Upwork Top Rated requirements: every badge's rules, and how common each is in search

To be Top Rated on Upwork you need a current Job Success Score of 90% or higher, and 90%+ (or Rising Talent) for 13 of the last 16 weeks, a first project over 90 days ago, $1,000 earned in 12 months, a 100% complete profile and activity in the past 90 days. Upwork re-checks every two weeks. In 61 keyword scans in November 2026, 84.6% of page-one profiles held Top Rated or Top Rated Plus.

Upwork has four freelancer badges, and three of them are earned by rules

Upwork's talent badges are Rising Talent, Top Rated, Top Rated Plus and Expert-Vetted. The first three follow published criteria and are granted without an application. Expert-Vetted is different: it is usually by invitation and includes an interview.

Each sits on a ladder. Rising Talent is for promising newcomers, Top Rated for proven ones, Top Rated Plus for proven ones with large contracts behind them, and Expert-Vetted for what Upwork calls the top 1% of a field (Expert-Vetted). Upwork puts Top Rated at the top 10% of its talent and Top Rated Plus at the top 3% (talent badges).

“They represent the top 10% of talent on Upwork.”

Badge	Job Success	12-month earnings	Other conditions	How you get it
Rising Talent	90%+ if you have a score	$250+ with a 4.8+ average rating, or an Upwork invitation	100% complete profile, verified identity, no negative feedback, proposal or work in 90 days	Automatic when eligible
Top Rated	90%+ now, and for 13 of the last 16 weeks (or Rising Talent)	$1,000+	First project over 90 days ago, 100% complete profile, availability up to date, activity in 90 days, no recent holds	Automatic, updated every two weeks
Top Rated Plus	Keep Top Rated	Over $10,000	At least one large contract in 12 months with no negative outcome	Automatic, updated every two weeks
Expert-Vetted	Not published	Not published	Screening that includes a 30-minute interview; select categories only	Usually by invitation

Sources, read 10 November 2026: Upwork articles 211063228, 211068468, 360050417233, 211063568 and 360049625454.

Top Rated: the JSS rule is about weeks, not one number

The heart of Top Rated is a Job Success Score of 90% or higher held over time. You need 90%+ today, and 90%+ (or Rising Talent status) for at least 13 of the last 16 weeks. A dip below 90% that lasts three weeks or less leaves the badge alone. A fourth week below costs it.

The rest is a checklist of eight items, and most of them have nothing to do with how good your work is:

• Time. Your first project on Upwork was more than 90 days ago.
• Money. At least $1,000 earned in the past 12 months.
• Profile. 100% complete (profile completeness).
• Availability. Up to date. If you are not available now, set a date estimate (availability).
• Activity. A proposal, an accepted invitation or earnings in the past 90 days.
• Standing. No recent account holds.

One wrinkle: Upwork's badge overview (211063568) asks only for "a strong earnings history" and names no figure, while the Top Rated article and the all-badges guide (360049702614) both say $1,000. Plan on $1,000.

“We update eligibility every two weeks.”

That cadence matters when you are close. Fixing a profile gap or sending a proposal after 90 quiet days does not restore the badge the same afternoon; expect the next two-week update. Your My Stats page shows how many of the 16 weeks met the bar. Our Job Success Score guide covers what moves the score itself.

Rising Talent (freelancer, rating path)

$250

Top Rated (freelancer)

$1,000

Top Rated Plus (freelancer)

$10,000

Top Rated (agency)

$10,000

Top Rated Plus (agency)

$20,000

$0$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000

Hover or tab through the chart for exact values.

Source: Upwork help center, read 10 November 2026: 211063228 (Rising Talent), 211068468 (Top Rated), 360050417233 (Top Rated Plus).Top Rated Plus figures are stated as 'over' the amount. Agency Rising Talent is invitation only and has no published floor.

Show the data

	12-month earnings floor
Rising Talent (freelancer, rating path)	$250
Top Rated (freelancer)	$1,000
Top Rated Plus (freelancer)	$10,000
Top Rated (agency)	$10,000
Top Rated Plus (agency)	$20,000

Top Rated Plus is decided by one large contract

Top Rated Plus keeps every Top Rated condition and adds two: total earnings over $10,000 in the past 12 months, and at least one large contract in that window with no negative outcome. The contract must have had money earned on it in the past 12 months, or it does not count.

