Source: Rover Help: What are the service fees? (2026)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- → $21.45 Rover's national average price for a 30-minute dog walk, from its own published rate data. (Rover: How Much Does Dog Walking Cost in Boston, MA?, 2025)
- → 20% Rover's standard service fee on sitter earnings for profiles approved on or after March 1, 2016. (Rover Help: What are the service fees?, 2026)
- → $17.00 Median hourly wage of the 266,910 employed animal caretakers in the US in May 2025. (BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, median hourly wage, 2025)
- → $52.23 Rover's national average price for one night of overnight dog sitting. (Rover: How Much Does Dog Sitting Cost in Boston, MA?, 2025)
- → 25% Share of animal caretakers who were self-employed in 2025, the group BLS wage surveys leave out. (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Animal Care and Service Workers, 2025)
Pet sitting looks like the friendliest side hustle there is: spend time with dogs, set your own schedule, get paid through an app. The question people keep asking in the sitter forums is simpler and harder to answer. How much of what the owner pays actually reaches the sitter, and how does that compare with a normal job walking dogs or working at a kennel?
The answer is in two places that rarely appear on the same page. Rover publishes its fees in its help centre and its average prices on its own city cost pages. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes what employed animal caretakers earn. Put together, they show that Rover keeps about 28% of what a pet owner pays for an average 30-minute walk: the owner pays $23.81 including Rover's 11% owner fee on the $21.45 national average rate, and the sitter keeps $17.16 after Rover's standard 20% sitter fee. (Rover Help: What are the service fees?, 2026)
That does not make Rover a bad deal. It makes it a deal with a price, and the sections below put a number on every part of it: what employed caretakers earn, what Rover charges both sides, what owners pay, what a sitter keeps per walk and per night, and the costs that no app shows you, from self-employment tax to the risk that the platform itself changes hands.
1 How Much Do Dog Walkers and Pet Sitters Earn Per Hour in the US?
Employed animal caretakers earned a median $17.00 an hour in May 2025, across 266,910 jobs. The bottom tenth earned under $13.10 and the top tenth $24.07 or more, a median of $35,360 a year. About 25% of caretakers are self-employed and not counted in those wages. (BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, median hourly wage, 2025)
| METRIC | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Employed animal caretakers in the US | 266,910 | BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, employment |
| Median hourly wage | $17.00 | BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, median hourly wage |
| 10th percentile hourly wage | $13.10 | BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, 10th percentile hourly wage |
| 90th percentile hourly wage | $24.07 | BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, 90th percentile hourly wage |
| Median annual wage | $35,360 | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Animal Care and Service Workers |
| Share who are self-employed | 25% | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Animal Care and Service Workers |
| Projected job growth, animal care and service | 11% | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Animal Care and Service Workers |
These are the people who walk dogs, run kennels and staff doggy day cares on a payroll, and they are the cleanest public benchmark for what an hour of pet care is worth in the US labour market. The spread is narrower than in most occupations: the gap between the bottom and top tenth is a matter of a few dollars an hour (BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, 90th percentile hourly wage, 2025), which tells you this is a job where experience raises pay slowly. The money in pet care does not come from seniority. It comes from owning the client relationship.
That is also why the BLS figure is only half the picture. Roughly a quarter of animal caretakers work for themselves (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Animal Care and Service Workers, 2025), and those are exactly the people on Rover and in the Reddit threads behind this article. The wider animal care field counts 413,000 jobs and is projected to grow much faster than average (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Animal Care and Service Workers, 2025), so demand is not the problem. The question is how much of that demand an app lets you keep, which is the same question our online tutoring pay statistics asked about teaching platforms.
2 What Percentage Does Rover Take From Sitters and Owners?
Rover takes 20% of a sitter’s earnings on profiles approved since March 2016, 15% on older legacy profiles and 25% for RoverGO sitters. Owners pay a separate 11% service fee on top of the sitter’s price, capped at $50 per booking. (Rover Help: What are the service fees?, 2026)
| METRIC | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Standard sitter fee | 20% | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
| Legacy sitter fee (older profiles) | 15% | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
| RoverGO sitter fee | 25% | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
| Owner service fee | 11% | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
| Owner fee cap per booking | $50 | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
Rover charges both sides of every booking, which is why the platform’s real share is larger than either fee on its own. The sitter sees one deduction, the owner sees another, and neither sees the total. Sitters who joined before the fee change still pay the lower legacy rate (Rover Help: What are the service fees?, 2026), which is why long-time sitters in the forums often quote different numbers from newcomers and talk past each other.
The RoverGO tier costs sitters the most (Rover Help: What are the service fees?, 2026). It is the fastest way to pick up work because Rover handles more of the matching, but it is also a clear example of a pattern across this site: the easier a platform makes it to start, the more of each job it keeps. Our Fiverr review and our reselling profit statistics show the same trade-off in freelancing and in resale marketplaces.
