In some parts of the industry, there are industry standard rates – porn is a good example of this. Female porn performers make more than men, and with the exception of the stars or people with special talents or studio contracts, in mainstream porn female performers make $200-300 “per hole” – which, I know, is a pretty crude way of putting it. The rates increase depending on what is being performed: oral ($200-300), vaginal ($400-600) or anal sex ($600-800) are the basics in straight porn. These are “scene” rates – not hourly. Shooting a scene could take from 30 minutes to several hours.

In strip clubs, dancers earn money on a per-song basis and the numbers are determined by the club – though there’s room for plenty of flexibility in earning tips. Unlike many other kinds of sex workers, dancers work shifts that can varying from 3 or 4 hours to 12 hour marathons. They aren’t, however, paid an hourly wage for being there; most clubs actually charge a fee per shift worked. In clubs that have stages, dancers are typically required to do a certain number of sets per shift, and a set may consist of several songs during which the dancer gets progressively more naked. Stage time is paid in tips and exists mainly to attract the attention of clients who may buy dances later on – in the movies, stage tips are dollar bills, though depending on the club they could be more – the stage is not where dancers earn most of their money. Off stage, the menu of dance options vary from club to club depending on the management style and from city to city depending on local laws. The basic dance happens in a public area of the club and lasts for one song – depending on the club these can be $5, $10, $20 or more per song. In clubs that have a variety of private rooms, this basic dance is the opportunity for upselling for private dances at a higher rate – exact numbers vary greatly. These rates are usually structured by the club, but a good dancer will hustle for tips above and beyond the basic dance rates.

In prostitution, pay is based on an hourly rate, sometimes with tips for “extras”; street workers more often negotiate their rate on a per act basis, or have a minimum to see a client and then negotiate acts and money once they’ve determined that he isn’t a cop. Street workers’ rates varying widely depending on location/sex acts/looks but are generally considered to be on the low end of the scale. It’s technically legal to be an escort – to sell your time and companionship for money (but not specific sex acts for money), so that’s why you’ll see lots of escorts advertise for time increments. Most information available for beginning independent escorts advises that the escort base her hourly rate on the going hourly rate for a lawyer in her city. This is typically anywhere from $150-400 an hour. Escort agencies operate at many different economic levels and will charge what they think they can get or what clients of the agency are used to paying. Agency workers sometimes offer “extras” for tips and consider the hourly fee to be the money that a client dishes out just to get them in the door (the agency gets a bit cut of that), while independent escorts often charge an all-inclusive hourly rate.

Though it’s meant purely for fun, you might find SexEc.com kind of interesting. It’s a site that has created an algorithm based on LOTS of data to determine rates for male and female escorts in a variety of cities. It requires you to put in a lot of demographic information, including basics like height and breast size as well as more nuanced things like picking the color swatch that is closest to the color of your skin. The people I know who’ve tried it have found it to be fairly accurate. It’s fun, but it’s a pretty involved survey, so set some time aside before you go through it. There’s a short form for women (but not for men), if you just want to dip into it.

Below is a mondo chart they’ve made showing the average hourly rate of escorts in a bunch of different US cities (click on the image to make it bigger).