Side Hustle Profit Calculator
Is Your Side Hustle Worth Your Time?
Enter your numbers. Get the real answer in seconds.
Your numbers
Income type
Self-employment tax (15.3%) is deducted from your net profit.
Real Hourly Rate
$28.33
Decent, but room to improve
Net Monthly Profit
$1,840
Annual Net Income
$22,080
SE Tax Set-Aside
$260/mo
Hours / Month
65.0 hrs
FI Impact
Investing this profit could move your freedom year 9.2 years closer.
Tax reminder
Set aside $260/month for self-employment taxes (15.3% SE tax applies to 1099 income).
Why gross revenue is the wrong number
Most people evaluate their side hustle by looking at gross revenue. That number feels good. But it doesn't tell you what you actually earn per hour of your life. Once you subtract your business expenses, self-employment tax (if you're a 1099 worker), and divide by your real hours including admin time, you get your true hourly rate. That number is what you're trading your time for.
Self-employment tax catches most people off guard. When you work a regular W-2 job, your employer pays half of your Social Security and Medicare taxes. When you're self-employed or freelancing, you pay both halves. That's 15.3% on 92.35% of your net income before you even touch federal or state income taxes. A $2,400/month freelance income becomes roughly $2,075 after SE tax alone. That's why the real hourly rate calculation matters.
The benchmark that makes sense: if your real hourly rate is below what you could earn in your regular job or a simple part-time W-2 role, the side hustle is probably not worth the grind unless it has real scale or leverage potential. Anything above $30/hr is solid. Above $60/hr and you have something worth building seriously.