3 How Much Do Owners Pay for Dog Walking and Pet Sitting on Rover?
Rover’s national average is $21.45 for a half-hour dog walk, $27.91 for a day of daytime sitting and $52.23 for a night of overnight care. Prices run higher in expensive cities: in Boston the average walk is $21.76 and house sitting $64.26 a night. (Rover: How Much Does Dog Walking Cost in Boston, MA?, 2025)
| METRIC | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| National average, half-hour dog walk | $21.45 | Rover: How Much Does Dog Walking Cost in Boston, MA? |
| National average, daytime dog sitting | $27.91 | Rover: How Much Does Dog Sitting Cost in Boston, MA? |
| National average, overnight dog sitting | $52.23 | Rover: How Much Does Dog Sitting Cost in Boston, MA? |
| Boston average, half-hour dog walk | $21.76 | Rover: How Much Does Dog Walking Cost in Boston, MA? |
| Boston average, house sitting per night | $64.26 | Rover: How Much Does Dog Sitting Cost in Boston, MA? |
These are Rover’s own averages, published on its city price pages and drawn from what sitters on the platform charge (Rover: How Much Does Dog Sitting Cost in Boston, MA?, 2025). Because sitters set their own prices, they are the best available guide to what the market will bear, and they explain a recurring theme in the forums: experienced sitters drop walks and keep boarding. A walk earns a few dollars for a trip across town; a night of boarding earns several times as much without the driving.
The city figures also show how much location matters. A sitter in a high-cost city can charge noticeably more than the national average (Rover: How Much Does Dog Sitting Cost in Boston, MA?, 2025), but the platform fees scale with the price, so a higher rate does not change the share Rover keeps. It only changes the size of the slice. Anyone weighing pet care against other local gigs should run the same per-booking arithmetic our side hustles that pay daily guide uses for payout speed.
4 How Much Does a Rover Sitter Actually Keep Per Walk and Per Night?
From an average walk the owner pays $23.81; the sitter keeps $17.16, Rover $4.29 plus $2.36. Legacy sitters keep $18.23, RoverGO sitters $16.09. An average overnight stay leaves $41.78 and a day of sitting $22.33. (Rover Help: What are the service fees?, 2026)
| METRIC | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Owner pays for an average walk | $23.81 | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
| Sitter keeps, standard fee | $17.16 | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
| Rover’s sitter fee | $4.29 | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
| Rover’s owner fee | $2.36 | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
| Sitter keeps, legacy fee | $18.23 | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
| Sitter keeps, RoverGO fee | $16.09 | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
| Sitter keeps, average overnight stay | $41.78 | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
| Sitter keeps, average day of sitting | $22.33 | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
The walk figure is the one that matters most for newcomers, because walks are how most sitters start. On paper a sitter keeps about as much for a half-hour walk as an employed caretaker earns for a full hour (BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, median hourly wage, 2025). In practice the half hour is only the time with the dog. Travel, waiting at the door, messages and the walk itself can easily fill an hour, which pulls the effective hourly rate back toward the employed median, and below it once fuel is counted.
Overnight care is where the platform model works in a sitter’s favour (Rover Help: What are the service fees?, 2026). One booking pays as much as several walks, the travel happens once, and the sitter can often take other work during the day. That is why the sitters reporting strong monthly income in the threads behind this article almost all describe boarding or house sitting as the core of their business. The same lesson about effective hourly pay runs through our survey and user testing pay data and our transcription pay statistics.
5 What Costs Do Pet Sitters Forget: Taxes and Platform Risk?
Rover sitters are self-employed, so the IRS expects self-employment tax at 15.3% once net earnings reach $400 in a year, on top of income tax. Platform risk is real too: Wag, Rover’s main rival, announced a pre-packaged Chapter 11 restructuring on July 21, 2025. (IRS: Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes), 2026)
| METRIC | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Self-employment tax rate | 15.3% | IRS: Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) |
| Net earnings that trigger the tax | $400 | IRS: Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) |
| Wag Chapter 11 announcement | July 21, 2025 | Wag! Group Co. press release (SEC 8-K exhibit) |
| Rover standard sitter fee | 20% | Rover Help: What are the service fees? |
Self-employment tax is the cost that surprises new sitters most, judging by the number of personal finance threads asking whether a few thousand dollars of pet sitting needs to be reported. It does, and the threshold is low (IRS: Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes), 2026). The practical answer is to set aside part of every payout and keep records of mileage and supplies, which reduce the profit the tax is charged on. Our guide to passive income statistics covers how other side income is taxed for comparison.
