We compiled the pay ranges for the side hustles in our list using the following methodology:
First, we reviewed the salary and earnings averages on major employment websites, such as Indeed, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, and Salary.com. We aggregated their data and used it to establish a median value and upper and lower bounds for each side hustle’s average pay range.
When possible, we cross-referenced our figures with data from other sources, including:
- Salary estimates from industry-specific websites and publications
- Government data (e.g., from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Statistics published by freelance marketplaces, such as Upwork and Fiverr
In many cases, we corroborated our figures by reviewing (anecdotal) reports from workers, including ones who shared their earnings on various gig-related message boards, as well as other people who we previously interviewed about their side hustles.
Caveats and limitations
Our goal is to give our readers a reasonably accurate idea of how much they can expect to make from various side hustles. For many gigs, the data available is relatively scarce, and you should treat our figures as rough, ballpark estimates, not as gospel.
You may find that our rates skew low. This is because:
- We gave fairly conservative estimates: Most workers entering a new field will find that their earnings are modest until they find their feet. We want to leave casual readers with a realistic idea of how much they can expect to earn, not skew our figures with rates that are out of reach of all but the most experienced workers.
- Salaried positions may skew our data: Some of the data on earnings that we sourced may apply to traditional employees, not to freelancers or gig workers. Freelancers tend to charge higher rates than salaried workers to compensate for the unpaid labor they have to do to find clients (and the extra expenses they have to handle, e.g., taxes, insurance costs, etc.).
If you’re entering a new field as a freelancer, use our figures as your jumping-off point, but be sure to do your own research to ensure you’re setting fair rates and valuing your time appropriately.
Let us know how we did
If you have a side hustle and you think our pay range for your job is off-base, get in touch with us! We’d love to hear your feedback.
You can reach us at hello@sidehustles.com or via the form on our contact page.
