@VectorWarlock
That is a very good question. Let me put my few cents.
Webdesign is a very tough business. Here is how see the market for freelancers.
sub $1,000 market - customers who have no clue, but just want to have www.something. The designers who cater to this market are basically salespeople. They get the business, go to 'Race to bottom' place like Upwork, hire someone from India or Bangladesh. Pay them pennies (~$150/site) and sell to their customers.
sub $2,500 market - This is a market where the customers are educated and know what they want. But they don;t want to spend too much money. Designers who cater to them work on same concept as above, but hire someone from third world countries who is bit better (~$500/site)
They have to be like that. Imagine you would like to make $100k/yr. They have to make 100 websites a year (2/wk) or at $2,000 they need 50 (1/wk) of them. That is a very large number of websites. Of course they make residuals from charging maitenance, hosting, etc.
Also, DIY sites like Weebly, Squarespace or Wordpress have killed the market for low end designers. Now the people can build their own sites!
Now there is a market where the customers want elegance and are willing to pay for it. Designers who cater to this market normally charge around $3,000+. But they are good. They have good color sense, also have background in art, what looks good on web page, are able to customize base templates (either Weebly, Squarespace or Wordpress). They also have contacts who can write good copy.
Then there are freelancers who are premium. They are masters of html/css/java. They charge whatever customer is willing to pay - but their creations are out of world.
You can see some of the sites they buid at
http://sagmeisterwalsh.com/
http://hassler.io/
http://www.stinkdigital.com/
http://tomerlerner.com/
http://misplaced.design/
http://lookbook.quechua.com/spring-summer-2016/en
So ask which market you think your skills will fit? (I would not leave my day job).
