Construction " contributed the most with the number of gig workers as 350,258. The lowest contributor to the gig economy was the Utilities sector with just 1,890 gig workers across Texas. The number of gig "businesses" according to the respective industry sectors is exhibited in the table below.

Exhibit 1


Industry Gig workers in 2010 Gig workers in 2019 Growth Growth (%)
Transportation and Warehousing 102,785 286,881 184,096 179
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 206,884 305,943 99,059 48
Construction 258,386 350,258 91,872 36
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 244,337 324,221 79,884 33
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 156,211 225,410 69,199 44
Retail Trade 162,909 208,902 45,993 28
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 76,162 112,681 36,519 48
Health Care and Social Assistance 145,526 177,202 31,676 22
Educational Services 42,087 73,286 31,199 74
Accommodation and Food Services 36,506 61,491 24,985 68
Finance and Insurance 70,192 83,386 13,194 19
Manufacturing 28,865 36,363 7,498 26
Other Services (except Public Administration) 289,338 296,065 6,727 2
Information 22,216 28,092 5,876 26
Wholesale Trade 32,951 34,813 1,862 6
Utilities 2,597 1,890 -707 -27
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction 37,104 27,952 -9,152 -25
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The next important thing to analyze is change in the gig economy workforce across different industries over the last decade. This analysis will help us determine the true drivers in the rise of gig economy in Texas. Analysis of the data suggests that the biggest driver in the gig economy across Texas is the Transportation and Warehousingsector. The number of gig workers increased by 179% from 102,785 in 2010, increasing to 286,881 in the data from the current reference year NES 2019. 

For the same time period, the biggest loss of 9,152 was witnessed in the Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction sector. The overall decline in this sector over the last decade was at 25%, witnessing a decrease to 27,952 ( in 2019 ) from 37,104 ( in 2010).

The change in the number of gig "businesses" according to the respective industry sectors over the data analysis of last 10 reference years in NES is exhibited in the table below.


