This article explains the Job Success Score (JSS) on Upwork, which reflects client satisfaction and can help attract new clients. A high JSS (90% or above) boosts your chances of earning Top Rated status, while a low score (below 79%) can make it harder to win projects. The JSS is updated daily and calculated based on your contract outcomes over 6, 12, and 24 months, including factors such as feedback, disputes, higher-value projects, and long-term clients. You can view insights into your JSS to understand changes. (This feature is not available to agencies or exclusive agency freelancers yet.)
Your Job Success Score is a metric that measures your clients' satisfaction with your work on Upwork. A high JSS can help you stand out in the Upwork marketplace, helping you spend less time finding clients and more time working with them.
A JSS of 90% or above is excellent (and puts you on the track to earn Top Rated status). If your score falls below 79%, you may find it difficult to connect with new clients or win new projects.
You can take a deeper look into your score in your Job Success insights:
- If you’re a new freelancer on Upwork, you’ll see detailed information on what JSS is and how to earn one for the first time
- Once you’ve earned a JSS, you’ll see transparency into how your score is calculated, what factors impact it, and tips on improving your reputation on Upwork
Insights are not yet available for agencies or exclusive agency freelancers.
Learn more about Job Success insights.
Your JSS reflects your overall contract history with your clients on Upwork and is based on your (or your agency's) relationships and feedback. It takes into consideration several factors, including public and private feedback, reasons why past contracts ended, dispute history, higher-value projects, and long-term customer relationships.
We calculate JSS daily based on your 6-, 12- and 24-month history in the marketplace, calculating a score for each timeframe, and display the best of these scores on your profile.
At a high level, we look at JSS this way:
(successful contract outcomes - negative contract outcomes) / total outcomes
As a freelancer, you can get direct insight into the factors that impact your JSS and changes to your score in your Job Success insights. This feature is not available for agencies or exclusive-agency contract freelancers.
- Longer-term relationships are great and can help boost your score. But not having them does not count against you
- Jobs with higher earnings will have a bigger impact on your score
- If a freelancer or agency owner is exclusive to an agency, the agency's JSS will be shown on the profile rather than an individual rating. Learn more about agency JSS
- We understand that some projects have bad outcomes because the client is difficult to work with. We track freelancer feedback of clients and flag clients with a history of poor collaboration. If one of your clients has been previously flagged (or has been suspended for Terms of Service violations), their feedback will not count against your JSS
- You can view your score and get insight into why it may have changed in Job Success insights
Frequently Asked Questions
Job Success Score is a metric used to measure the overall satisfaction of your clients on Upwork. Job Success Scores range from 0-100%, with 0% being the lowest rating and 100% being the highest. Once you earn a Job Success Score, it will be visible in search results and on your profile.
Your JSS reflects your overall contract history with your clients on Upwork and is based on your (or your agency's) relationships and feedback. It takes into consideration a number of different factors, including public and private feedback, contract-ending history, dispute history, and long-term customer relationships
We calculate JSS daily based on your 6-, 12- and 24-month history in the marketplace and calculate a score for each timeframe. The best score out of these will display on your profile.
At a high level, we look at JSS this way:
(successful contract outcomes - negative contract outcomes) / total outcomes
Freelancers can look into why their JSS may have changed within Job Success insights. Learn more about your Job Success insights here.
The Upwork system takes snapshots of your 6-, 12- and 24-month history in the marketplace and calculates a score for each. The best score out of these moving time windows is your JSS.
Three different Job Success Scores are calculated daily, and we’ll display your best score out of:
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Your average JSS during the past 24 months
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Your average JSS during the past 12 months
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Your average JSS during the past 6 months
Note that any movement in this score (either up or down) reflects both recent activity and activity over a longer period of time (up to 24 months).
Only contracts with transactions within the past 24, 12, and 6 months will impact your Job Success Score, and the timing starts from the date of the most recent transaction within the contract (not the contract end date). Once a transaction occurs within a contract, it will be reflected in your JSS insights under either "Eligible jobs" or "Ineligible jobs" within 48 hours of the transaction date.
As a freelancer, you can get direct insight into why your JSS may have changed in your Job Success insights.
Your JSS can change for a number of reasons, even without recent activity. Typically, changes occur when new contracts are added that impact your JSS, or when older activity is aged out of your JSS. We display your best JSS score from the 6-, 12-, and 24-month periods that we use to calculate the JSS, and those time frames are updated daily.
For example, a contract will no longer count in your six-month JSS window once it is six months and one day old.
Your JSS can change because:
- You receive poor public or private feedback from one or more clients
- You receive very positive public or private feedback from one or more clients
- Past jobs are no longer considered because they fall outside the 24-month timeframe
Your JSS appears once you have two or more contract outcomes within 24 months and outcomes with two or more clients during your time on Upwork. Job Success Score is calculated daily.
While most feedback is eligible, feedback from clients who violate our Terms of Service won't count towards your JSS calculations
Look at your Job Success insights to learn more about earning a JSS for the first time.
You may be able to improve your Job Success Scores in several ways. This includes cultivating lasting client relationships, consistently delivering exceptional work, and actively seeking higher-value projects.
Your JSS may disappear after two years if you don’t receive eligible feedback. Most feedback is eligible, but at times feedback won’t be counted because, for example, we determined the client violated our Terms of Service. Since this feedback won’t count toward your JSS, it’s not considered eligible feedback.
