How Much Do Manila Prostitutes Earn

By comparison, an unskilled female in a civilian job earns about $10-$15 per day.

The lowest earner was Francheska, receiving only $68.63 from her single customer. But she only put in 2.75 duty days, yielding her a daily income of almost $25.

The average income of all earning girls was $1,514, while the median was $1,123. Per duty day these correspond to $108.13 and $101.53, respectively. The total booked by all girls on The Website over the course of the month was $202,865.

The average number of duty days was 15.45, while the median was 15. Whoring is a tough business--it doesn't surprise me that there was a lot of vacation time. But the number is a bit inflated as many girls went on vacation over Holy Week.

Five girls never took a vacation and were on duty for the entire 32 days. Most successful of this group was Mocha, who earned $3,294 from 12 customers. Likewise, Alex Dowell (in my view, an unattractive woman) earned $1,412 from 8 customers. The least successful of this group was Maris Cruz, who settled for $235 from 3 customers. Her income per duty day was only $7.35--one hopes she has another means of support.

When income is sorted by duty day, the highest earner per day was Jewel, followed by Cloe, who booked $294 per day (though on duty only for three days and servicing 3 customers). The aforementioned Maris Cruz brings up the bottom of the pack.

The average and median number of customers for girls who earned some money were 5.9 and 5, respectively. Dividing those numbers thru by the average (median) duty days, one gets 0.38 (0.33) customers per day, or a bit under 3 customers per week. In my previous work on this subject I assumed that American hookers averaged around 10 customers per week--which I now suspect is much too high an estimate.

The popular online encyclopedia suggests that there are as many as 800,000 prostitutes in the Philippines (see article entitled Prostitution in the Philippines), though that number looks like it's just made up. If you suppose that 500,000 of those are real women, then that's 1% of the female population. Many Filipinas work as prostitutes abroad, esp. in Japan, Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong, among other places. I don't know if those ladies are included in the encyclopedia's estimate or not.

Still, that's a lot of prostitutes! There clearly are not enough customers to go around. From videos and other information about girlie bars, the ratio of customers to working girls looks to me to be similarly low. So I think my estimate of 3 clients per week is not far off the mark.

This data more or less destroys the "lots of women are trafficked and sold as sex slaves" story. The typical daily income ($110) is not high enough to support the traffickers and minders required to keep a sex slave in the business. Besides, in order to earn that much our hooker needs to hustle, look healthy, and be friendly. A sex slave can't really do any of those things.

Prostitution in the Philippines (and pretty much everywhere else) is overwhelmingly a voluntary activity.

Let's turn our attention to the relationship between price and income.

Consider first the distribution of prices, which is skewed toward the cheap end. The median asking price for a two-hour date was P5600, or about $112. The cheapskate could hire Francheska for P3500. The highest price ever requested was P15,000.

Price Range (Pesos) Number of girls

Less than P4600 20

4600 - 5500 43

5600 - 6900 37

7000 - 9900 25

10000 or more 9

As you might expect, girls with higher prices earn more money. Doing a least-squares fit to a graph of "income in dollars" vs "price in pesos", one learns that for every P1000 increase in asking price, the average girl earned $275 more over the course of the experiment. But the R-squared value is only 0.111, and to the eye it looks like a random scatter plot. (This plot, like all others discussed here, includes only girls who earned more than zero. Including all girls reduces R-squared, but doesn't change the trend.)

The take-home message is that the girls don't price themselves optimally. Except for Jewel, all girls who asked for P10,000 or more earned less than predicted by the least squares line. They failed to maximize their income by pricing themselves too high. This reduces the slope of the line "income in dollars" vs "price in pesos". Were the market perfectly efficient the overpriced hookers would lower their prices.

I will note that the general trend of price changes was toward lower prices rather than higher ones, albeit with some exceptions.

The second graph I made was "income in dollars" vs. "number of customers". Needless to say, this line sloped upwards and it was significant. The R-squared value is 0.838. The average girl earns $300 for each additional customer.

A plot of "number of customers" vs. "price in pesos" yields an R-squared value of 0.01, or basically zero. This results in part from the greater dispersion of incomes for higher priced girls. While Jewel (P10,000) had lots of customers, others priced at or above P10,000 had very few.

