How Much Does Rover Pay? (With Real Data)

How much does Rover pay? What you can make with Rover varies because of how Rover works. Unlike other gig economy apps where the apps set the rates you’re paid, with Rover, you set your own rates and choose the services you want to provide. So, how much Rover pays will depend on how well you market yourself, the services you provide, and how much you charge.

I’ve been a Rover sitter for a decade now, using it as a fun side hustle that makes me extra money and allows me to interact with many different dogs. I’ve often said it’s my most “passive” side hustle. This is because I already have a dog, so for me, taking care of another dog isn’t much extra work. After all, I already have to feed and walk my dog every day. Doing the same with another dog isn’t too much trouble.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the question of how much Rover pays. We’ll use information from Rover, as well as my data and experiences to show you what you can expect to make as a Rover sitter.

How Much Does Rover Pay?

At the outset, let’s talk about what Rover is. Rover is an app that connects people looking for dog sitters and dog walkers with people looking to board or walk dogs. I often describe Rover as an Airbnb for dogs. Just like with Airbnb, with Rover, customers can search for dogsitters and ask potential sitters to watch their dogs. People looking to be dog sitters on Rover can create a profile, choose what services they offer, and set prices for their services.

How much you can earn from Rover depends primarily on how much you charge and the services you offer. Most sitters on Rover earn their income from dog boarding where the sitter charges a set amount per day to watch someone’s dog. The more often you watch dogs, the more you’ll earn.

You can also increase your Rover earnings if you’re able to watch multiple dogs at the same time. This is the unique thing about watching dogs with Rover because watching dogs isn’t necessarily limited to 1 dog at a time – it’s possible to watch multiple dogs at once. Being able to watch multiple dogs at the same time means it’s possible to double or triple what you make each night.

In addition to dog boarding, you can also earn money from Rover with dog walking and catsitting. These are all services I offer and they have their pros and cons. I’ll go into more detail about the different types of services you can offer later in this post.

It’s important to note that Rover takes a commission from sitters. Rover sitters who signed up after March 1, 2016 are charged a 20% commission rate. When you set your rates, you need to remember that Rover takes 20% of what you earn.

While most people will use Rover as a part-time gig or a side hustle, there are many people out there who have turned Rover into a full-time job. For example, CNBC ran this article about a Rover sitter in New York who made over $100,000 in a year with Rover.

Most people will earn a few hundred dollars per month if using Rover as a part-time side hustle. If you want to dedicate more time to Rover, it’s possible to earn tens of thousands in a year. Even earning $100,000 or more from Rover is possible.

How Much Does Rover Pay (Based On My Real Data)

Perhaps the best way to see how much Rover pays is to look at real data. I’ve been a Rover sitter since 2015, so I have years of data that can help you see what you can earn with Rover.

Below is a screenshot of my earnings on Rover since I signed up to be a Rover sitter in 2015. Note that from 2015 to 2017, there was another dog boarding app called DogVacay, so my earnings were split between Rover and DogVacay. Rover purchased DogVacay in 2017 and merged the two platforms, so from 2018 onward, all the money I earned from dogsitting came from Rover.

Looking at my data, I earned around $3,000 to $3,500 most years with Rover (about $250 to $300 per month). There was a large dip in 2020 due to the pandemic and travel restrictions, which limited people needing dog-sitting services, but then my earnings picked back up again to normal in 2021. In 2022 and 2023, I moved to a wealthier neighborhood, which seems to have increased my earnings due to higher demand (most likely because people with more money travel more and have the income to hire sitters to watch their dogs).

The nice thing about Rover is that you can tailor your services to suit your needs. My primary service is dog boarding in my house where the client drops their dog off at my house. I charge $30 per night in Minneapolis. For holidays, my rates usually increase to $35 per night. I could probably charge a little more and still get good business, but I’m comfortable with what I’m making and the amount of sitting requests I get. I limit myself to watching only one dog at a time, so that does limit what I’m able to earn.