County Gig workers in 2012 Gig workers in 2019 Growth Growth (%)
Harris 362,606 480,259 117,653 32
Dallas 207,967 263,060 55,093 26
Tarrant 149,232 194,151 44,919 30
Bexar 118,460 161,301 42,841 36
Travis 98,126 138,601 40,475 41
Collin 73,567 109,863 36,296 49
Fort Bend 55,081 89,072 33,991 62
Denton 56,886 85,626 28,740 51
Williamson 33,398 55,704 22,306 67
Montgomery 39,966 59,705 19,739 49
Hidalgo 66,203 81,199 14,996 23
El Paso 54,434 67,698 13,264 24
Brazoria 21,839 31,063 9,224 42
Hays 13,213 21,437 8,224 62
Galveston 21,111 28,841 7,730 37
Bell 15,017 21,650 6,633 44
Comal 11,297 17,629 6,332 56
Ellis 12,222 18,044 5,822 48
Webb 22,565 28,148 5,583 25
Lubbock 19,541 24,703 5,162 26
Kaufman 8,862 13,815 4,953 56
Guadalupe 8,539 13,109 4,570 54
Parker 11,023 15,591 4,568 41
Nueces 23,172 27,576 4,404 19
Johnson 11,349 15,570 4,221 37
Cameron 29,478 33,608 4,130 14
Midland 14,801 18,908 4,107 28
McLennan 14,046 17,940 3,894 28
Rockwall 8,027 11,810 3,783 47
Brazos 11,631 15,378 3,747 32
Smith 17,046 20,568 3,522 21
Ector 10,478 13,879 3,401 32
Grayson 8,999 11,537 2,538 28
Liberty 4,685 7,216 2,531 54
Bastrop 5,511 8,032 2,521 46
Jefferson 15,096 17,390 2,294 15
Randall 9,700 11,779 2,079 21
Hunt 6,101 8,023 1,922 32
Waller 3,185 5,079 1,894 59
Kendall 4,611 6,240 1,629 35
Hood 5,013 6,627 1,614 32
Wise 4,789 6,379 1,590 33
Gregg 9,183 10,481 1,298 14
Tom Green 7,754 8,980 1,226 16
Taylor 9,596 10,812 1,216 13
Val Verde 2,777 3,969 1,192 43
Burnet 4,654 5,825 1,171 25
Polk 3,527 4,641 1,114 32
Chambers 2,436 3,421 985 40
Bowie 4,880 5,856 976 20
Victoria 6,077 7,041 964 16
Van Zandt 4,126 5,053 927 22
Gaines 1,529 2,438 909 59
Caldwell 2,499 3,405 906 36
Walker 3,866 4,744 878 23
Coryell 2,602 3,478 876 34
Erath 2,891 3,737 846 29
Henderson 6,067 6,905 838 14
Kerr 4,997 5,827 830 17
Angelina 5,071 5,897 826 16
San Patricio 4,298 5,123 825 19
Maverick 4,370 5,193 823 19
Wilson 3,230 4,042 812 25
Gillespie 3,342 4,152 810 24
Washington 2,818 3,618 800 28
Austin 2,624 3,351 727 28
Medina 3,125 3,828 703 22
Navarro 3,115 3,808 693 22
Starr 6,670 7,359 689 10
Wharton 3,078 3,724 646 21
Bandera 2,043 2,683 640 31
Harrison 4,479 5,103 624 14
Potter 7,901 8,512 611 8
Atascosa 3,234 3,828 594 18
Grimes 1,908 2,486 578 30
Wood 3,434 3,999 565 16
Cooke 3,338 3,893 555 17
Cherokee 2,976 3,483 507 17
Lamar 3,676 4,171 495 13
San Jacinto 1,798 2,264 466 26
Nacogdoches 3,859 4,315 456 12
Titus 1,637 2,088 451 28
Hill 2,279 2,728 449 20
Fannin 2,292 2,736 444 19
Hopkins 2,637 3,073 436 17
Palo Pinto 2,058 2,489 431 21
Lee 1,191 1,611 420 35
Hardin 3,668 4,071 403 11
Blanco 1,224 1,622 398 33
Lampasas 1,388 1,772 384 28
Llano 2,065 2,437 372 18
Fayette 2,437 2,795 358 15
Rusk 3,066 3,422 356 12
Milam 1,512 1,857 345 23
Aransas 2,526 2,864 338 13
Orange 4,617 4,951 334 7
Matagorda 2,699 3,026 327 12
Upshur 2,831 3,151 320 11
Reeves 597 892 295 49
Brown 2,378 2,670 292 12
Comanche 935 1,222 287 31
Burleson 1,351 1,637 286 21
Calhoun 1,421 1,704 283 20
Gonzales 1,221 1,487 266 22
Howard 1,634 1,894 260 16
Andrews 1,165 1,424 259 22
Anderson 2,931 3,173 242 8
Wichita 7,782 8,014 232 3
Cass 1,797 2,022 225 13
Rains 808 1,033 225 28
Bosque 1,449 1,673 224 15
Panola 1,587 1,810 223 14
Jackson 1,003 1,223 220 22
Winkler 471 689 218 46
Montague 1,900 2,116 216 11
Pecos 867 1,082 215 25
Moore 1,004 1,216 212 21
Somervell 718 927 209 29
Colorado 1,867 2,065 198 11
Goliad 554 751 197 36
Trinity 937 1,113 176 19
Brewster 915 1,089 174 19
Yoakum 486 657 171 35
Uvalde 2,683 2,852 169 6
Franklin 767 935 168 22
Hockley 1,341 1,508 167 12
Jones 1,187 1,344 157 13
Terry 631 783 152 24
Falls 883 1,033 150 17
Kleberg 1,547 1,693 146 9
Limestone 1,264 1,410 146 12
Martin 384 530 146 38
Camp 775 909 134 17
Lynn 312 445 133 43
Ward 664 796 132 20
Leon 1,412 1,540 128 9
Tyler 1,152 1,276 124 11
Bee 1,550 1,672 122 8
Lavaca 1,758 1,880 122 7
Hale 1,981 2,099 118 6
Mason 613 731 118 19
Robertson 1,259 1,374 115 9
Frio 957 1,069 112 12
Mills 440 549 109 25
Red River 860 969 109 13
Jim Wells 2,961 3,060 99 3
Freestone 1,223 1,319 96 8
Donley 251 343 92 37
Nolan 1,044 1,128 84 8
Live Oak 998 1,081 83 8
Young 2,037 2,118 81 4
Jack 751 831 80 11
Archer 876 955 79 9
Callahan 1,219 1,297 78 6
Lamb 711 783 72 10
Presidio 771 843 72 9
Clay 804 874 70 9
Hamilton 761 826 65 9
Madison 978 1,042 64 7
Kimble 583 646 63 11
Refugio 490 549 59 12
Menard 252 310 58 23
Crane 283 339 56 20
Shelby 1,672 1,728 56 3
Shackelford 447 500 53 12
Childress 353 405 52 15
Delta 346 397 51 15
Duval 807 858 51 6
Kinney 173 222 49 28
Armstrong 151 199 48 32
Crockett 301 348 47 16
Zapata 1,471 1,517 46 3
Bailey 374 418 44 12
Brooks 495 539 44 9
Reagan 310 354 44 14
Hudspeth 244 284 40 16
Houston 1,357 1,396 39 3
Parmer 476 515 39 8
Hartley 322 359 37 11
Deaf Smith 1,138 1,172 34 3
Fisher 235 269 34 14
La Salle 526 560 34 6
Hemphill 387 420 33 9
Coke 288 320 32 11
DeWitt 1,554 1,585 31 2
McCulloch 703 733 30 4
Floyd 339 368 29 9
San Saba 605 634 29 5
Jasper 2,556 2,584 28 1
Carson 402 429 27 7
Willacy 1,294 1,321 27 2
Newton 637 663 26 4
Garza 356 381 25 7
Oldham 168 193 25 15
Schleicher 267 291 24 9
Marion 718 741 23 3
Crosby 345 367 22 6
Glasscock 122 144 22 18
Briscoe 131 152 21 16
Culberson 195 212 17 9
Karnes 959 975 16 2
Dickens 160 175 15 9
Jeff Davis 251 265 14 6
Baylor 264 277 13 5
Sterling 159 172 13 8
Castro 413 425 12 3
Stonewall 143 155 12 8
Hall 182 193 11 6
Roberts 88 98 10 11
Sherman 232 242 10 4
Cottle 118 127 9 8
Edwards 199 208 9 5
Kenedy 21 28 7 33
Loving 16 23 7 44
Dawson 670 676 6 1
King 27 33 6 22
San Augustine 534 540 6 1
Scurry 1,089 1,095 6 1
Concho 235 239 4 2
Motley 125 129 4 3
Real 462 466 4 1
Borden 61 64 3 5
Cochran 165 168 3 2
McMullen 128 129 1 1
Haskell 436 435 -1 0
Swisher 480 478 -2 0
Knox 270 267 -3 -1
Kent 67 62 -5 -7
Upton 281 276 -5 -2
Collingsworth 210 204 -6 -3
Stephens 902 896 -6 -1
Jim Hogg 402 394 -8 -2
Mitchell 475 465 -10 -2
Terrell 87 76 -11 -13
Dallam 529 517 -12 -2
Gray 1,382 1,370 -12 -1
Sabine 730 716 -14 -2
Throckmorton 226 212 -14 -6
Irion 212 197 -15 -7
Wilbarger 741 726 -15 -2
Foard 114 95 -19 -17
Ochiltree 799 774 -25 -3
Coleman 771 744 -27 -4
Eastland 1,431 1,401 -30 -2
Sutton 415 385 -30 -7
Hansford 519 485 -34 -7
Runnels 855 817 -38 -4
Lipscomb 322 282 -40 -12
Wheeler 515 475 -40 -8
Hardeman 283 235 -48 -17
Dimmit 738 681 -57 -8
Morris 829 772 -57 -7
Zavala 932 849 -83 -9
Hutchinson 1,166 1,018 -148 -13
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Which counties contribute the most to the gig economy in Texas?