I constructed three graphs, all "number of customers" vs. "price in pesos". The first included all girls earning more than zero, and yielded an R-squared value of 0.01. For every P1000 increase in price, the girl will average 0.25 more customers. The second graph included all girls earning more than zero, but priced below P10,000. There are 125 ladies in this category. The R-squared value for this line is 0.017, and the average girl gets 0.5 more customers for every P1000 increase in price.

The third graph included all girls earning more than zero, but priced below P10,000, yet it included Jewel in the sample. Jewel--the highest earner on the list--obviously is not overpriced at P10,000. There are 126 girls in this category. The R-squared value for this line is 0.094, and the average girl gets 1.1 more customers for every P1000 increase in price. Recall that an additional customer generates, on average, an additional $300 in income.

By excluding the most overpriced girls, there is a stronger correlation between price and # of customers. Since apart from Jewel, the high priced girls are too expensive, by taking them out of the fit I correct for the ladies' tendency to over-value themselves. The difference is not large because I eliminated only 9 or 8 girls from the fit. But the trend is clear: if the most overpriced girls are excluded from the analysis, higher prices lead to more customers. That's because high-end girls who who are appropriately priced are good prostitutes and good prostitutes get more business and earn more money.

I should add that two girls (Maya Chua and Ericka) were both priced over P10000 and earned zero, and so were not included in any of the above curve fits. Maya Chua was the priciest girl in the database, at P15,000, so understandably her income after nearly 8 duty days was null.

Another way of looking at the income vs price question is through medians rather than averages. Consider five men in a bar, and rank them in order of bank account balance: $1000, $2000, $3000, $4000, and $5000. In this case the average of those five numbers is $3000, which is also the median. Now suppose the guy with $5000 leaves and Bill Gates walks in. The data are now: $1000, $2000, $3000, $4000, and $10,000,000,000. The average is now a bit over $2 billion. But the median is unchanged--it is still $3000. In an average, Bill Gates gets 10 billion votes. In the median he only gets one. It's much more democratic.

Mean least squares line fitting is an average calculation, and thus gives disproportionate weight to outliers. In our case outliers include Jewel (who earned more than double her nearest competitor) along with a number of overpriced girls who earned relatively little (and who bring down the average). A median calculation eliminates the undue influence of the outliers.

The results are given in the following table.

Median Median

Price range (pesos) Income/Duty Day ($) Custs/week N

3500 - 4500 $34.86 1.8 20

4600 - 5500 $70.03 2.3 43

5600 - 6900 $138.76 3.9 37

7000 - 9900 $153.38 3.0 25

10000 + $217.87 3.1 9

From this table it is very clear that the higher priced call girl earns more money and has more customers than the low-rent whore. The middle price range maximizes the number of customers, which suggests they are properly priced. Girls charging more than P7000 are likely overpriced, and therefore get less business. They'd earn more if they took a good look at themselves in the mirror.

Recalling that a typical civilian wage for an unskilled female is $15/day, it is still true that half of all low-rent prostitutes earn more than $34.86/day. So prostitution clearly makes sense financially. The top earner among the low-rent girls is Rosie, who earned nearly $108/day, albeit she only worked 4.5 days. Four girls earned less than $20/day: Scarlett, Apple, Michelle, and Maris Cruz. The latter--on duty for the full 32 days--only cashed in $7.35/day. Since I ended my experiment Maris has lowered her price from P4000 to P3000.

One last bit of data analysis: What fraction of on-duty girls are booked at different times of the day? For this calculation "on-duty" does not include girls who are sleeping. "On-duty" is the count of "0s" and "1s" (Available and Booked). The data is given in a table, where "% booked" refers to the fraction of on-duty girls with customers.

Time % booked

Dawn 37.8

Noon 19.9

Evening 19.4

Night 33.5

I still don't believe the dawn values--I think that's too high. Still, the numbers verify that approximately a third of the girls get a customer on any given day, which corresponds to the average of 3 customers per week.

Girls, Girls, Girls

So I got to spend a month--4 times per day--enjoying pictures of sexy women advertising their availability. Plus, if you follow somebody around like this, you get to know them (or at least you think you do), and you start telling stories about them. That's what made this project so much fun.

