A side hustle pays what the work pays, minus the platform's cut, your costs and the self-employment tax. As a yardstick, the BLS puts median pay for the same work as a job at $16.82 an hour for childcare and $36.98 for writers. We read the platforms' own rules on October 23, 2026.
We build PaysFair, an earning app, so judge our bias accordingly. PaysFair is for people 16 and over.
What do side hustles pay per hour?
The fairest yardstick is what the same work pays as a job. These are the BLS's 2025 national medians for employees.
| Side hustle | The same work as a job | Median hourly pay |
|---|---|---|
| Pet sitting, dog walking | Animal care and service workers | $17.08 |
| Babysitting | Childcare workers | $16.82 |
| Rideshare driving | Taxi drivers and chauffeurs | $18.25 |
| Freelance writing | Writers and authors | $36.98 |
| Freelance design | Graphic designers | $30.27 |
A side hustle can pay more or less than these medians, and its pay still has to cover the costs below. The BLS counts ride-hailing drivers in its taxi and chauffeur figure.
What do the platforms take?
Each platform publishes its own cut. These are their own terms on October 23, 2026.
| Platform | What it takes, in its own terms |
|---|---|
| Taskrabbit | $25 once to register; clients pay the service fee |
| Etsy | $0.20 a listing, plus 6.5% of the sale and shipping |
| eBay | 13.6% of the sale, plus 30 or 40 cents an order |
| Uber | A small fee to cash out early, set by market |
Taskrabbit's $25 doesn't guarantee you'll be accepted. After that, all fees are charged to clients on top of your rate, and you keep all reimbursements. Uber's fee applies only if you cash out early with Instant Pay.
Earning apps like ours. PaysFair pays for surveys, games and campaigns. Its smallest cash-out is $1.00, sent as a gift card by email, and your first cash-out is checked by hand. Tasks done over a VPN or proxy don't count.
What does a side hustle cost you?
Taxes come first: the IRS charges self-employment tax of 15.3%, 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare, on 92.35% of your net earnings. It's usually due once your net earnings reach $400. So $1,000 of net side-hustle earnings carries about $141 of it, before any income tax.
Driving costs too: the IRS's standard mileage rate for self-employed business driving is 76 cents a mile from July 1, 2026, up from 72.5 cents in the first half of the year. You may be able to deduct business miles at that rate, so track them.
Which side hustles do most people do?
Selling things, mostly: in the Fed's survey for 2024, 20% of adults did some gig activity in the prior month. Selling was the most common, at 13%, and most of it was things people already owned, at 10%. Only 4% did short tasks through an app or website.
Most keep it small: of the people doing gig activities, 70% spent less than five hours a week on them, and only 21% called them their main job.
Do side hustles get taxed?
Yes: the IRS says you must report side-work income even if it isn't on a 1099 or W-2, or if you're paid in cash or any other form. Self-employment tax comes on top, as above.
Which side hustle offers are scams?
The FTC says a job that promises a lot of money in a short time for little work is almost certainly a scam. Reshipping goods is never a real job, it adds. Work-from-home scams sell starter kits, training or certifications that turn out to be useless.
What do other guides on this leave out?
We read four guides on this question on October 23, 2026, and two more wouldn't load for us. None cites the BLS or the Fed, and none gives the IRS mileage rate or Taskrabbit's $25 fee. Two mention the self-employment tax, one gives Etsy's 6.5% and one names the FTC. Three print many hourly figures, mostly as ranges with no source.
Questions people ask about side hustles
Are side hustles worth it?
It depends on what you keep per hour. Take the pay, subtract the platform's cut, your costs and the self-employment tax, then compare it with what the same work pays as a job, such as the BLS median of $16.82 an hour for childcare.
Do side hustles get taxed?
Yes. The IRS says side-work income must be reported even if it isn't on a 1099 or is paid in cash, and self-employment tax is usually due from $400 of net earnings.
What are good side hustles?
The most common ones, in the Fed's survey for 2024, were selling things you already own and short tasks through apps. Of the ones we list, writing and design pay the most as jobs, at BLS medians of $36.98 and $30.27 an hour.
How do you choose a side hustle?
Price it before you start. Check the platform's own fee page, add your costs, set aside self-employment tax, and walk away from any job that wants money up front for a starter kit or training.
Can a side hustle make you rich?
Few people treat one as more than extra money. In the Fed's survey for 2024, 70% of people doing gig activities spent under five hours a week on them, and only 21% called them their main job.
Sources
- Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025 median pay: animal care and service workers, childcare workers, taxi drivers, shuttle drivers and chauffeurs, writers and authors, graphic designers. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read October 23, 2026.
- What's the Registration Fee?; What's the Taskrabbit Service Fee? Taskrabbit Support. Read October 23, 2026.
- Fees and Payments Policy, Internet Archive copy of October 10, 2026. Etsy. Read October 23, 2026.
- Selling fees. eBay Help. Read October 23, 2026.
- How Much Do Drivers Make? Uber. Read October 23, 2026.
- Standard mileage rates; Topic 554, Self-employment tax; Gig Economy Tax Center. IRS. Read October 23, 2026.
- Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024, Employment and Gig Work. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, May 2025. Read October 23, 2026.
- Job scams. FTC. Read October 23, 2026.
- Our own count of four side-hustles guides, October 23, 2026.
- PaysFair's own home page, terms screen and settings, read October 23, 2026.
We name other companies in plain text and link none of them. Pay data, fees and tax rates change; we check every figure on this page again by January 23, 2027.