I started working as a tech consultant in my teens (not just building PCs for friends but actually developing relationships with local small businesses, translating tech-speak for them and advising them on the best course of action for things like servers, backups, security, and networking) and my hourly rate started at $35/hr.

Within a few years the demand for my services outstepped the number of hours in my day, so I pushed my rates up, peaking around $75/hr in my early 20s when I finally got sick of dealing with people who wanted a magician instead of a tech consultant.

That was about 10 years ago. I have friends who stuck with it and every single one of them makes more than $100/hr, so I laughed when I saw this article say, "the average hourly salary for tech consultants hit $42.17 in February—an all-time high."

It does say "average hourly salary", but I wonder what percentage of tech consultants work for a salary vs billing the client by the hour.