[Annual Income of ¥10.92 Million] Latest Project Manager (PM) Freelance Jobs in June 2026 | Freelance Market Survey by Freelance Board

We are releasing the latest 2026 report on freelance 'Project Manager (PM) job postings'.

This report is based on actual freelance job listings published on Freelance Board, totaling 54,234 cases.

■ Survey Summary

・Average annual income for project manager roles: ¥10.92 million

・Remote work availability: 81.6%

・Market share of project manager roles: 10.29% of total freelance jobs

■ Table of Contents

Project Manager Average Annual Income Ranking by Occupation: 6th (¥10.92 million)

Project Manager Job Count Ranking by Occupation: 5th (Job Share: 10.29%)

Remote Work Ratio for Project Manager Jobs

Industries with High Demand for Project Managers

Characteristics of Project Managers

Domains Project Managers Can Handle

Market Value of Project Managers

Survey Scope

Estimated annual income is calculated from the average monthly rate of project manager job postings listed on Freelance Board (https://freelance-board.com/jobs/occupations-9).

・Survey Period

February 1, 2024 – June 15, 2026

・Number of Cases:

54,234

※ Request for Data Citation

When publishing this data in media, please include the following source.

Source: Freelance Board (https://freelance-board.com/jobs/occupations-9)

Project Manager Average Annual Income Ranking by Occupation: 6th (¥10.92 million)

The average monthly rate for project manager roles is ¥910,000, translating to an average annual income of ¥10.92 million. This places project managers 6th in the IT occupation-based income ranking.

Project managers are responsible for overseeing system development and entire IT projects. Their roles frequently involve requirements gathering, schedule management, budget control, quality assurance, and stakeholder coordination. However, required experience and rates vary significantly depending on project scale and management scope.

Despite ranking 6th, this reflects a high market valuation, as project managers play a crucial role in ensuring smooth development operations. Given ongoing demand for large-scale development and DX initiatives, high-paying roles are expected to continue.

Project Manager Job Count Ranking by Occupation: 5th (Job Share: 10.29%)

As of June 2026, project manager roles account for 10.29% of the total freelance market, ranking 5th by job count, with an average monthly rate of ¥910,000.

The high proportion of project manager roles stems from sustained demand for professionals who can manage progress, clarify requirements, and coordinate stakeholders in system development and business improvement initiatives. As a role essential for smooth project execution, project managers are in demand across a wide range of industries.

While steady demand is expected, evolving development models and expanding use of generative AI may shift the required levels of management skills and technical understanding.

Remote Work Ratio for Project Manager Jobs

(Reference: https://freelance-board.com/jobs/occupations-9)

As of June 2026, the remote work ratio for freelance project manager job postings is as follows: fully remote: 22.7%, partially remote: 58.9%, on-site: 18.4%.

Combined, fully and partially remote roles reach 81.6%, indicating that the majority of project manager positions now offer remote work options.

Compared to the previous month, fully remote roles decreased by 1.8%, while partially remote roles increased by 0.7%, and on-site roles rose by 1.2%. Project managers often handle tasks such as progress tracking, requirements clarification, and stakeholder coordination, which can largely be conducted online.

Year-on-year, fully remote roles decreased by 5.4%, partially remote roles increased by 8.4%, and on-site roles declined by 3.0%. This suggests a shift from fully remote arrangements toward hybrid models that include some on-site presence.

Industries with High Demand for Project Managers

(Job Share: Top 5 industries)

(Reference: https://freelance-board.com/jobs/occupations-9)

As of June 2026, the industries with the most project manager roles are: Services (4.63%, 2,511 jobs) in 1st place, toB (3.81%, 2,069 jobs) in 2nd, Web Services (3.74%, 2,030 jobs) in 3rd, SIer/Business Systems (3.02%, 1,640 jobs) in 4th, and Finance (1.87%, 1,015 jobs) in 5th. Together, these top five industries account for approximately 17.07% of all project manager roles.

The dominance of services, toB, and web services reflects the ongoing need for personnel who can manage progress and requirements during system development, business improvement, and service expansion. As project managers oversee entire developments and handle stakeholder coordination and quality control, they are also in demand in SIer/business systems and finance sectors.

Characteristics of Project Managers

Project managers are responsible for overseeing entire system development and business improvement projects, ensuring they proceed according to plan. Their primary responsibilities include requirements gathering, progress management, budget control, quality assurance, issue resolution, and stakeholder coordination.

Additionally, as they serve as intermediaries between engineers, business units, and clients, they must possess not only technical understanding but also strong coordination and decision-making skills. In recent years, demand for roles related to DX, cloud technologies, and generative AI has increased, raising the importance of business acumen and improvement proposal capabilities. They must also be able to analyze situations and clearly communicate them to stakeholders when dealing with project delays or specification changes.

Project managers are essential managerial roles across diverse fields, including web services, business systems, finance, and SIers.

Domains Project Managers Can Handle

Project managers are responsible for managing system development and business improvement projects. Their core duties include requirements gathering, planning, progress tracking, budget management, quality control, issue resolution, and stakeholder coordination, ensuring projects proceed according to schedule.

Specifically, they handle development team organization, schedule adjustments, meeting facilitation, responses to specification changes, risk management, and consensus-building with clients and business departments. As such, they are in demand across a wide range of fields, including web services, business systems, SaaS, finance, SIers, and DX initiatives.

Project managers are indispensable for ensuring smooth development, maintaining quality, and meeting deadlines.

Market Value of Project Managers

Project managers oversee entire system development and business improvement projects, ensuring they progress as planned. Their main responsibilities include requirements gathering, planning, progress management, budget control, quality assurance, issue resolution, and stakeholder coordination. They are in demand across a broad range of domains, including web services, business systems, SaaS, finance, SIers, and DX initiatives.

With an average annual income of ¥10.92 million (6th in occupation-based rankings) and an average monthly rate of ¥910,000, project managers rank 5th in job count with a market share of 10.29%. This indicates a high volume of roles in the freelance market, making them a strategically important occupation.