Creative & media

Illustration

You draw custom illustrations for books, brands, and products. Work is booked per project, and a strong portfolio brings in the next one.

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Median monthly earnings

$1,260

Middle 50% shown here

Effective hourly

$16.00

Earnings over the hours people logged

Hours per week

15 hrs

Median across reviews

Startup cost

$100–500

To get up and running

Time to first $100

1–4 weeks

From starting out

Monthly expenses

$50–150

To keep it running

Schedule flexibility

Mostly flexible

Most common answer

Would recommend it

65%

Say yes or probably yes

What people make in a month

Gross earnings people entered themselves, before expenses and taxes. Example distribution.

Under $100

$100–250

$250–500

$500–1,000

$1,000–2,000

$2,000–3,500

$3,500–5,000

$5,000–10,000

$10,000+

By platform

How many reviewers use each platform. Many people work more than one.

?Platform one

12 reviewers

?Platform two

9 reviewers

?Platform three

4 reviewers

How it scores

Happiness7.4 / 10

Would do it again68%

Schedule flexibility4.1 / 5

Pay predictability2.9 / 5

What surprised people most

Every option reviewers could pick, most common first. Example distribution.

Unexpected expenses

How little I could earn

Nothing really surprised me

How difficult it is to get started

Taxes — how much I owe

How much I could earn

How competitive the market is

How much time it takes

How difficult it is to find customers or clients

Example preview

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About five minutes · anonymous · US residents only

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