The majority of Americans would agree, it never hurts to have a little extra cash in your pocket. Sometimes it’s needed to help pay bills, or maybe there’s a big vacation or event (such as a wedding) where extra income is needed. To address this need, many Americans are working a side job, or side hustle, in addition to their full-time job.
We conducted a study in 2022 to examine the state of side hustles in America, and a year later, the amount of Americans working side hustles remained the same.
In a survey of more than 1,100 full-time working Americans, 9 in 10 (93%) currently work a side hustle. Broken down by generation, Gen X and Millennials are primarily working side hustles. In fact, more than half (52%) of working Millennials say they also work a side hustle.
When we took a closer look at working Americans with a side hustle, we found that on average, Americans are banking $777 a month from that hustle. Even if they aren’t working one of the side hustles that pay weekly, the additional monthly income can be helpful. More than a quarter just have one side hustle, 43% are working two, and about 3 in 10 have 3 or more side hustles. For more than half of respondents, taking surveys, such as this one, is their primary side hustle.
Other common side hustles include selling items online, selling used clothing, selling handmade items, freelance writing, and driving for a rideshare app.
The main reason Americans are taking on extra work is to help cover bills, to have extra cash, to help pay off debt, just for fun, and to save for a vacation.
Nearly all Americans working a side job enjoy it, and 96% believe having the side hustle is worth it.
The term “moonlighting” is not new, it refers to someone who works a side hustle. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, when full-time jobs often meant a commute to an office, side hustles were usually reserved for the evenings. Thus the term ‘moonlighting.’ Of Americans who currently work a side hustle, 3 in 5 know what this term means.
What is daylighting? It’s a newer term that refers to working a side hustle during the day, or ‘normal’ working hours. Since the pandemic caused a shift to remote work, this allowed people more flexibility in their full-time schedules and in their side hustles. This term is newer, and only 31% who work a side job know what it is.
More than half (55%) of Americans working a side hustle do so during their full-time job’s working hours. Among them, 1 in 10 have been caught by a coworker or manager working their side hustle.
1 in 5 plan to take their side hustle and turn it into their full-time job, and 32% completely hide their side hustle from their full-time jobs.
Of the Americans who work from home full-time, 86% say their work-from-home jobs allow them to work their side hustle, where an office job would not. 1 in 6 say recent return-to-office mandates hinder their ability to work their side hustles, and 41% say they would quit their full-time job if forced to return to an office.
When it comes to fitting that side hustle in your schedule, there’s a decent variety of when Americans are working in these gigs. There's one element that makes side hustles appealing: flexibility. That may be why 2 in 5 Americans have been working their current side hustles for three or more years.
On average, Americans are working their side hustles 15 hours a week, and it’s a pretty even split between mornings, afternoons, and nights. Many Americans are working their side jobs all days of the week, but primarily they’re working Monday through Friday.
At the end of the day, which do Americans prefer? More than half do not enjoy their side hustle more than their full-time job, but if given the chance, 55% would quit their full-time job if they made enough money solely working their side hustle. More than half (55%) add that they need the additional income from their side hustles to support themselves financially.
Full-time jobs still reign supreme when it comes to effort, with only 12% admitting to putting in more effort in their side hustle over their full-time job.
Methodology
In July 2023, we surveyed 1,104 Americans who are employed full-time to see if they worked a side hustle. The rest of the survey consisted of data from the 1,030 Americans who work side hustles. Respondents were 50% female and 50% male, with an age range of 18 to 76 and an average age of 39 years old.
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This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
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Not all those who wander are lost.
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