What is the average salary for an independent consultant?

According to the stats shared by salary.com, independent consultant salaries range from 65,000$ to 110,000$, while the average is 89,344$. 

Earning potential is always the first thing that comes to our minds whenever we start or switch our careers. Due to this, many people ask us about the average salary for an independent consultant before they start.

And every time, our  answer is: it depends on your niche, experience, and skill set. 

But to give you a rough estimate, we  would like to share some stats through our  experience so far. 

As per our  experience, your consulting niche and area of knowledge play an essential part in your estimated earnings. A business marketing or sales consultant will definitely be paid higher than a consultant falling in any micro-niche. 

Now that you have an idea of independent consultancy, let’s begin with different comparisons.

1. Independent consultant v. Freelance consultant

People often get confused between an independent and a freelance consultant. The primary reason is the term “Freelance.” 

The term freelance is mainly understood as, “work done independently and on someone’s terms.” Due to this, people consider a freelance consultant to be the same as an independent consultant. 

However, this is not true. Independent consultant and freelance consultants are entirely different terms. Both terms are used for two specific types of consultants. 

Since we already defined independent consultants above, giving you an idea of a freelance consultant will clarify things. 

A freelance consultant is a person who works for a specific person or a group of people on a project basis. They are mainly hired for the one-time project and are not bound to long-term projects. Moreover, they take smaller projects as compared to independent consultants. 

On the other hand, independent consultants generally deal with long-term clients and are bound to deal with a single person or a group of people for an extended period. 

Freelance consultants are generally paid on an hourly basis. So, the earnings depend on the experience of the consultant. However, on average, freelance consultants earn around 68,555$ early. 

The table illustrates a more in-depth comparison between freelance and independent consultants. 

Consultant Type	Freelance Consultant	Independent Consultant
Average Salary	$68,555	$89,344
Pros	Flexibility, Work from home, Own choice of projects.	Long Term Clients, Flexibility, Highly Paid.
Cons	Paid less, more client searching process	Self-business management

2. Independent consultant v. In-house consultant

Independent consultant vs in-house consultant is another hot topic around people. The word in-house relates to independent consultants in different ways. Due to this, people are often confused between the two. 

Here is our straightforward comparison… 

In-house consultants are full-time employees of a specific company. They use their expertise to provide consultancy to the company on different projects. An in-house consultant is generally bound to employment and is paid a fixed salary. 

In comparison, independent consultants are never bound to a single company. They charge their rates depending on the project’s complexity and work on their terms. 

In the US, in-house consultants generally earn around $83,400 on average. The amount highly depends on the type of company they are working for and their field of expertise.  

The table below will make the comparison even more clear. 

Consultant Type	In-house Consultant	Independent Consultant
Average Salary	$83,400	$89,344
Pros	Consistent work	Long Term Clients, Flexibility, Highly Paid.
Cons	Paid less, no flexibility	Self-business management

3. External consulting firm v. independent consultant

If you are confused and cannot rectify the difference between an external consulting firm and independent consultants, let us clear this for you. 

External consulting firms are organizations or micro agencies that externally provide consulting to different companies. Companies generally approach them to get their expert opinion and consultancy for existing or new projects. These firms operate as registered companies and usually take more extensive projects and deal with high-end companies than independent consultants. 

However, independent consultants operate differently as compared to external consultancy. They remain in collaboration with single or multiple companies at the same time. 

Since the firm deals with high-end projects and has a more significant workforce, the earnings are also huge. Generally, an external consultancy firm with 50-60 employees can easily make an estimated yearly profit of $6000,000. 

Since the earning potential is high, much more work is done and these companies generally operate on a larger scale. 

The table highlights some direct comparisons between external consultancy firms and independent consultants. 

Consultant Type	External Consulting Firms	Independent Consultant
Average Salary	$6000,000 (for an average scale firm)	$89,344
Pros	Better growth, more business	Long Term Clients, Flexibility, Highly Paid.
Cons	More budget required	Self-business management