Salary and Benefits

One of the most common misconceptions about working from home is that it has to come with a pay cut. A decade ago, when telecommuting was less prevalent, this may have been true in most cases. Today, it’s usually not. If you’re an employee who works from home, your employer should be paying you the same salary, so long as your work output is the same and you’re not working fewer hours. If you instead work from home as an independent contractor, you should expect your profits to increase over time, as you continue to build your business. While working as a freelancer may not be profitable right away, it doesn’t have to mean accepting a lower salary over the long term. It could eventually mean accepting a bigger salary and doing less work. The jobs outlined in the following section are some of the best-paying in the industry.

Typical Jobs and Salaries

Most people are surprised at the type of jobs that can be done from home. People in the medical profession have some of the most high-paying at-home jobs. Nurses who work from home answering calls for health insurance companies or medical call services make an average salary of $58,000 per year. Physicians and radiologists who work from home make even more, although many only work from home part-time and are required to also see patients. The customer service industry requires less formal training; as a result, the pay is also lower. People who work from home providing customer service over the phone make an average salary of $32,718, or approximately $15.73 USD per hour. For those with a background in software engineering, the job prospects and salary outlook is good: computer software engineers make an average of $85,000 USD per year designing computer software. Freelance writers and authors who work-from-home writing creative works, marketing materials, or content for websites can expect average salaries of $55,000 USD per year. They may have the opportunity to work on various projects at the same time and are less likely to be employed. On average, teachers at the post-secondary level make salaries of $59,000 per week preparing lessons and interacting with students in online education settings. As a rule, the more training and experience you have in your field, the more you can expect to make working from home, both as a freelancer or an employee.

Benefits

If you work at home as a full-time employee, you may be eligible for benefits. Most medium- and large-sized companies offer health and dental plans, as well as access to life insurance, disability insurance, and liability coverage.

However, if you work as a freelancer doing contract work, it’s unlikely that your clients will offer you benefits, considering most of the time the work is not long-term. As the number of self-employed and independent workers across the United States grows, awareness of the gap in benefits is also growing. According to the Wall Street Journal , a nonprofit group called the Freelancers Union has begun to offer life and liability insurance to freelancers. Other groups, such as Elance, also offer insurance-related products and services to independent contractors at a discounted rate.