The top 5 counties have 46.55% of the entire 2,658,054 gig workforce

Looking at the county distribution for the gig economy workers across Texas, the top 5 counties have 46.55% of the entire 2,658,054 gig workforce.

On the other hand the lowest contributing locations contribute approximately 0.01% of the state level gig workforce with 210 gig workers in total among them.


As expected, the top counties with the most number of gig workers are also the counties with the highest growth percentage of gig workers over the last decade. The best growth achieved is by Harris county, where the number of gig workers increased 32% from being 362,606 in 2016 to 480,259 in 2019 ( the latest reference year for NES as per the release on Jun 30 2022).


Growth in gig economy across all of the counties in Texas over the last decade

Who does gig work and what are the demographic profile of gig economy workers in Texas?

Across Texas, the number of male workers in gig economy stood at 1,373,000 compared to 1,043,000 female workers

Across Texas, the gig work runs through every demographic profile criteria. As some of the the gigs such as delivering packages, food, driving passengers have low entry barriers work has a low barrier to start with, a lot of younger and population that is not economically established tend to take up these gigs more than the rest of population.

To get more details, we analyzed the most current Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics. We found that across Texas, the number of male workers in gig economy stood at 1,373,000 compared to 1,043,000 female workers.


Demographic breakdown of gig economy workers, by gender, in Texas

The distribution on the basis of ethnicity was stark and the number of non hispanics in the gig workforce stood at 1,657,000 compared to 797,000 workers with ethnicity as hispanic.


Demographic breakdown of gig economy workers, by ethnicity, in Texas

On the basis of race the number of gig workers from the white population was found to be 1,922,000 compared to the 327,000 from black and 194,000 asian population.


Demographic breakdown of gig economy workers, by race, in Texas


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Neilsberg Research
Neilsberg Research team are data scientists with expertise in processing, analysis and visualization of big data helping small businesses make right decisions.

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