{"slug":"true-hourly-wage","name":"True Hourly Wage (Gig & Side Hustle)","category":"earn","tags":["gig","income"],"tagline":"What a gig actually pays per hour — after vehicle costs, waiting time, and self-employment tax.","endpoint":"https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/true-hourly-wage","page":"https://xearno.tools/t/true-hourly-wage","description":"Turns gross gig or side-hustle earnings into the real hourly wage: counting every hour worked (including waiting and driving between jobs), the full per-mile cost of the vehicle (not just gas), and the tax that no employer is withholding. Then compares the result to minimum wage — and is honest when the answer is \"stay home.\"","inputSchema":{"type":"object","properties":{"gross":{"description":"Gross earnings / week What the app(s) paid you, before anything.","type":"number","minimum":0,"default":800},"hours":{"description":"Total hours / week Include waiting, driving between jobs, and returning empty — research finds unpaid \"deadhead\" time is about a third of gig working time.","type":"number","minimum":0.5,"maximum":120,"default":40},"miles":{"description":"Miles driven / week All of them, including empty miles. 0 if the hustle has no vehicle.","type":"number","minimum":0,"default":600},"costPerMile":{"description":"Vehicle cost / mile Gas alone is ~$0.12–0.18/mi. The IRS all-in rate (fuel + maintenance + depreciation + insurance) is ~$0.70/mi. Most drivers’ true cost is $0.25–0.45.","type":"number","minimum":0,"maximum":3,"default":0.35},"taxPct":{"description":"Tax on profit (%) US self-employment tax alone is ~14% of profit; add your income-tax bracket for the fully-taxed number. Set 0 to see pre-tax.","type":"number","minimum":0,"maximum":60,"default":15},"minWage":{"description":"Local minimum wage The benchmark an employer would legally have to beat. US federal is $7.25; many states/cities are $15+.","type":"number","minimum":0,"default":7.25}},"required":[],"additionalProperties":false},"methodology":["True hourly wage = (gross − miles × cost/mile − tax) ÷ total hours, where tax = tax rate × profit after vehicle costs. Total hours must include waiting and repositioning time — studies of rideshare work find roughly a third of working time is unpaid \"deadhead\" time, and it belongs in the denominator.","The vehicle cost benchmark: the IRS standard mileage rate (~$0.70/mile) is an all-in estimate of fuel, maintenance, tires, depreciation, and insurance for an average vehicle. Counting only gas (~$0.12–0.18/mile) is the single most common error in gig-earnings math; depreciation is real money that arrives later as a repair bill or a worthless car.","The tax field approximates US self-employment tax (15.3% on 92.35% of profit ≈ 14.1%) plus optional income tax. Vehicle costs entered here are broadly deductible, which is why tax applies to profit, not gross.","Costs are subtracted whether or not the result is flattering — when the math says a gig underpays, the result says so, with no product to sell you instead."],"usage":"POST https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/true-hourly-wage with a JSON body matching inputSchema."}