Survey: One In Four American Adults Have A Side Hustle. Here’s Why That Number Might Change Soon

Manhattan-based nurse Vivian Ezugwu has lived in New York Metropolis her entire life, and is well-aware that residing within the Huge Apple doesn’t come cheaply – which is without doubt one of the causes she’s taking up further shifts as a college nurse along with her common night time shifts on the hospital. 

“It’s nice to have an additional earnings,” Ezugwu mentioned. “It offers you a way of comfortability.” 

Ezugwu isn’t alone. Aspect hustling is seemingly American as apple pie, with over one in 4 (27 p.c) American adults taking up aspect jobs along with their full-time occupation, in keeping with Bankrate’s most up-to-date Aspect Hustle Survey. 

Extra aspect hustlers than ever are taking up further jobs not as a result of they should, however as a result of it funds discretionary bills – with 41 p.c of aspect hustlers utilizing their aspect gig to finance voluntary purchases, outpacing financing residing bills, paying down debt and boosting financial savings. Fewer People are aspect hustling total as properly, with 2025 seeing 9 proportion level lower from 2024’s aspect hustlers (36 p.c.)

Whereas these numbers could seem promising from an financial standpoint, it is probably not this manner for lengthy. 

“A powerful job market and a cooling inflation price are the most important the reason why fewer individuals are aspect hustling this yr,” says Ted Rossman, senior trade analyst at Bankrate. “However employment developments are weakening and value progress would possibly decide up on account of tariffs, so there’s a very good probability aspect hustling will likely be again on the rise subsequent yr.”

Bankrate’s key insights:

Gen Z leads the way in which with aspect hustles 

Gen Z are hustling greater than different generations. They lead the pack with taking up aspect jobs, with over one in three (34 p.c) having an additional job along with their full-time occupation. They path a bit forward of 31 of p.c of side-hustling millennials, 23 p.c of Gen Xers and 22 p.c of child boomers. 

Gen Z’s participation in aspect hustling could come as no shock, because the youngest working era is presently going through a novel set of economic challenges. With 34 p.c of Gen Zers having no emergency financial savings, in keeping with Bankrate’s Emergency Financial savings survey, aspect hustling is usually a approach to bolster financial savings and handle a monetary emergency when main earnings isn’t sufficient. 

Greater than 1 in 3 People wanted to faucet their emergency financial savings prior to now yr

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Does your aspect gig cowl your emergency financial savings? For over one-third (37 p.c) of People, what they’ve of their checking account isn’t sufficient. 

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Regardless of the financial turmoil from tariffs, slowly-cooling inflation and international battle, total aspect hustle participation is down, with 27 p.c of People total indicating that they’ve a aspect hustle, down from 36 p.c final yr. 

Although Gen Zers are constantly forward of the opposite generations’ aspect hustle participation, total participation has dropped inside all age cohorts since 2023. 

The aspect hustle era

With Gen Z main the demographic pack with taking up aspect jobs, younger adults throughout America are filling their free time with canine strolling, freelance writing jobs and doing odd jobs for various companies. 

Martin de Anda began aspect hustling by way of side-job market Airtasker, which provided him a approach to fill his free time when not working as an underwriter. At first, de Anda didn’t strictly want the cash for residing bills, and as an alternative used his aspect hustle earnings to fund date nights and film runs. Spending his time passing out flyers for companies in Los Angeles additionally allowed him to satisfy new folks and get away from his desk. 

What began as a change of surroundings quickly changed into what de Anda is working to make a full-time endeavor, as demand for his flyer jobs grew and as he began managing different employees. 

“It offers me the liberty to do extra issues in my free time,” de Anda mentioned. “Once I was a monetary underwriter, I had the same old work hours, and typically I needed to do work from home. It was quite a bit much less time for me to be with my canine or with my girlfriend.”

Each flexibility and broadening their experiences appear to be excessive priorities for Gen Zers with their aspect hustles, extra so than utilizing their earnings to make ends meet. Ezugwu took on her aspect hustle as a college nurse for a mixture of causes – together with constructing a monetary cushion, giving her a wider vary of affected person expertise and a cause to benefit from the day in between hectic night time shifts and sleep. 

“It’s simply very jovial. It’s very simple going. We get to do actions which can be in a totally completely different setting,” Ezugwu mentioned. “Once I’m doing college nursing, I prefer to say I’m residing my greatest life.”

Aspect hustle earnings is barely down on common

Median aspect hustle earnings earnings are presently at $200 per 30 days, down from $250 per 30 days in 2024. Common aspect hustler month-to-month earnings can also be down from final yr. Aspect hustlers are incomes $885 per 30 days in 2025 on common in comparison with $891 on common per 30 days in 2024. General, nonetheless, aspect hustle earnings remains to be up from $810 on common in 2023. 

Earnings below $50 per 30 days outpace all different incomes classes as properly, with 28 p.c of aspect hustlers total making $1 to $50 per 30 days on common with their aspect gig. 

Whereas extra Gen Z aspect hustlers are making much less – with 40 p.c making between $1 and $50 per 30 days – their common earnings remains to be outpacing how a lot Gen X and child boomer aspect hustlers make:

Gen Z aspect hustlers: $968

Millennial aspect hustlers: $1,029

Gen X aspect hustlers: $512

Child boomer aspect hustlers: $918

E-commerce {and professional} work are the preferred side-hustles 

Flexibility and availability are the secret for aspect hustle work, as on-line gross sales {and professional}/enterprise providers similar to freelance writing and consulting are the preferred industries for aspect hustlers, with 15 p.c of aspect hustlers partaking in on-line gross sales and 14 p.c in skilled providers. 

Meals supply and crafts have been subsequent, with 9 p.c of aspect hustlers working in each industries, then pet care (7 p.c) after which educating/tutoring (6 p.c). The least standard sidegigs embody healthcare (4 p.c), landscaping/dwelling restore (4 p.c), health (3 p.c), ridesharing (3 p.c) and at last dwelling rental (2 p.c).

Aspect hustle participation additionally reached past the listed industries, with 43 p.c of aspect hustlers indicating they work in an unlisted class. 

On-line gross sales {and professional} providers stay the preferred named classes for aspect hustlers of all generations. Gen Z aspect hustlers barely break the mould by relying extra on skilled and consulting providers as their aspect gig (18 p.c) over on-line gross sales (14 p.c), with on-line gross sales stays the preferred trade for millennials aspect hustlers (20 p.c), Gen X aspect hustlers (15 p.c) and child boomer aspect hustlers(12 p.c). 

Extra aspect hustlers are utilizing their earnings for enjoyable

Whereas aspect hustling is usually a essential manner to herald much-needed income, extra aspect hustlers are utilizing their side-gig cash for enjoyable — with 41 p.c of aspect hustlers utilizing their further earnings to fund discretionary bills, up from 37 p.c in 2024 and 27 p.c in 2023. 

Regardless of this, aspect hustle earnings remains to be a vital supply of economic safety for a lot of aspect hustlers, with 35 p.c utilizing it for normal residing bills, 28 p.c saving no less than among the cash, 20 p.c utilizing it to pay down debt and 29 p.c feeling they’ll all the time want a aspect hustle to make ends meet. 

For others, their aspect hustle is the ramp to a fundamental gig, with 16 p.c of aspect hustlers wanting their aspect hustle to become their fundamental supply of earnings. 

Over one in 5 (21 p.c) of Gen Z aspect hustlers wish to flip their aspect hustle right into a full-time endeavor, forward of 17 p.c of millennials, 12 p.c of Gen X and 11 p.c of child boomer aspect hustlers. 

Whereas de Anda didn’t begin handing out flyers with the expectation that it might flip right into a full-time job, he discovered that the pay was on par along with his day job – and the flexibleness was much better. 

“I’m busy virtually on daily basis, and I’ve the flexibleness of truly selecting once I wish to take a break and simply not work as a result of I wish to go to the seashore or the flicks,” de Anda mentioned. “I’ve the flexibleness now due to how good I’m with the house owners of the eating places and shops (I work with).”

The hows and whys of aspect hustling

Whereas aspect hustling represents very important earnings and monetary safety for a lot of, for de Anda and Ezugwu — each Gen Zers, the main generational cohort in aspect hustling — their aspect jobs imply extra than simply the cash. 

For Ezugwu, working as a college nurse not solely permits her flexibility to select up shifts when she desires to, however the skill to take a break from her hectic hospital job to work with college youngsters. 

“It’s a breath of recent air,” she mentioned. “I work with older adults who’re critically sick, so seeing little children be joyous and jovial and comfortable on a regular basis is healthier for my psychological well being.”

For de Anda, his aspect hustle is a approach to create extra flexibility in his life, as he can now set his personal hours and phrases. As a bonus, he says his aspect hustle is AI-proof — giving him an additional sense of safety in a quickly-changing world. 

“I’ve constructed one thing that may’t be automated away, and I management my very own earnings by deciding how a lot work to tackle,” he mentioned. 

Discretionary earnings can also solely be the tip of the iceberg. With 46 p.c of Gen Zers stating that cash negatively impacts their psychological well being, in keeping with Bankrate’s Cash and Psychological Well being Survey, a aspect hustle can really feel like an additional layer of safety towards what appears like ever-present uncertainty. 

“Younger individuals are already inherently extra weak financially than their older counterparts as a result of they haven’t had as a lot time to construct up a security web,” says Sarah Foster, financial analyst for Bankrate. “However we additionally discover in surveys that they really feel considerations about job safety extra intensely, seemingly stemming from the lasting impression of launching their careers in a difficult market, which has undoubtedly left a mark on their mindset.”

Whereas Ezugwu doesn’t rely totally on her aspect hustle earnings, for her, it’s a useful insurance coverage coverage towards job loss, shock payments and value will increase — a mentality that she believes is fueling the recognition behind aspect hustles’ reputation with Gen Z. 

“We thought it was simply us being go-getters, however we’ve seen quite a bit,” Ezugwu mentioned. “We lived by way of two recessions below the age of 25. I noticed the way it was devastating for different folks, and it actually was a get up name for me that I can not have this occur in my life.”

Methodology

All figures, except in any other case said, are from YouGov Plc. Whole pattern measurement was 2,616 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2nd – 4th June 2025. The survey was carried out on-line and meets rigorous high quality requirements. It gathered a non-probability-based pattern and employed demographic quotas and weights to raised align the survey pattern with the broader U.S. inhabitants.