Avg. Pay Per Region

[#1]

Hello,

Does anyone have any data on what the average pay is for graphic/design per hour per geographical region? I want to pay my freelancers fairly, but I am also budget conscious.  Occassionally, I feel that a freelancer is bidding lower than what they are worth, but I don't have the knowledge of the average pay in their part of the world.  I realize that they are accepting the work at that bid, but I would still like to gain the knowledge of the gaps in pay scales.

[#2]

JJ:

I think it's great that you:

- want to pay freelancers fairly

- are budget conscious

But I think you're overthinking this.

I have hired a LOT of artists and graphic designers on Upwork.

If I see somebody's portfolio and like their work and want to hire them, I just pay them their hourly rate.

That's it. Keep it simple. It isn't my role to manage their business.

And I don't think there's anything you can really do in order to correlate regions to pay scales. Because freelancers and artists are not uniform within their region. There are graphic designers who live in the same city that I live in who would be overpaid at $5.00/hour, and there are graphic designers who live here who would be doing me a favor if they only charged $150/hour.

[#3]

Should I pay more to a freelancer living in a country where rate of income tax is higher?

Should I pay more to a freelancer in a country where health care is costly?

Should I pay more if freelancer has a student loan to pay?

What about paying more to a freelancer who has many pets?

This can go on and on.

Geography( different geographical regions, different countries in same region, different states of same country, different cities and towns) is not the only differentiating factor in freelancer pricing.
There are a lot of factors that leads to different freelancer charging differently.

Client is not the correct person to decide pricing for them. Let them decide it for themselves.

If they do not know how to price their services correctly, they should learn it. Clients can't decide it for them.

Personally speaking I will not pay an undeserving freelancer higher rates just because they live at a place where cost of living is higher.

I will also not deny higher rates to a deserving freelancer just because they live at a place where cost of living is lower.

I am more concerned with the value the freelancer adds to my project. If they are best fit to do a work and project can afford them, I hire them at their rate.
Otherwise, I do not engage with them.

If you have a desrving freelancer and you think they deserve better price, you can increase their rate or pay them a bonus. You need no one's permission to do it.
But generally speaking clients should not bother themselves with freelancer pricing.

It's undesirable and mostly unworkable in my personal opinion.

[#4]

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Vivek K wrote:
Should I pay more to a freelancer living in a country where rate of income tax is higher?

Should I pay more to a freelancer in a country where health care is costly?

Should I pay more if freelancer has a student loan to pay?

What about paying more to a freelancer who has many pets?

This can go on and on.

Geography( different geographical regions, different countries in same region, different states of same country, different cities and towns) is not the only differentiating factor in freelancer pricing.
There are a lot of factors that leads to different freelancer charging differently.

Client is not the correct person to decide pricing for them. Let them decide it for themselves.

If they do not know how to price their services correctly, they should learn it. Clients can't decide it for them.

Personally speaking I will not pay an undeserving freelancer higher rates just because they live at a place where cost of living is higher.

I will also not deny higher rates to a deserving freelancer just because they live at a place where cost of living is lower.

I am more concerned with the value the freelancer adds to my project. If they are best fit to do a work and project can afford them, I hire them at their rate.
Otherwise, I do not engage with them.

If you have a desrving freelancer and you think they deserve better price, you can increase their rate or pay them a bonus. You need no one's permission to do it.
But generally speaking clients should not bother themselves with freelancer pricing.

It's undesirable and mostly unworkable in my personal opinion.

---

Vivek,

I use the square root of the marginal tax rate times number of pets in the household, then subtract the Big Mac Exchange Rate for the local currency, multiply by minimum wage in Zimbabwe, throw away the result and eat a popsicle.

[#5]

For entry-level workers, manual laborers, etc., this concept may make more sense. But it's even less useful when dealing with artists.

If you hire Daniel Day-Lewis and Pauly Shore to star in a movie, do you pay them the same if they both live in the same place?