"Large" depends on the category. Upwork sets it at $5,000 for Design and Creative, Writing, Translation, Legal and Engineering and Architecture; $10,000 for most other groups; $15,000 for Web, Mobile and Software Development; and $20,000 for Customer Support. An agency's thresholds are double, except Customer Service, which stays at $20,000.

The practical reading: a freelancer can earn $40,000 in a year across twenty small contracts and still not qualify. The contract size, not the total, is the gate. If you are a software developer close to Plus, one $15,000 engagement does more than a dozen $1,000 fixes.

Rising Talent and Expert-Vetted sit at either end of the ladder

Rising Talent is the only badge you can hold without a Job Success Score. You need either an Upwork invitation, or an average star rating of 4.8 or above with at least $250 earned in the past 12 months. On top of that: a 100% complete profile, the identity verified badge, a valid withdrawal method, no public or private negative feedback, no holds, and a proposal or work in the past 90 days. If you do have a JSS, it must be 90% or higher. Upwork adds the badge without any action from you, emails you when it does, and asks you to allow 24 hours for it to be re-added after you regain eligibility. It also comes with a one-time bonus of 30 free Connects.

Expert-Vetted works the other way round. There is no checklist to meet. Upwork describes it as the top 1% of a field, typically invitation only, with a screening that includes a 30-minute interview on hard and soft skills, and only in select categories. One detail most people miss: the badge is only visible to clients on Business Plus or Enterprise plans (talent badges). A Marketplace client searching for your keyword never sees it.

Agencies have their own, higher bar

Agency badges follow the same names with different rules (agency talent badges). For an agency to be Top Rated, Upwork asks for:

• an agency JSS of 90% or higher, held for 13 of the last 16 weeks;
• an agency owner JSS of 90% or higher, or none earned yet;
• $10,000 in agency earnings in the past 12 months, ten times the freelancer figure;
• a 100% complete owner profile with photo, an agency profile with logo, overview and services, and member profiles at least 60% complete on average;
• no recent holds on the agency, its members or owners, and activity in the past 90 days.

Agency Top Rated Plus needs over $20,000 in 12 months and large contracts without negative outcomes, where Upwork allows under 10% for agencies. Agency Rising Talent is by invitation only.

The badge then travels to exclusive members. A member with a JSS shows Top Rated; one without enough history shows Rising Talent, as long as their profile is at least 60% complete. When the agency earns Top Rated Plus, eligible exclusive members inherit it. That is a strong reason to run new hires as exclusive members: they start with a badge on day one.

In search, Top Rated is the norm, not the edge

Upwork's "top 10%" is a share of all talent. Among the profiles clients actually see in talent search, the badge is far more common. We read the badge on every result for the first 500 profiles of 61 keywords, 30,500 results in all, scanned 7 to 9 November 2026.

84.6% of page one held Top Rated or Top Rated Plus (516 of 610 results). On pages 31 to 50 it was 73.5% (8,965 of 12,200). Across the 17,099 distinct profiles we saw, 70.3% held one of the two.

The gradient is mostly Top Rated Plus. It takes 46.4% of page one against 34.6% of pages 31 to 50, an 11.8-point gap, while plain Top Rated stays near 39% to 41% at every depth. Unbadged profiles move the other way: 9.2% of page one, 16.7% of pages 31 to 50.

The keyword decides how hard the badge filter bites. On 20 of the 61 keywords, all ten page-one profiles held Top Rated or Plus. On two keywords only five of ten did. Rising Talent profiles reached page one on 18 keywords, 23 results in all (3.8% of page one), so the newcomer badge can rank, but rarely.

Hover or tab through the chart for exact values.

Source: Upsight's talent-search scans: 30,500 results (the first 500 for each of 61 keywords), scanned 7 to 9 November 2026.