Since the end of the formal project, I have continued to follow The Website, though not systematically and without writing anything down. Still, I can provide a few updates about what has happened since.

None of these ladies uses her real name. I thought about using my own pseudonyms, but a pseudonym for a pseudonym doesn't make too much sense. Besides, all the information here (apart from my results and opinions) is publicly available on the web. I'm not revealing any private secrets.

And more, I like prostitutes. I have no desire to harm or humiliate them. The goal here is to make the world a little bit better, not a little bit worse.

Jewel--Manila's happiest hooker (P10,000): As mentioned, Jewel earned more than double her nearest competitor, ringing up $11,176.50. My algorithm may actually underestimate her income as I exclude the possibility of back-to-back dates. In Jewel's case that may be a bad assumption.

Jewel--31 years old and 5'2" tall--has a busty, American porn star figure. Her photos pose her in a teensy, weensy bikini. She tells us she's a former model for FHM and Maxim magazines, and always arrives at her dates well-groomed and stylishly attired. The Website clients give her a rating of 4.9/5, which is spectacular. She is also listed on an agency site, though that info seems out of date.

I speculate she appeals more to Japanese and Korean clients than to Westerners. I, for one, like Filipina prostitutes because I enjoy the Asian physique. The porn star model doesn't do it for me, but to Japanese clients she'll look very exotic and sexy.

A Japanese client is the cat's meow for a Filipina hooker. Unlike westerners, Japanese men typically travel in groups, and status within the group accrues to the guy who can spend the most on his whore. Westerners, meanwhile, compete to pay as little as possible, often bragging about how they got it for free. Guess who the Filipinas like better!

So while the Japanese are not put off by high prices, they still care about value. Jewel apparently lets them pay a lot of money without making them feel ripped off. That's the secret to her success. I think she's unique on The Website with that business model.

Mystic Flower--A-Level specialist (P8,000): Second only to Jewel, Mystic Flower is the income leader in my database. This surprised me--until I actually crunched the numbers I figured she'd come in near the bottom. Indeed, I planned to ding her as being seriously overpriced. But her $4,941.18 earned from 15 customers over 23.5 duty days proves me wrong. How could I be so mistaken?

To begin, I really disliked her pictures, which place much more emphasis on artistry over sexiness: blurred images, gothic costumes, odd perspectives, and weird props such as barbed wire. She takes the Mystic in her name seriously.

And then I didn't find her that pretty, especially at that price.

The trick, I believe, is that she's among the few who offer A-level service (willing to take it up the ass). Most girls won't do that, and those that do demand a surcharge. It's an add-on option that The Website lets you include with your order. Typically the A-level charge is an extra P4000, regardless of time commitment, but Mystic Flower requests only an extra grand. That is, she's including the price of A-level up front.

They all do that--that is all the girls who offer A-level inflate their hourly rate, in addition to the add-on fee. But Mystic is the only one who then discounts the add-on price. I believe this explains her success. (My algorithm does not include any estimate for additional fees, so I likely underestimate Mystic's income.)

It's a hard way to earn a living--taking it up the ass sounds really unpleasant to me. But I'm not into that thing, and I wouldn't pay extra for the privilege. But other people are, and the relatively few hookers who can offer the service at a slightly discounted price do very well.

Scarlett--The girl next door (P7,500): She's a pretty girl--25 years old, 5'4", with long, wavy hair past her shoulders, and sporting 34B boobs. She offers GFE (Girl Friend Experience) service. Technically that just means deep kissing, but it implies other things you get with a girlfriend: affection, cuddling, conversation. That last is really important--most Manila hookers advertise their language skills. It's English fluency that gives Filipinas an edge over their Thai sisters. Many claim to know some Japanese, Korean, and/or Chinese.

It is often said that as women become better educated, they'll be less inclined toward prostitution. I think that's wrong. An educated woman will be a better and more expensive prostitute. Scarlett illustrates the business model.

She's fifth on my list of top earners, booking $4,191.18 from 12 customers over 20.75 duty days.

Mocha--Spinner (P5,600): Spinner is guy-speak for light-weight, skinny type, and Mocha plays that part perfectly. She's relatively tall (5'5"), but thin as a rail. She doesn't promise good conversation or any extra services, but just straight out, fun sex. Accordingly her pictures pose her as nearly nude--softcore porn.

She is also represented by the fanciest agency, and it seems to me that the principle advantage of that is the company takes a professional photoshoot. The pics are really important--they need to be sexy. The girl with the killer smile (e.g., Scarlett) has an advantage, but Mocha wins with a sultry, come-hither look. A good photoshoot shows all body parts, from face to toes. Unlike a porn star, a hooker comes with clothes on. Unlike a fashion model, a whore advertises her availability.

Mocha apparently gets it just right. She earned $3,294.12 over 32 duty days by entertaining 12 customers.

Carmi--BBW (P4,500): Carmi is a heavy-set gal who advertises herself as a Big, Beautiful Woman. She claims to offer both GFE and PSE (porn star experience) all in one package. She's not the prettiest girl on the roster, but she looks friendly and pleasant.

I've included her here because she earned near the median amount for all The Website girls. Her take was $1,102.94 over 28 duty days. But she only had five customers. If she could increase her customer count she'd make more money. I suggest she was overpriced.

Apparently she agreed with me, for recently she's reduced her ask to P3,500.

Paula--Older guys (P4,600): I don't understand Paula. She, after all, is the young lady whom I remarked was 13,587.6 km away from me right now. Obviously I find her attractive.

But apparently nobody else does. Over 28.5 duty days she took in only $270.59 from two customers. Since the end of my experiment she seems to have disappeared from The Website. Can't say I blame her. You can find her over at an agency site. There she promotes herself for the older gentleman. Of course--most hookers prefer older guys--we're more generous and less demanding.

But her Website rating is a miserable 3 out of 5, so there's something wrong with her. I can't read the reviews because I'm not a premium member. Recall that The Website reviews can be written only by clients who have actually booked her.

Genevie (P4,500) is another hooker who works hard for little reward. Over 17 duty days she's earned zero. I don't get it--she's not that ugly. It leads me to believe that my algorithm doesn't accurately account for these ladies. (Genevie has recently gone on sale for P4,000.)

Blue Kiss--Tour guide (P6000): So I don't get this girl. It's not obvious that she's even a prostitute. Her offered services are only "guide" and "massage." No BBBJ, CIM, etc. Her pics are not especially alluring--mostly selfies of her face. She's not beautiful.

More, for that one price you get her not just for 2 hours, but for as long as fifteen. So she's looking for a longer term date, during which she'll take you sightseeing.

On the other hand, The Website requires the girls to state how many "shots" the customer gets within a given timeframe. For her it's always "2", regardless of time. (The exception is the 24 hours stay, for which you get "3".) I don't know if this is just a filler--there's no indication she supplies sexual services at all.

Needless to say, she's booked zero according to my algorithm. But she's also one who "rarely responds within 10 minutes," so it's unlikely she turns off her app when (if?) she gets a date.

Since my project ended she reduced her price to P4000. Only for 24 hours do you have to pay more: P9000, for which you get the extra, hypothetical "shot."

Jensen--Street meat (P5,000): This lady also put in the duty days without any payback. 25 days on The Website yielded her zero income. Obviously there's a problem, and she knows it. She describes herself as "MILF CHUBBY" She claims to be "a certified eutera"--I have no idea what that means. Google doesn't help.

Nothing wrong with her pics. They're not professionally done, but they meet all the criteria I describe above. So the only thing wrong is likely her price. And boy, has she tried to fix that! She's recently been asking as little as P2,000.

From recent on-line videos I learn that streetwalkers in Manila's red light districts typically ask for P3,000, but will bargain down to P2,500. Unlike the streetwalker, The Website slut has a transportation expense to the client's hotel. So her comparable price is probably P3,500. Jensen is way below that.

Madisson--Cute Cute, Sexy Sexy (P4000): Pure Filipina, she's Korean-style cute--the kind of girl you'd buy a stuffed animal for. Only 23 years old and 5'2" tall, she radiates childlike playfulness. Her pics show her fully clad--short shorts, colorful blouses, and dyed hair. Her smile is to die for.