7 Creative Side Gigs That Pay $100 per Hour

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Finding a lucrative side gig can be difficult. The national average pay for gig work is about $17 per hour. That’s not a lot in comparison to the United States average hourly wage, which is $34.10.

However, some side hustles will pay you very well. Take a look and see what side gigs can pay you upwards of $100 per hour. 

Massage Therapist

If you’re employed at a spa, you’ll make around $43,078. However, if giving massages is your side gig, you set your own rates. It’s not uncommon for massages to cost $100 or more an hour. This number can get even higher if you add the cost of traveling to a client’s home. An advantage to doing massage therapy on the side is that you not only get to keep the tip, but you also get to keep the entire cost of the massage.Depending on your clients, it’s far more lucrative to do massage on the side rather than working at a spa full-time. The process of becoming a massage therapist differs from state to state, but it usually involves coursework and logging therapy hours to earn a certification. 

Photographer

Once you hone your photography skills, you can charge pretty good money. After you’ve taken some classes and practiced for a few years, you can become an event photographer. For an event like a wedding, it’s usually around $2,000.

A wedding photographer works for 10 hours during the wedding day, that’s $200 an hour. Of course, on top of this, you would also be responsible for editing the couples’ photos to some extent, but it’s still a pretty well-paying gig. 

Graphic Designer

Have you been a graphic designer for more than five years? According to Wix.com’s No BS Guide to Freelance Design Rates, that experience could get you $100 per hour as a freelancer. The guide lays out that, when it comes to design work, your experience, your location and the project’s scope determine how much your rate should be.

To become a graphic designer, you can take online courses and then put your skills to the test. To get work initially, you can check out websites like Upwork to find clients with graphic design needs. Once you build your skills and portfolio, you can charge more. 

Tattoo Artist

Visual artists can make money on the side by doing tattoos. Artists pay the owner for a spot in the tattoo shop, then they get to keep what they charge customers. According to PayScale, a tattoo artist makes an average of $100 an hour. Now, some tattoo artists charge up to $150 an hour.

You can start by finding a mentor at a tattoo shop, and then completing an apprenticeship. From there, you can get certified and get your tattooing license.

Voiceover

Ever been told you have a nice voice? You could be making money with it! You can start by taking voiceover classes so you can practice using your voice for different types of scripts.

From there, you can put together a reel and start submitting it to voiceover jobs. Your typical commercial scripts that are under one minute long can pay anywhere between $50 to $200. This number can get even higher depending on who the client is. For 2-5 minute scripts, you can usually make $200 or more.

Car Detailing

Once you secure the equipment and supplies you need, detailing a car can be a great way to make cash. Items you need typically include cleaning supplies and a vacuum you can use in a vehicle. The average cost to detail a car is $160. If it only takes you an hour to do the job, that’s well over $100 an hour. 

Performing Tasks on Taskrabbit

If you consider yourself handy, or at least can help someone move, there’s a place on Taskrabbit for you. You can even get paid on Taskrabbit for pet sitting or data entry.

You might not start at $100 per hour on the site, but you can work up to it. The trick is to have great reviews so you look attractive to customers looking to hire someone. Typically, manual labor jobs like moving and mounting items on the wall are the tasks customers are willing to pay more for. 

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