Local Nerd jobs in Manhattan, Junction City & Fort Riley
Become a Local Nerd in Manhattan.
Manhattan is K-State and Fort Riley, and this market runs from Manhattan, Junction City, Ogden and Wamego out to Clay Center, Onaga, Herington and Marysville. If you live in Riley, Geary or Pottawatomie 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 Manhattan. The towns below sit in Riley, Geary, Pottawatomie, Wabaunsee, Clay, Marshall and Washington 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
Manhattan, Ogden, Saint George, Fort Riley, Riley, Olsburg, Wamego, Milford, Junction City, Westmoreland, Fostoria, Leonardville, Alma, Mc Farland, Belvue, Wakefield, Randolph, Alta Vista, Paxico, Dwight.
25 to 50 miles
Chapman, White City, Green, Onaga, Clay Center, Woodbine, Blue Rapids, Havensville, Waterville, Barnes, Frankfort, Herington, Vermillion, Morganville, Palmer, Greenleaf and 9 more nearby towns.
50 to 75 miles
Axtell, Clyde, Hanover, Baileyville, Oketo, Seneca, Morrowville, Summerfield, Hollenberg, Agenda, Oneida, Haddam and 5 more nearby towns.
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 Manhattan page.
What the work looks like here.
Turnover shapes the work: K-State students arrive every August and Army families at Fort Riley move in and out all summer, each needing a house set up from nothing. The older houses near Aggieville have plaster walls, and Junction City and Ogden have a lot of military families and rentals. K-18 and I-70 make the close band quick; the long drives are north to Marysville and the Nebraska line, 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 Manhattan ask.
Do you work with Fort Riley families?
We help them at home, on post or off, the same as anybody else. Visits on post need gate access arranged ahead of time, and we don't work inside Army systems.
Is Junction City part of this market?
Yes. Junction City and Fort Riley are inside twenty-five miles of downtown Manhattan, in the first band. Abilene, farther west, belongs to the Salina market.
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.