Local Nerd jobs in Lawrence & Douglas County
Become a Local Nerd in Lawrence.
Lawrence is KU's town, and this market runs from Lawrence, Eudora, Baldwin City, Lecompton and Perry out to Tonganoxie, Oskaloosa, Wellsville and Ottawa, then south to Garnett. If you live in Douglas County, or in Franklin or Jefferson County close to it, 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 Lawrence. The towns below sit in Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Leavenworth and Anderson 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
Lawrence, Eudora, Lecompton, Perry, Baldwin City, Linwood, Tonganoxie, Mc Louth, Oskaloosa, Edgerton, Wellsville, Ottawa.
25 to 50 miles
Winchester, Pomona, Rantoul, Quenemo, Nortonville, Princeton, Williamsburg, Cummings, Lane, Richmond, Greeley, Lancaster, Garnett.
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 Lawrence page.
What the work looks like here.
A college town with an old town around it: hundred-year-old houses in Old West Lawrence and East Lawrence, student rentals in Oread that turn over every August, newer subdivisions out west, and retired KU staff who want things explained properly. K-10 and I-70 make the close band quick. The long drives are south past Ottawa toward Williamsburg and Garnett, 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 Lawrence ask.
Do you work with KU students?
Students and their parents call like anybody else, mostly about the rentals around campus in August. You'd help them at their own address; we're not a campus IT service and don't work inside KU's systems.
Could I live in Ottawa or Tonganoxie instead?
Yes. Apply for this market and tell us your town and ZIP. Ottawa, Tonganoxie, Eudora and Baldwin City are all inside twenty-five miles of downtown Lawrence, so they sit in the first band, and the bands you take are your choice.
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.
Local Nerd jobs in other markets.
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.