Side hustle net hourly pay calculator.

How it is calculated

Profit = revenue − cost of goods and platform fees − other expenses − vehicle or other costs. Everything is multiplied by your periods per year to get annual figures before tax. Self-employment tax = 92.35% of profit × (12.4% on whatever part of that fits under the Social Security wage base after your W-2 wages, plus 2.9% Medicare on all of it); it is skipped when the profit is zero or negative, and the tool applies the $400 minimum to the 92.35% amount (check the Schedule SE instructions for your own case). Income tax = (profit − half the SE tax) × (your marginal federal rate + your state rate). Net after tax = profit − SE tax − income tax.

Hours = paid hours + unpaid admin hours + ramp-up hours ÷ the months you spread them over, scaled to the length of your period. Net per hour is net after tax ÷ those hours. The page also shows revenue per hour and profit per hour before tax, so you can see how far costs, tax and unpaid time pull the figure down.

Worked example (illustrative inputs)

Revenue $1,000, goods and fees $200, other expenses $100 in a month: profit $700 a month, $8,400 a year. SE tax is 92.35% × $8,400 = $7,757.40 taxable base, × 15.3% = $1,186.88. Income tax at 22% + 5% on ($8,400 − half the SE tax) is $2,107.77. Kept after tax: $5,105.35 a year, $425.45 a month. With 20 paid hours and 5 unpaid admin hours, that is $17.02 per hour net, against $40.00 per hour of revenue per paid-and-unpaid hour. Add 60 hours of one-time ramp-up spread over 6 months and the hours become 35 a month, so the same profit becomes $12.16 per hour while ramp-up lasts. If W-2 wages of $200,000 already exceed the wage base, the 12.4% part drops out and SE tax falls to $224.96 a year.

What this does not cover

• The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on high earnings.
• The qualified business income (QBI) deduction, the standard or itemized deduction, credits, and bracket changes caused by the extra income: the model applies one flat marginal rate you choose.
• State self-employment rules, local taxes, sales tax and the details of any one platform’s fees: enter them as costs.
• Quarterly estimated-tax timing and penalties (see estimated tax due dates).
• The value of your time at other uses, burnout, and whether the work is enjoyable.

Method and sources

Sources: IRS Topic no. 554, Self-employment tax (15.3% total, 12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare, on 92.35% of net earnings; half of the tax is deductible; retrieved 2026-10); Instructions for Schedule SE (Form 1040) ($400 net-earnings rule and the Social Security earnings limit; retrieved 2026-10); SSA contribution and benefit base (the Social Security wage base; the tool starts from $184,500 for 2026 and lets you overwrite it; this page could not be re-opened automatically in 2026-10, so confirm the current figure there; our own taxable maximum by year page lists it); IRS 2026 inflation adjustments (the seven federal rates, 10% to 37%, and their income thresholds; retrieved 2026-10). Your marginal federal rate is an input, not a lookup; IRS standard mileage rates (2026: 72.5 cents per mile January 1 to June 30, 76 cents from July 1; retrieved 2026-10). Use as an optional cost input, not as a deduction rule: see IRS Publication 463 for the rules. All rates are inputs you can change. No income figures are built in.

Scope

This page is for people who also earn W-2 wages. It does not repeat the dedicated tools for gig drivers, real hourly wage or 1099 tax set-aside; use those for their own questions.