The Wag restructuring is a reminder that a sitter’s client list on an app belongs to the app (Wag! Group Co. press release (SEC 8-K exhibit), 2025). Wag said services would continue, but a sitter who built a business only inside one platform has no control over its fees, its policies or its owners. The sitters in the forums who report the steadiest income move repeat clients to direct bookings over time and keep the platform for new ones. That is the same advice our review method applies to every income platform: judge it by what is left after the costs nobody advertises, and do not let one company hold your whole customer base.
Explore every figure in this article
Methodology
This analysis uses Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for animal caretakers (SOC 39-2021), May 2025, retrieved through the BLS public data API because the occupation page was not yet published, plus the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook for self-employment share and job growth. Rover’s fees come from its help centre and its average prices from its own city cost pages, last updated in December 2025; Rover blocks automated fetches, so those pages were read and confirmed in a browser. Take-home figures are calculations from the published fees, before travel time, fuel, supplies, insurance and taxes. Wag does not publish its current walker pay split, so it appears only through its restructuring announcement. Format filter: only two competitors were found automatically, so the link-format table rests on a thin sample. Reddit sitter reports are used as context, not as statistics.
- Sources consulted: 19
- Sources cited: 10
- Data freshness: current year: 2, last year: 8, older: 0
- Data range: 2025-07 to 2026-11-07
- Research date: 2026-11-07
- Update schedule: Annually, and whenever Rover changes its fees
- Limitations: BLS wage data covers employed animal caretakers (SOC 39-2021) in May 2025, not self-employed sitters; about a quarter of caretakers are self-employed. Rover prices are Rover's own published averages from its city price pages (updated December 2025), read in a browser because Rover blocks automated fetches. Take-home figures are calculations from Rover's published fees, before travel time, supplies, insurance and taxes. Wag does not publish its current walker pay split.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do Rover sitters make per walk?
At Rover's national average of $21.45 for a 30-minute walk, a sitter on the standard 20% fee keeps $17.16. Sitters approved before March 2016 pay 15% and keep $18.23; RoverGO sitters pay 25% and keep $16.09. The owner pays $23.81 including an 11% owner fee. (Rover Help: What are the service fees?)
What percentage does Rover take?
Rover takes 20% of sitter earnings for profiles approved on or after March 1, 2016, 15% for older profiles and 25% for RoverGO sitters. It also charges owners an 11% service fee, capped at $50 per booking. On an average walk, the two fees together come to about 28% of what the owner pays. (Rover Help: What are the service fees?)
How much do dog walkers make per hour?
Employed animal caretakers, the BLS category that includes dog walkers on a payroll, earned a median of $17.00 an hour in May 2025; the bottom tenth earned under $13.10 and the top tenth $24.07 or more. A Rover sitter keeps $17.16 from an average 30-minute walk, before travel time and taxes. (BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, median hourly wage)
How much does overnight pet sitting pay on Rover?
Rover's national average for overnight dog sitting is $52.23 a night. After the standard 20% fee, the sitter keeps $41.78. Boston averages $64.26 a night for house sitting. (Rover: How Much Does Dog Sitting Cost in Boston, MA?)
Do I have to pay taxes on Rover income?
Yes. Rover sitters are self-employed, and the IRS requires self-employment tax at 15.3% once net self-employment earnings reach $400 in a year, on top of income tax. (IRS: Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes))
Is Wag still operating?
Wag announced a pre-packaged Chapter 11 restructuring on July 21, 2025, with lender Retriever LLC taking ownership; the company said services would continue without interruption. (Wag! Group Co. press release (SEC 8-K exhibit))
Sources & References
- Rover Help: What are the service fees?. “What are the service fees?.” support.rover.com/hc/en-us/articles/205385304-What-are-the-service-fees. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- Rover: How Much Does Dog Walking Cost in Boston, MA?. “How Much Does Dog Walking Cost in Boston, MA?.” rover.com/blog/boston-ma-dog-walking-price/. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, median hourly wage. “OEWS series OEUN000000000000039202108.” api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000039202108. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- Rover: How Much Does Dog Sitting Cost in Boston, MA?. “Boston Dog Sitting Costs: Overnight, Walking & More.” rover.com/blog/boston-ma-dog-sitting-price/. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Animal Care and Service Workers. “Animal Care and Service Workers.” bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/animal-care-and-service-workers.htm. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, employment. “OEWS series OEUN000000000000039202101.” api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000039202101. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, 10th percentile hourly wage. “OEWS series OEUN000000000000039202106.” api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000039202106. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- BLS OEWS May 2025: Animal caretakers, 90th percentile hourly wage. “OEWS series OEUN000000000000039202110.” api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000039202110. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- IRS: Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes). “Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes).” irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-sec. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- Wag! Group Co. press release (SEC 8-K exhibit). “Wag! Group Co. Announces Recapitalization Transaction with Retriever LLC.” sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1842356/000184235625000090/wag-pressreleaseannouncem. Accessed 2026-11-07.
Last updated: