Local Nerd jobs in Austin & Travis County
Become a Local Nerd in Austin.
Austin is the state capital and one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. The market is measured from downtown Austin: Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Leander, Kyle, Buda and San Marcos close in, and out to Georgetown, Bastrop and Lockhart. If you live in Travis, Williamson or Hays County, this is the market you'd apply to.
- Bookings come through the Nerd HQ app
- Independent contractor, 1099
- You set your own availability
- Typically $47 to $87 an hour
The ground you'd cover.
Distances are measured from downtown Austin. The towns below sit in Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties. Every market reaches 75 miles from its downtown in three travel bands, and the farther bands pay a higher hourly rate because the drive is longer. You choose which bands you take, and you can change it later.
Within 25 miles
Austin, Mc Neil, Del Valle, Manchaca, Manor, Buda, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Leander, Cedar Creek, Kyle, Spicewood, Driftwood, Hutto, San Marcos, Dripping Springs, Elgin, Dale.
25 to 50 miles
Georgetown, Maxwell, Lockhart, Coupland, Wimberley, Red Rock, Bastrop, Taylor, Weir, Liberty Hill, Mc Dade, Martindale, Staples, Fischer, Rosanky, Thrall and 18 more nearby towns.
50 to 75 miles
Kingsland, Muldoon, Plum, Stonewall, Flatonia, Gonzales, Willow City, La Grange, Moulton, Schulenburg, Shiner, Hochheim.
Not sure which market your town belongs to? Apply for the city nearest you and tell us where you live. The markets overlap on purpose, and you tell us which queues you want bookings from. What customers here are told is on the Austin page.
What the work looks like here.
Older houses in Hyde Park and Travis Heights, new subdivisions in Leander, Hutto and Kyle, student rentals around UT and Texas State, and retirees in Sun City who want somebody to sit down and explain the current version of everything. I-35 and MoPac are the close band and the traffic; Georgetown, Bastrop and Marble Falls are the longer drives, and they pay the higher band rates.
You keep the majority of every booking, and every tip is yours. You see the split up front. Tips are paid out weekly, in full.
You set your own availability. Open the times that suit you in Nerd HQ. A few evenings a week or full time, that part is your call.
Bookings come through the Nerd HQ app. Customers book the open time you publish, with buffer time built in around each visit.
Nobody negotiates money at the door. Every booking takes a deposit up front and holds the card. The customer signs off on your phone at the end and the rest charges itself.
You're independent. Your own tools, any reliable and presentable vehicle, and free to work elsewhere whenever you like.
You have a team behind you. You get the Nerd HQ app, a direct line to HQ, a team that meets over video, and other Local Nerds to ask when something's strange.
Questions people in Austin ask.
Do you work with UT students?
We help students and their families at their own addresses, the same as anybody else, mostly in the rentals around campus and in San Marcos. We're not a campus IT service and we don't work inside university systems.
Is Georgetown part of this market?
Yes. Georgetown is in the second band, measured from downtown Austin, along with Bastrop, Lockhart and Taylor. The farther bands pay more per hour, and you pick which of them you take.
One form, then a real conversation.
Apply online. About five minutes. No resume needed.
We read it. A real person reads every application, and if it looks like a fit, we reach out.
A short pre-screen on your phone. Two quick videos and one typed answer, about fifteen minutes. A person watches every one.
A thirty-minute video call. To meet you and walk through the role together.
Background check, and we pay for it. Only after we've talked. You enter your details with the screening provider, never with us.
Onboarding, and you're live. Your Nerd HQ account, your hours and a short orientation, then your first booking.
The full picture, including the map of every market, is on the Become a Local Nerd page.
This page describes an independent contractor opportunity and is not an offer of employment. Local Nerds are independent contractors, not employees: you set your own availability, use your own tools and vehicle, and are free to work elsewhere. Compensation is a revenue share paid on completed bookings. Nothing on this page guarantees any level of income or booking volume, in this market or any other.