In addition to dog sitting, I also offer catsitting services where I go to people’s houses to take care of their cats while they’re out of town. I generally charge $16 for a 30-minute visit, with rates going up during the holidays. I also limit myself to only watching cats in my neighborhood so I don’t have to travel (basically, I only watch cats within 1 mile of my house). You can also board cats in your home, although I don’t often do this because I have a dog and don’t like to mix my dog with cats.

Finally, I do offer dog walking services, but I rarely receive these requests and when I do get them, I rarely accept them, mainly because dog walking doesn’t fit well with my schedule.

So that’s a look at my earnings over the past decade of watching dogs with Rover. Since I moved to my new neighborhood in 2021, my earnings have gone up significantly to around $5,000 per year (around $416 per month). I earn this primarily from boarding dogs in my home, as well as drop-in visits with cats in my neighborhood.

Lessons Learned From My Rover Earnings

Looking at my earnings is revealing and provides some information that can be useful when it comes to how much Rover pays. Here are the main lessons to take from my earnings:

1. You Have A Lot Of Control Over How Much Rover Pays

Rover is different from other gig economy apps because you set your prices, rather than having your prices set for you by the app. This gives you a lot of control over how much you can make. If you charge more, you might make more, but you could lose business to lower-priced sitters. Similarly, if you charge too little, you might be leaving money on the table (and selling yourself short).

You can also earn more by changing the types of services you offer. You’ll earn the most if you’re willing to watch multiple dogs at once, potentially doubling or tripling your earnings. This comes with added challenges, however. While watching one dog isn’t usually too difficult, things can get increasingly difficult once you add more dogs into the mix. This added difficulty (plus the unpredictability that comes with watching multiple dogs) is why I generally limit myself to watching one dog at a time.

Dog walking with Rover is similar, where you can earn more by figuring out the optimal price to charge and potentially walking multiple dogs if the owners let you do that. I will say that walking multiple dogs at the same time on Rover is difficult, as you’re often not going to receive dog walks close enough together to be able to make it work.

2. Your City Matters A Lot

The rates you can charge and the demand for Rover sitting depends a lot on where you live. Being in a city is really important, as that gives you the most opportunity to receive sitting requests. If you’re located in a rural area or a smaller city, you’ll receive fewer sitting requests.

In addition, your city also matters a lot when it comes to how much you can charge. Larger cities will typically have higher rates, while smaller cities will usually have lower rates. I live in Minneapolis and charge $30 per night. In New York, on the other hand, I see Rover sitters charging $60 per night or more. If you live in a big city, you’ll make more than what you’ll make in a smaller city.

3. Your Neighborhood Matters A Lot

Your neighborhood is a factor in your earnings that most Rover sitters don’t think about. Most clients are going to pick Rover sitters that are close to where they live, so when you think about it, the best neighborhoods are going to be wealthier neighborhoods where people have dogs, travel more often, and have more disposable income to spend on dogsitters.

My own experience bears this out. I used to live in a college neighborhood, which isn’t the ideal neighborhood for dogsitting. That’s because fewer college students have dogs and if they do have dogs, they’re not traveling as often and don’t have as much money to spend on dog sitters. When you think about it, most college students would either have parents watch their dogs or get friends to do it for them. As a result, when I lived in a college neighborhood, my earnings often capped out at around $3,000 to $3,500 for the year.

A few years ago, I moved to a much wealthier neighborhood in Minneapolis and you can see that my Rover pay increased significantly from $3,5000 to $5,000 per year. This is without changing anything about the services I offered. The reason for the increased earnings is due to increased demand for my Rover services, most likely because the people in my neighborhood have more money to spend on dog sitters and may travel more often.

In short, not only does your city matter but, at least based on my experience, where you live in your city matters a lot too.

Final Thoughts

The question of how much Rover pays will vary based on a lot of factors. Much of it will depend on what services you offer and how much you charge. Where you live will heavily impact what you earn as well.

I’ve been a Rover sitter for a decade now. It’s worked out well for me and is a nice way to earn extra income.

If you’re interested in becoming a Rover sitter, check out this post I wrote that goes into more detail about how Rover sitting works: Rover Pet Sitting – How To Make Money Dog Sitting With Rover.

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Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.

Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.

Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:

SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $800 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.

Feel free to send Kevin a message here.