Professional organizers undertake a variety of different types of designing, cleaning and cataloging. Assignments range from helping hoarders to de-clutter their lives to designing efficient storage systems, to assisting with the organization of a household move, or taking on the job of implementing records management systems for a company. The amount of money a professional organizer makes annually depends on the type of clients he has, the services he offers, and whether he works for a company or is self-employed and charging hourly rates.

Employment

The Bureau of Labor Statistics includes professional organizers in the category of interior designers. Employment as a professional organizer could comprise a full-time position with an agency or company that offers professional organizing or other home and interior cleaning, staging and design services. This type of company is likely to employ several consultants, each specializing in a different aspect of the work. The employee may work on a fixed annual salary, or be paid by the hour, by the square footage or by the project. Specialized design services earned a median annual wage of $45,470 as of May 2008.

Hourly Rates

Many professional organizers are self-employed and work independently. They set their own hourly rates, based on the marketplace in which they operate. Many self-employed people only work part-time, and hourly fees ranged from $50 to $200 in 2005, according to Barry Izsak, president of the National Association of Professional Organizers, in the CNN Money article “Organize This: A Six-Figure Income.”

Annual Income

Izsak said in 2005 that within five years after entering the field, an “ambitious” professional organizer could achieve an annual income of $100,000 or more. At an average rate of $125 an hour, an organizer would need to work 800 hours per year, or 5 hours a day for 13 days a month. Assuming beginners in the industry charge a lower rate of $60 per hour, they could work the same amount of time and make $50,000 in gross annual revenue.

Unlimited Earnings

A professional organizer can make as much money as he wishes, dependent only on the amount of work he is able or prepared to do. With the decreasing quantities of personal free time that professionals and business people experience, the outlook for this profession is excellent, according to the BLS. The bureau expects the market for interior designers of every sort to grow by 19 percent between 2008 and 2018, although the industry is subject to economic fluctuations.