Number of Self-Employed Landscapers Growing

Although the number of self-employed jobs has decreased in the United States, the number of self-employed landscapers has increased since 2006.

Self-employed landscapers and groundskeeping workers have increased by 13 percent, or 37,939, since 2006, according to a report from CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. (EMSI).

As of 2013, the United States has approximately 10 million self-employed jobs, which is 6.6 percent of all reported jobs. However, that number is down from the 7.2 percent that was reported in 2006.

Prior to 2006, 1.8 million people became self-employed. However, since the recession, the number of self-employed jobs declined by 936,000 and has not recovered since. 

Key Findings

• Self-employment jobs have declined 5 percent since 2009. Since the peak of self-employment in 2006, the U.S. has lost nearly a million self-employed jobs, a 9 percent decline. By contrast, the number of jobs for salaried employees – those who work in traditional work settings – has risen 4 percent since 2009.
• The decline in self-employed jobs coincides with a rise in Americans working on the side to supplement their incomes. More people are getting second and third jobs, but fewer people are dropping their day jobs altogether to work on their own. According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 20 percent of full-time workers picked up a second job in 2013 or plan to do so in 2014.
• The biggest declines in self-employment have come in agriculture, real estate, child care, and retail trade industries. While self-employment for construction laborers has grown since 2006, the industry as a whole has experienced significant declines. The biggest gains in self-employment have been in lower-wage jobs – landscaping workers, maids, personal care aides and photographers.
• Even with low-wage occupations at the top of the self-employment growth list, several high-wage occupations have made significant gains, most notably market research analysts/specialists, management analysts, and computer occupations such as web developers.
• Nearly two-thirds of self-employed jobs in the U.S. are taken up by men (62 percent), and more than 30 percent of the self-employed are 55 years and older.
• Only North Dakota and Washington, D.C. have seen self-employment increases since 2009, and their gains have been minimal (5 percent and 1 percent, respectively). Among large metros, only five have seen at least 2 percent growth in self-employment jobs: Memphis (4 percent), Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk (3 percent), Austin (2 percent), Orlando (2 percent), and Las Vegas (2 percent).

Self-Employed Occupations with the Most Total New Jobs (2006-2013)

Self-Employed Occupations with the Most Total Job Losses (2006-2013)