Self-employment method
Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services
49,303 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 49,303 people who filed under this code in 2022, 47.78% 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 = 49,303 · 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 | 15,760 | 32.0% |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 7,796 | 15.8% |
| $10,000 to $24,999 | 9,486 | 19.2% |
| $25,000 to $49,999 | 5,877 | 11.9% |
| $50,000 to $99,999 | 4,640 | 9.4% |
| $100,000 to $249,999 | 3,622 | 7.3% |
| $250,000 to $499,999 | 1,256 | 2.5% |
| $500,000 to $999,999 | 580 | 1.2% |
| $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 | 286 | 0.6% |
Who this suits
Median gross receipts of $11,732 put the typical filer somewhere between a serious side income and a failing attempt at a full-time one, and the receipts figure alone cannot tell you which.
49,303 people filed under this code. That is enough that Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services has a going local rate in most places, and enough that you will be quoted against someone else.
5,768 filers cleared $100,000, which is 11.7% of everyone under this code. A share that size means Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services supports a genuine professional tier, and the question becomes what puts someone in it.
Independent information services suit people who can package knowledge into something a buyer will pay for repeatedly rather than consult once.
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
10.7x between the quarters — $3,910 against $41,740, or $3,152 a month. This is the shape of a field where a minority does very well and the summary statistics quietly borrow their success.
The bottom quarter of Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services earns under $3,910 — $46,110 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 selling information that is freely available elsewhere, which is most of it.
Of the 49,303 people who filed as Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services in 2022, 47.8% grossed under $10,000 for the year — 23,556 people who did not clear a part-time wage in revenue, let alone in profit.
Read that as a floor, not an estimate. Census publishes gross receipts, not net income, so everyone inside that share earned less than $10,000 suggests once costs came out — and filers who grossed well above $10,000 may still have netted nothing.
What the spread tells you
At 10.7x, the gap between $3,910 and $41,740 is the shape of a field with a small, well-paid top. $11,732 is real and it is not a forecast — the people quoting the upper end at you are describing a minority.
The middle half of this field earns between $3,910 and $41,740. That is $37,830 of range, with $11,732 sitting inside it as the point half the field is above and half below.
Between $3,910 and $41,740 — the two ends of the middle half — sits $11,732. Moving from the midpoint to the upper quarter is worth $30,008; the whole climb from the lower quarter is $37,830.
The top quarter of Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services begins $30,008 above the $11,732 midpoint, while the bottom quarter starts only $7,822 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.
Converted to a 2,080-hour year, the receipts run $1.87 an hour at the 25th percentile, $5.64 at the midpoint and $20.06 at the 75th. Read them as revenue per hour worked; the equivalent wage is lower by whatever this work costs to do.
Counted straight off the return: 15,760 filers grossed under $5,000, 7,796 took $5,000 to $9,999, 9,486 took $10,000 to $24,999, 5,744 cleared $100,000 and 2,122 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 $11,732 midpoint for Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services is not take-home pay and is not comparable to a $11,732 salary.
Treat the per-hour figure as a conversion. It assumes a flat full-time year against $11,732 because we have no verified record of unpaid hours or out-of-pocket costs for this work, and we would rather convert honestly than adjust invented ones.
How this is calculated · Self-employment failure rates · What credentials cost and pay back · Look up something else