Self-employment method
Investigation and Security Services
157,632 people filed as a nonemployer business under this industry code in 2022 — no payroll, no employees, just them. These are gross receipts reported to the IRS, before any expense is taken out.
Median GROSS RECEIPTS for the year — money in, before rent, materials, fuel, insurance or tax. This is not take-home pay.
Share who grossed under $10,000 for the whole year — before expenses.
The middle half, in gross receipts. A quarter of filers took less than the lower figure.
Source: US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
How often it does not work out
Of the 157,632 people who filed under this code in 2022, 56.36% grossed under $10,000 for the entire year — before a single expense was deducted.
That is a floor, not an estimate. Census publishes GROSS RECEIPTS, not net income. Everyone inside that share earned less than the figure suggests once rent, materials, mileage, insurance and self-employment tax came out — and filers who grossed well above the threshold may still have netted nothing. The true share of people who earn nothing meaningful from this is higher than the number above, never lower.
Denominator: establishments_total = 157,632 · US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
Every filer, by what they grossed
The full distribution Census publishes. The median above is interpolated inside the band that holds the 50th percentile.
| Gross receipts for the year | Filers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | 57,720 | 36.6% |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 31,116 | 19.7% |
| $10,000 to $24,999 | 37,158 | 23.6% |
| $25,000 to $49,999 | 17,490 | 11.1% |
| $50,000 to $99,999 | 8,845 | 5.6% |
| $100,000 to $249,999 | 4,188 | 2.7% |
| $250,000 to $499,999 | 896 | 0.6% |
| $500,000 to $999,999 | 144 | 0.1% |
| $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 | 75 | 0.0% |
Who this suits
The median filer grossed $8,390 for the year — about $699 a month in revenue before expenses. That is pocket money at the midpoint, and the midpoint is by definition where half the field is or below.
157,632 people filed under this code. A field that large has a settled price, a settled set of expectations, and no shortage of people willing to meet both.
5,359 filers cleared $100,000 in gross receipts, or 3.4% of the field. Small, but large enough that the upper tier of Investigation and Security Services is a real destination rather than an anecdote.
Independent support services suit people who can sell a contract rather than a job, and who are organised enough to deliver one consistently.
There is no qualification, licence or minimum to appear in this data — you file and you are counted. Read the receipts distribution as the price of that: no barrier at the door means no filter before the numbers.
Who should not do this
Bottom quarter under $3,414, top quarter over $21,863: 6.4x, or $1,537 a month. At this stretch the label has stopped describing one occupation, and every summary statistic about it — including the midpoint — should be treated with suspicion.
The bottom quarter of Investigation and Security Services earns under $3,414 — $46,606 below the $50,020 a typical American job pays. Entering at the bottom and waiting is a live risk here, not a theoretical one, and some people never leave that quarter.
Do not start this without costing your travel time. Between-job time is unpaid and it is what quietly destroys the hourly rate.
56.4% of 157,632 filers — 88,841 people — grossed under $10,000 in 2022. More than half of everyone who tried Investigation and Security Services took in less than $10,000 before any expense came out.
Take it as a floor, not an estimate. The $10,000 threshold is measured on money received, before materials, rent, fuel, insurance and self-employment tax, so the true share of filers who ended the year with no income is higher than the figure shown — we simply cannot say how much higher.
What the spread tells you
A ratio of 6.4x between the quarters is the signature of a winner-take-most distribution. $8,390 is a real number about a real population, but nobody entering Investigation and Security Services should plan around it.
The middle half of this field earns between $3,414 and $21,863. That is $18,449 of range, with $8,390 sitting inside it as the point half the field is above and half below.
Getting to $21,863, the 75th percentile, is worth $13,473 a year more than the $8,390 midpoint and $18,449 more than the $3,414 a quarter of Investigation and Security Services settle for.
The top quarter of Investigation and Security Services begins $13,473 above the $8,390 midpoint, while the bottom quarter starts only $4,976 below it. A range stretched that far in one direction is the signature of a field where a small group earns a great deal more than the middle does.
Per hour of a full-time year, the middle of Investigation and Security Services takes $4.03 in revenue — $1.64 at the bottom quarter and $10.51 at the top. Costs have not been deducted from any of those figures, so none of them is an hourly wage.
Counted straight off the return: 57,720 filers grossed under $5,000, 31,116 took $5,000 to $9,999, 37,158 took $10,000 to $24,999, 5,303 cleared $100,000 and 1,115 cleared $250,000.
What these figures are, and what they are not
Every figure above is GROSS RECEIPTS, before expenses — money that arrived before rent, materials, fuel, insurance and self-employment tax. The $8,390 midpoint for Investigation and Security Services is not take-home pay and is not comparable to a $8,390 salary.
With no unpaid-hours or cost data for Investigation and Security Services, the hourly figure is $8,390 over a 2,080-hour year — a unit conversion, not an adjustment.
How this is calculated · Self-employment failure rates · What credentials cost and pay back · Look up something else