Gross revenue flatters every side gig. This calculator subtracts expenses and taxes, divides by all the hours — admin included — and tells you what your hustle really pays.
Revenue is not profit
Side hustle income gets quoted the flattering way: gross revenue, before expenses, before taxes, and with the hours conveniently unmentioned. This calculator runs the honest version — what lands in your pocket after the hustle's costs, and what that means per hour of the free time you're spending on it.
The formula
- Pre-tax profit = monthly revenue − monthly expenses
- Real profit = pre-tax profit × (1 − your estimated tax rate)
- Effective hourly rate = real profit ÷ total hours, admin included
How to use the result
The effective hourly rate is the decision number. Compare it against your day job's real hourly wage, against overtime if that's available to you, and against the value you place on rest. It also shows you the levers: raising prices and cutting hours usually move the number far more than grinding additional volume at the same rate.
Frequently asked questions
- What tax rate should I use?
- Side income typically gets taxed at your top marginal income-tax rate, and in many countries self-employed earnings also owe self-employment or social contributions on top. Add your marginal bracket to those contributions for a working estimate, and confirm the exact treatment for your country — or ask a tax professional.
- What counts as a business expense?
- Anything you spend to earn the revenue: materials, software subscriptions, platform and payment fees, advertising, mileage, and equipment. Tracking them matters twice — they reduce both your true profit and, in most tax systems, your taxable income.
- Why include admin and marketing hours?
- Because the hustle consumes them whether or not a client pays for them. Counting only 'paid' hours inflates your hourly rate and hides whether the gig genuinely beats resting, learning, or picking up overtime instead.
- My effective hourly rate is low. Should I quit?
- Not necessarily — early side projects often pay badly while skills and clientele compound. But know which case you're in: an investment phase with a credible path to better rates, or a treadmill that structurally can't pay more. The number makes that conversation with yourself honest.