Show the data

	Keywords
5 of 10	2
6 of 10	7
7 of 10	6
8 of 10	12
9 of 10	14
10 of 10	20

This is correlation, not Upwork's ranking formula. Top Rated Plus profiles also earn far more: the median shown lifetime earnings were $183,303 for Top Rated Plus, $30,944 for Top Rated, $8,481 for unbadged profiles and $2,159 for Rising Talent. Earnings and the badge rise together, so neither can be credited alone. Our study of what page one looks like found the keyword in the title moves more with rank than any badge does.

Why profiles that look qualified have no badge

Among the 4,529 results with no badge, 1,753 (38.7%) showed a JSS of 90% or higher and at least $1,000 in lifetime earnings on the search tile. Those two numbers are what most people check, and they are not enough. The tile shows lifetime earnings, while Upwork counts the past 12 months. The rest of the checklist is invisible from outside: 90 days of activity, a complete profile, current availability, 13 good weeks of 16, no holds.

The reverse almost never happens. Only 105 of the 23,181 badged results with a score (0.45%) showed a JSS under 90%, which fits a badge waiting for its next two-week update. Among unbadged profiles with a score, 1,361 of 3,645 (37.3%) were under 90%. A weak JSS is the most common visible reason for no badge, but not the only one.

1. 1

   Check the 12-month figure, not lifetime

   Open your stats and read earnings for the past 12 months. Top Rated needs $1,000, Plus over $10,000, and an agency $10,000 or over $20,000.

2. 2

   Count your weeks

   My Stats shows how many of the last 16 weeks were at 90%+. You need 13. A dip that ends within three weeks costs nothing; plan a fourth week carefully.

3. 3

   Clear the quiet checks

   Profile at 100%, availability set (or a date estimate), and a proposal, accepted invitation or earnings in the last 90 days. These lose more badges than JSS does.

4. 4

   Aim one contract at Plus

   If you hold Top Rated and earn over $10,000, Plus needs one large contract with funds earned in 12 months: $5,000 in writing or design, $15,000 in software.

5. 5

   Put new agency hires on as exclusive members

   An exclusive member without a JSS shows Rising Talent when the agency is Top Rated, as long as the profile is 60%+ complete.

6. 6

   Wait for the update

   After a fix, allow the next two-week eligibility update for Top Rated and Plus, and 24 hours for Rising Talent to be re-added.

If you run several member profiles, the badge is one of the things a client sees before opening a proposal, so it belongs next to rank. Upsight tracks each profile's daily keyword rank and records who ranks above it, badges included. You can check where one profile stands today with the free Upwork rank checker.

How we read the badges

Questions

What are the requirements for Top Rated on Upwork?

A current Job Success Score of 90% or higher and 90%+ (or Rising Talent) for 13 of the last 16 weeks, a first project over 90 days ago, $1,000 earned in 12 months, a 100% complete profile, up-to-date availability, activity in the past 90 days and no recent account holds.

How often does Upwork update Top Rated status?

Upwork says it updates eligibility for Top Rated and Top Rated Plus every two weeks. Rising Talent is added automatically once you qualify; after regaining eligibility, Upwork asks you to allow 24 hours for the badge to be re-added.

What is the difference between Top Rated and Top Rated Plus?

Top Rated Plus keeps every Top Rated condition and adds over $10,000 earned in 12 months plus at least one large contract with no negative outcome. Large means $5,000 in writing or design and $15,000 in software. Upwork calls Top Rated the top 10% and Plus the top 3%.

Do you need Top Rated to rank on page one of Upwork search?

No, but most page-one profiles have it. In 61 keyword scans in November 2026, 84.6% of page-one results held Top Rated or Top Rated Plus, against 73.5% of pages 31 to 50. On 20 keywords all ten page-one profiles held it.

How do you lose Top Rated on Upwork?

By missing any criterion at the two-week update: a JSS under 90% for more than three of 16 weeks, no activity in 90 days, an incomplete profile or under $1,000 in 12 months. Taking payment or repeated contact off Upwork before a contract removes the badge for six months.

What does an agency need for Top Rated on Upwork?

An agency JSS of 90%+ for 13 of 16 weeks, an owner JSS of 90%+ or none yet, $10,000 earned in 12 months, a complete owner and agency profile, member profiles 60% complete on average, no holds and activity in 90 days. Agency Top Rated Plus needs over $20,000.