I tried Mechanical Turk years and years ago. At that time there were really no tasks available that paid an amount that could consistently get you anywhere close to minimum wage.
The only ones that seemed appealing on the surface were these audio transcriptions. I type over 100wpm and 9 minutes of audio took me over an hour to transcribe. I got like $2, and never even bothered withdrawing it.
If any individual on Mechanical Turk is averaging even 1/3rd federal minimum wage, I'd be shocked.
Since most of the tasks pay even far worse than transcription, and there's a significant unpaid time investment acquiring the tasks and getting them approved, and most people probably try a few tasks before leaving and never even ask for a check, I'd guess the average payout for people working on Mechanical Turk is much less than a dollar per hour.
I've read some articles about it and most people who make $5 an hour or more tend to choose tasks efficiently that they can complete quickly without spending too much attention on.
If you rush through easier tasks you can complete them in a few minutes doing a good enough job to get paid.
I used to do data entry and transcription for $12/hour (not adjusted for 15+ years of inflation) and was able to reach about $4-5/hour on Mechanical Turk when I tried it. As I was out of practice, I think $7/hour would be feasible with time. But one thing people forget is that the federal minimum wage is actually closer to $8/hour when you include the doubling of FICA taxes on self-employment income.
Still, the ability to login and earn even $5/hour at arbitrary times of the day may be desirable for a segment of the population that's perhaps a bit asocial and chooses an RV lifestyle.
The only ones that seemed appealing on the surface were these audio transcriptions. I type over 100wpm and 9 minutes of audio took me over an hour to transcribe. I got like $2, and never even bothered withdrawing it.
If any individual on Mechanical Turk is averaging even 1/3rd federal minimum wage, I'd be shocked.
Since most of the tasks pay even far worse than transcription, and there's a significant unpaid time investment acquiring the tasks and getting them approved, and most people probably try a few tasks before leaving and never even ask for a check, I'd guess the average payout for people working on Mechanical Turk is much less than a dollar per hour.
I've always wondered how it's legal.