Self-employment method
Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing
65,256 people filed as a nonemployer business under this industry code in 2022 — no payroll, no employees, just them. These are gross receipts reported to the IRS, before any expense is taken out.
Median GROSS RECEIPTS for the year — money in, before rent, materials, fuel, insurance or tax. This is not take-home pay.
Share who grossed under $10,000 for the whole year — before expenses.
The middle half, in gross receipts. A quarter of filers took less than the lower figure.
Source: US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
How often it does not work out
Of the 65,256 people who filed under this code in 2022, 41.36% grossed under $10,000 for the entire year — before a single expense was deducted.
That is a floor, not an estimate. Census publishes GROSS RECEIPTS, not net income. Everyone inside that share earned less than the figure suggests once rent, materials, mileage, insurance and self-employment tax came out — and filers who grossed well above the threshold may still have netted nothing. The true share of people who earn nothing meaningful from this is higher than the number above, never lower.
Denominator: establishments_total = 65,256 · US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
Every filer, by what they grossed
The full distribution Census publishes. The median above is interpolated inside the band that holds the 50th percentile.
| Gross receipts for the year | Filers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | 16,694 | 25.6% |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 10,295 | 15.8% |
| $10,000 to $24,999 | 14,032 | 21.5% |
| $25,000 to $49,999 | 8,660 | 13.3% |
| $50,000 to $99,999 | 6,666 | 10.2% |
| $100,000 to $249,999 | 5,433 | 8.3% |
| $250,000 to $499,999 | 1,962 | 3.0% |
| $500,000 to $999,999 | 1,019 | 1.6% |
| $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 | 495 | 0.8% |
Who this suits
At the midpoint this work grossed $16,028 for the year — $1,335 a month in revenue. That is a real second income and a long way short of a first one, and Census cannot tell you which of those the typical filer intended.
With 65,256 filers, this is a populated field. The market sets the price rather than you, and the useful question is what would let you charge above it.
A 13.7% share — 8,940 filers — grossed $100,000 or more. That is well above what most codes here manage, and it says the middle of Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing is closer to a business than to a sideline.
Miscellaneous manufacturing covers a wide range of small independent making, and suits people who have found a specific product a specific market keeps buying.
There is no training requirement to file under this code — which is precisely why so many people appear in the bottom bands. Entry being free is not the same as the work being viable.
Who should not do this
9.8x between the quarters — $4,886 against $47,867, or $3,581 a month. This is the shape of a field where a minority does very well and the summary statistics quietly borrow their success.
The bottom quarter of Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing earns under $4,886 — $45,134 below the $50,020 a typical American job pays. Entering at the bottom and waiting is a live risk here, not a theoretical one, and some people never leave that quarter.
Do not start this without a proven buyer. A product nobody has yet paid for is a hobby with tooling costs.
41.4% of the 65,256 people who filed in 2022 grossed under $10,000 for the year — 26,989 people. Approaching half of everyone who tried Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing took in less revenue than a part-time wage, before costs.
Take it as a floor, not an estimate. The $10,000 threshold is measured on money received, before materials, rent, fuel, insurance and self-employment tax, so the true share of filers who ended the year with no income is higher than the figure shown — we simply cannot say how much higher.
What the spread tells you
A ratio of 9.8x between the quarters is the signature of a winner-take-most distribution. $16,028 is a real number about a real population, but nobody entering Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing should plan around it.
Put in money rather than ratios: $4,886 at the 25th percentile, $16,028 at the midpoint, $47,867 at the 75th. $42,981 separates the quarter of Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing at the bottom from the quarter at the top.
The 75th percentile is $47,867. Reaching it from the $16,028 midpoint is $31,839 a year; reaching it from the $4,886 that the bottom quarter of Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing earn is $42,981.
The top quarter of Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing begins $31,839 above the $16,028 midpoint, while the bottom quarter starts only $11,142 below it. A range stretched that far in one direction is the signature of a field where a small group earns a great deal more than the middle does.
Converted to a 2,080-hour year, the receipts run $2.34 an hour at the 25th percentile, $7.70 at the midpoint and $23.01 at the 75th. Read them as revenue per hour worked; the equivalent wage is lower by whatever this work costs to do.
The raw counts, before anyone interprets them: under $5,000, 16,694 filers. $5,000 to $9,999, 10,295. $10,000 to $24,999, 14,032. Over $100,000, 8,909 — and 3,476 over $250,000.
What these figures are, and what they are not
Every figure above is GROSS RECEIPTS, before expenses — money that arrived before rent, materials, fuel, insurance and self-employment tax. The $16,028 midpoint for Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing is not take-home pay and is not comparable to a $16,028 salary.
The hourly number on this page is $16,028 divided by a 2,080-hour year and nothing more. We hold no unpaid-hours or cost data for Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing, so it is arithmetic rather than an effective rate.
How this is calculated · Self-employment failure rates · What credentials cost and pay back · Look up something else