The Fifth Annual MBO Partners State of Independence study chronicles a large, vibrant, diverse, and economically powerful component of the American workforce. Independents are Americans of all ages, skill, and income levels who turn to freelancing, contract work, consulting, temporary assignments or on-call work regularly each week for income, opportunity and satisfaction. In 2015, the number of independent workers aged 21 and over held firm at 30.2 million. These numbers increasingly assert that independent work is a satisfying choice that creates new income streams and diversifies household financial risk. Click here for the full report.

The MBO Partners State of Independence in America research series is based on more than 13,000 in-depth surveys and hundreds of interviews conducted over the past 5 years. For the 2015 study two separate online surveys were conducted by Rockbridge and Emergent Research in May of 2015. 1,065 residents of the U.S. responded to the first survey, and the results were used to size the independent workforce and define the interest in becoming an independent worker by the general population.