Side Hustles: Building Income That Fits Your Life, Not the Other Way Around

In January 2026, U.S. employers reported 108,435 job losses, the largest number recorded since 2009 and an increase of 118 percent compared to the same month the previous year. Layoffs of high profile at firms such as UPS or Amazon were just the tip of the iceberg, with a further 92,000 jobs lost in the economy during the following month. To a large extent, this news is devastating for people who believe that having one employer, in a single industry and after several years of loyal service, is a recipe for job security. It confirms the most pessimistic expectations about the decline of the old-world workplace.

Not that the situation is necessarily hopeless: as already mentioned in the introduction, the decline of permanent contracts and full-time positions has been taking place for some time now. The assumption that stability, predictable raises and linear career growth come together with a permanent contract at a single employer has evaporated. Wages have failed to keep up with the rise in prices and entire industries have disappeared due to automation. At the same time, the worker has realized that they are no longer indispensable to their employer, which has contributed to their loss of faith in the traditional model.

That is the context in which the side hustle has appeared and the reason why it serves a function that goes beyond simply supplementing the salary. Technically speaking, a side hustle is a source of income outside one’s primary occupation. But in reality, it rarely fulfills this role in practice – because the side income is usually used to offset some of the shortcomings of the main job. This could be the lack of flexibility, the ability to choose one’s area of work, or simply the opportunity to express one’s creativity. Thus, the concept of a side hustle contains much broader implications than the mere additional source of income, and the motivation to embark on one can be much more diverse.

It is difficult to provide an exact figure for the number of Americans who have a side hustle, as statistics on this issue are scarce or ambiguous. According to Bankrate, the figure stood at 27 percent as of early 2026, which equals approximately 90 million Americans. Omnisend’s research, published in the same year, reports 28 percent for the same period, while Hostinger notes a drop to 36 percent in 2026, down from 39 percent in the previous year. Side Hustle Nation’s survey of its community yielded 39 percent, or around 80 million Americans who have a side hustle. At the same time, it is possible to take the definition of a side hustle to include any form of freelance work, which would push the figure to 45 percent or more. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has an even more narrow definition of a side hustle as holding two jobs at once and, according to their data, there were only 8,9 million such multi-job holders, or 5.4 percent of the workforce, as of 2025.

This discrepancy between different statistics is due to the fact that each has a different definition of a side hustle. For example, most surveys only include people who have a source of income in addition to their main job, but exclude those who have two or more types of work at the same time. It is, therefore, no surprise that a number of reports show that the ability to earn more is not the only reason for taking up a side hustle.

A growing number of Americans are turning to freelance jobs as a way to supplement their incomes and make their working lives more flexible. According to Upwork’s 2025 report on independent work, 39 percent of the U.S. workforce – or 38.8 million people – engaged in some form of freelance work in 2025, which is four percent more than in 2024. The report also estimates the total revenue of all freelancers at $1.5 trillion. According to MBO Partners’ Future of Work survey, 36 percent of people with a regular job also have a freelance side hustle. The number of freelancers is expected to rise to 86.5 million, or nearly 50 percent of the U.S. workforce, by 2027, according to Upwork’s projections.

There are several reasons for this trend, which is also confirmed by surveys. In a 2026 survey, more than 75 percent of side-hubbers stated that inflation had forced them to rely more on their side income in the last year, while 53 percent said they would have been unable to afford essential purchases without their side hustle. At the same time, a 2026 survey by HubSpot showed that 44 percent of respondents turned to a side hustle specifically as a response to inflation and rising living standards. It can be seen from these figures that the side hustle has become much more than a way to earn some extra cash on the side: it has become an essential part of the household budget for many Americans.

Not only do side hustles take time away from Americans’ free time, they often involve all sorts of activities that one would never have thought of doing. The side-hubbers’ survey results reveal a wide variety of opportunities that can be combined with a full-time job. For example, a teacher can tutor students at night through an application, while an engineer can sell design templates from their weekend. Meanwhile, some parents spend their evenings at the table, working on the accounting of two different organizations with the same software, QuickBooks. Reselling is another popular side hustle that uses the capabilities of online marketplaces such as eBay, Facebook Marketplace, TikTok Shop, and many others. This type of work takes up the largest share (41%) of side-hubbers’ time, followed by content creation (30% of respondents). The number of independent content creators has grown exponentially in recent years: as many as 10 million Americans are currently engaged in this type of activity, which is 13 percent more than in the past year. It is now clear how different the side hustle of today is from the one many people imagine, such as driving for a ride-sharing company at the weekend. Side hustles today are much more diverse and integrated into everyday life: they often function like an entire parallel economy at a much smaller scale.

The online world is full of myths about the side hustle that is quick and easy to get started and brings in substantial additional income. A closer look at the facts reveals that these myths are, unfortunately, just that – myths. However, it is important to separate the two and see them for what they are. The truth about income from a side hustle is probably best demonstrated by the words of the Side Hustle Nation survey, which asked its respondents about their average income from a side hustle and published the results on its website. According to this survey, the average (mean) monthly income from a side hustle is $1,122 – a figure that many entrepreneurs find pretty impressive. However, the more accurate indicator is the median, which is only $200 per month. Obviously, it is much more difficult to attract regular customers and grow a steady income stream that brings in thousands of dollars every month – but for some people, this is precisely the point.

It is also important to look at the opportunity cost of time, which is reflected in the fact that many side hustlers find themselves burnt out. Different surveys give varying figures about the time spent on a side hustle, ranging from 5 to 8 hours per week on average. Not insignificant for the total time of 40 hours per week, but for many it is a considerable addition to their main job. However, the opportunity cost of time is reflected in other statistics too, such as a 2025 industry survey showing that 67 percent of side-hubbers experience burnout.

This does not mean that starting a side hustle is not worth it, but it does mean that most of these side activities will look significantly different from what one might imagine under the term «side hustle.» Business coaches note that when advising aspiring side-hubbers to identify potential pitfalls, the issue of effort is rarely relevant. Failed side-hubbers usually fail for a few specific reasons: because the founder did not evaluate the margins correctly, thought there was a market need where there was none, underestimated the time spent on the side hustle, or took on too similar a project to competitors, thus failing to differentiate themselves. In short, most side-hubbers who fail to find customers do not put in enough effort to be noticed among competitors. As a consequence, a useful rule for starting a side hustle emerges, which consists in choosing the only potential client segment, developing the concept for it and estimating the required time and financial costs for it.

There is more to the Side Hustlers’ Nation survey figures than just the average income. It also highlights one important aspect – the level of satisfaction with the results of the side hustle. According to Side Hustlers’ Nation survey, between 76 and 85 percent of side-hubbers are quite satisfied with their side hustle, despite only half of them having an income of $500 or more per month. