Weekend side hustles to make money: $7 to $17 an hour, net

Once fees, car costs and tax come out, most weekend side hustles net about $7 to $17 an hour. Food delivery, the most common one, sits at the bottom of that range.

The numbers

Assumptions: gross is Gridwise’s 2025 Uber Eats median, including tips and promotions. Costs assume 10 miles driven per hour at AAA’s 2026 small-sedan cost of 61.73¢ a mile (as reported by KBB and CarPro). Tax is the IRS 15.3% self-employment rate plus an assumed 15% income tax, charged on profit after the IRS 76¢ mileage deduction. Rounded to the cent.

A lot of weekend money lists quote $18 to $25 an hour for delivery and give no source. The tracked figure from Gridwise’s 2025 data on 101,709 Uber Eats drivers is a median of $15.03 gross, before the car takes its share. Every other weekend option below goes through the same arithmetic, and each input is labeled so you can swap in your own.

Weekend hustles ranked by net pay per hour

• Driving hustles lose about 41% to 42% of gross to the car before any tax: $6.17 of $15.03 for delivery, $9.26 of $21.92 for rideshare.
• Babysitting and pet care use BLS occupation medians. These are benchmarks, not app payouts. Pet-sitting apps take a cut of each booking, and that cut isn’t subtracted here, so the pet care row is flattering. Check the current fee on the app you’d use. Both rows assume the job is within walking distance, so there’s no vehicle cost.
• The reselling and tutoring rows rest on assumptions, and changing those moves them further than any other row.

For a wider ranking that isn’t limited to weekends, see side hustles ranked by after-tax pay per hour.

Assumptions

1. Hours: 8 a weekend (4 on Saturday, 4 on Sunday) for 50 weekends a year, which is 400 hours. For scale, 5 hours a week works out to 260 hours a year.
2. Miles: 10 per hour for delivery and 15 for rideshare.
3. Car cost: AAA’s 2026 small-sedan figure of 61.73¢ a mile. That’s an all-in number that includes depreciation. If you’d keep the car anyway, fuel alone is the floor: AAA puts it at an average of 17.3¢ a mile, assuming gas at $4.152 a gallon. Your real cost is somewhere between the two.
4. Mileage deduction: the IRS standard rate of 76¢ a mile for miles driven Jul 1 to Dec 31, 2026. For the first half of the year it was 72.5¢.
5. Tax: 15.3% self-employment tax plus an assumed 15% combined federal and state income tax, both charged on profit after deductions. This is a simplification. Your real rate depends on your bracket and your state.
6. Reselling: 8 items bought at $5 each and sold for $40 each on Mercari, with shipping built into the price. You pay $8 per label (an assumed figure, so use your own). Sourcing takes 20 miles of driving, and the whole job takes 8 hours.
7. Tutoring: a posted Wyzant rate of $40 an hour. That’s a round number for the example, not a typical rate. Each lesson hour also needs 15 minutes of unpaid prep.
8. Not counted: phone data, a share of your phone bill and any gig insurance add-on. Subtract your own figures for these.
9. Rounding: every step is rounded to the cent. The title range is rounded to the nearest dollar.

Worked example: one weekend of delivery

Two 4-hour shifts at the opening table’s rates:

Gross:                 8 hours x $15.03          = $120.24
Miles:                 8 hours x 10 miles        = 80 miles
Car cost:              80 x $0.6173              = $49.38
Net before tax:        $120.24 - $49.38          = $70.86

Mileage deduction:     80 x $0.76                = $60.80
Taxable profit:        $120.24 - $60.80          = $59.44
Self-employment tax:   $59.44 x 15.3%            = $9.09
Income tax (assumed):  $59.44 x 15%              = $8.92
Total tax:                                         $18.01

Net after tax:         $70.86 - $18.01           = $52.85
Per hour:              $52.85 / 8                = $6.61

DoorDash is the obvious alternative. It lists base pay of $2 to $10+ per offer plus promotions, and Dashers keep 100% of tips. Published estimates of DoorDash’s hourly pay conflict with each other, so the example uses Uber Eats. The full DoorDash driver math is in a separate post.

Cashing out early costs money. DoorDash’s Fast Pay is $1.99 per transfer, once a day, and needs a debit card. Use it after both shifts and the weekend loses $3.98:

Net after tax:         $52.85 - $3.98            = $48.87
Per hour:              $48.87 / 8                = $6.11
Over 50 weekends:      50 x $3.98                = $199.00

The free weekly direct deposit usually arrives in 2 to 3 days. The DoorDash Crimson account gives free instant deposits, with 8 free MoneyPass ATM withdrawals a month and $2.50 each after that.

Tips may lower the tax bill. Tips make up $6.26 of Uber Eats’ median $14.07 an hour in trip pay, which is 44%. The IRS’s “no tax on tips” guidance allows a deduction of up to $25,000 a year in qualified tips. It phases out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income ($300,000 joint), and it can’t be more than the net income of the business that earned the tips. The IRS names gig workers among its examples. Its published tax tip covers tips received in 2025, so confirm it applies to the year you’re filing for. If it does, this weekend’s $50.08 in tips (8 x $6.26) would save up to $7.51 of income tax under the 15% assumption.

What changes the answer for drivers

Gridwise found that the 6pm to 8pm dinner window paid best every day of the week and was strongest at weekends. Sunday evening was the top slot, at an average of $18.28 an hour. That figure is an average, so the best earners pull it up, and Gridwise doesn’t say whether the time-slot breakdown covers Uber Eats alone or all delivery apps.

Your vehicle matters more than your timing. Moving from a small sedan to a medium SUV costs $3.46 an hour, more than the $2.99 gap between the best and worst time slots.

Rideshare: more gross, more miles

Gridwise tracked more than 500,000 Uber drivers in 2025. Their median gross was $21.92 an hour, including quests and promotions. Tips were only $2.08 of the $21.18 median trip pay, about 10%, against 44% for Uber Eats.

Gross:                 $21.92
Car cost:              15 miles x $0.6173      = $9.26
Net before tax:        $21.92 - $9.26          = $12.66
Mileage deduction:     15 x $0.76              = $11.40
Taxable profit:        $21.92 - $11.40         = $10.52
Tax:                   $1.61 SE + $1.58 income = $3.19
Net after tax:         $12.66 - $3.19          = $9.47

Gridwise estimates that most drivers net “approximately $15 to $18 per hour”. That’s an estimate, not a measured figure. The fuel-only version of the math above gives $19.32 before tax and the all-in version gives $12.66, so Gridwise’s range falls between them.

Gridwise also describes its $23.88 average as pay per active hour, which leaves out the waiting between trips. If the median is counted the same way and a quarter of your logged-in time is waiting (both assumptions), the median becomes $21.92 x 0.75 = $16.44 per logged-in hour, before costs.

Reselling: the platform fee decides a lot

The fee on the same sale at three platforms, treating the sale price as the full fee base. eBay actually charges its fee on the total including shipping and sales tax, so its real fee runs a little higher.

• eBay charges 13.6% of the total, plus $0.30 per order up to $10 or $0.40 per order above $10. The first 250 listings a month are free (eBay’s fee page).
• Mercari charges 10% of the item price plus any shipping the buyer pays, with no separate processing fee, for listings created or updated on or after Jan 6, 2025. Instant Pay costs $3, and direct deposit is free.
• Poshmark charges a flat $2.95 on sales under $15 and 20% on sales of $15 or more.

The worked weekend, sold on Mercari:

Sales:                 8 x $40.00                       = $320.00
Mercari fee:           10% x $320.00                    = $32.00
Labels (assumed):      8 x $8.00                        = $64.00
Items bought:          8 x $5.00                        = $40.00
Driving:               20 miles x $0.6173               = $12.35
Net before tax:        $320 - $32 - $64 - $40 - $12.35  = $171.65
Time:                  3 sourcing + 3 listing + 2 packing = 8 hours
Per hour:              $171.65 / 8                      = $21.46

Taxable profit:        $320 - $32 - $64 - $40 - $15.20  = $168.80
Tax:                   $25.83 SE + $25.32 income        = $51.15
Net after tax:         $171.65 - $51.15                 = $120.50
Per hour:              $120.50 / 8                      = $15.06

Sell the same items on eBay and you net $19.62 an hour before tax. Poshmark gives $17.46 with the same label assumption (each platform handles shipping differently, so check your real label cost). Unsold stock is the bigger risk. If only 4 of the 8 items sell, the weekend drops to $59.65 over 7 hours, or $8.52 an hour before tax.

Clearing out your own belongings is taxed differently. The IRS says that if you sell your own used items for less than you paid, the loss isn’t taxable and can be zeroed out on Schedule 1 or Form 8949. A gain is taxable and goes on Form 8949 and Schedule D. For most decluttering, then, the money left after fees is also the money left after tax. Poshmark sellers of perfume, nail polish and similar items should read its October 2026 notice about a $50 USPS hazmat non-compliance fee.

Tutoring, babysitting and pet care

These have almost no costs. What limits them is how many hours people want to book, and each job pays only for the time you’re actually working.

Wyzant posted rate (assumed):  $40.00
Platform share, 25%:           $10.00
You keep:                      $30.00 per lesson hour
Time incl. 15 min prep:        1.25 hours
Per hour worked:               $30.00 / 1.25 = $24.00
Tax:                           $4.59 SE + $4.50 income = $9.09
After tax per hour worked:     $20.91 / 1.25 = $16.73

Wyzant tutors keep 100% of the rate for students they refer themselves, which takes the same example to $32.00 an hour before tax. Wyzant’s support page also lists a 9% service fee on lessons. Read how it applies before you set a rate.

For childcare, the BLS median is $16.82 an hour. The lowest 10% earn under $11.66 and the top 10% over $22.12. Part-time and irregular hours are common, and 24% of childcare workers are self-employed. The table taxes babysitting as self-employment income. How a sitter is classified can vary, so ask a tax professional if you’re unsure.

Renting out a room or a car for the weekend

These earn per night or per day, not per hour, so the fee does most of the work.

Airbnb is moving hosts to a single host-only fee. It says most hosts pay 15.5%, with a range of 14% to 16%. A two-night weekend at an assumed $100 a night:

Booking:        2 x $100.00         = $200.00
Fee at 15.5%:                         $31.00
You keep:                             $169.00

Under the old split fee, the host’s part was usually 3%, which would be $6.00 on the same booking. Once you’re switched to the new fee you can’t switch back, and Airbnb’s SEC filing says most hosts will have moved over by the end of 2026. If cleaning and messaging take 4 hours a weekend (an assumption), that’s $42.25 an hour before laundry, supplies, utilities and wear. Check your city’s short-term rental rules and your lease before you list.

On Turo, your share is lower when a trip is booked at short notice. In Austin, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Maui, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and Seattle, your share of a $200 weekend works out like this:

• Booked 0 to 2 days ahead: you keep 65% to 85%, which is $130 to $170.
• Booked 28 or more days ahead: you keep 80% to 100%, which is $160 to $200.

The plans with a higher host share also leave you responsible for more of any damage.

Plasma has a twice-a-week cap

Federal rules (21 CFR 640.65) say donations can’t be less than 2 days apart or more than twice in 7 days, so Saturday and Sunday back to back isn’t allowed. Pay per visit isn’t confirmed in the sources used here, so there’s no hourly figure for it.

Who is allowed to sign up

The tax arithmetic for a weekend earner

The IRS says gig income is taxable even if no form arrives. That includes cash and payments made through an app.

Reporting thresholds changed for 2026, but what you owe didn’t:

• Form 1099-NEC: the threshold is $2,000 for payments made in 2026, up from $600.
• Form 1099-K: it’s back to more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions.
• The IRS says a higher threshold doesn’t change the law on reporting income. A weekend reseller may never get a form and still owe tax.

Self-employment tax starts at $400 of net earnings. At $59.44 of taxable profit a weekend, $400 / $59.44 = 6.73, so you reach it in the 7th weekend.

The full year for the delivery example:

Gross:             400 x $15.03 = $6,012.00
Net before tax:    400 x $8.86  = $3,544.00
Taxable profit:    400 x $7.43  = $2,972.00
Tax:               $454.72 SE + $445.80 income = $900.52
Net after tax:     $3,544.00 - $900.52 = $2,643.48

You generally have to pay estimated tax if you expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year, and your other income counts toward that test too. This example comes in just under the line. Add one hour a weekend (450 hours) and the tax becomes $1,013.09. The last 2026 estimated payment is due Jan 15, 2027 (per Kiplinger and NerdWallet). Keep a mileage log: at 76¢ a mile it’s the biggest deduction in every driving example here. If the weekend work sits on top of a salary, the numbers for a side hustle with a full-time job are worth a look.

This is arithmetic, not tax or legal advice. A tax professional can apply it to your own return.

The insurance cost that isn’t in the table

Personal auto policies generally exclude driving for pay, and some insurers treat it as grounds for cancellation. While the app is on and you’re waiting for a request, the company’s coverage may only meet the legal minimum. That comes from a 2015 NAIC summary, and NerdWallet says the same gap applies to delivery. Get a quote for rideshare or delivery coverage and turn it into an hourly cost: at 400 hours a year, every $100 of extra premium is $0.25 an hour.

Compared with a legal pay floor

New York City requires app delivery workers to be paid at least $22.13 an hour before tips, from the first pay period on or after Apr 1, 2026. That floor, before tips, is higher than the national Uber Eats median gross of $15.03 including tips. Outside NYC, look up your state’s minimum wage and compare it with the net-after-tax column, not the gross.

Weekend offers that are scams

The FTC counted about 3 million fraud reports in 2025, with $15.9 billion in losses, up from more than $12 billion the year before. Its job-scam rules apply directly to weekend gig hunting:

• Honest employers never ask you to pay to get a job.
• Never trust a “cleared” check from an employer who then wants money sent back. That includes mystery-shopper offers.
• Reshipping goods is never a real job.
• “Task” jobs that pay you to like or rate things and then ask for a crypto deposit are growing. News coverage of FTC data put reports at about 5,000 in 2023 and about 20,000 in the first half of 2024 alone.

Report these at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Verdict in one number

$6.61 an hour. That’s what the median weekend delivery hour nets after full car costs and tax, so under these assumptions any hustle that pays for your time without burning miles beats it.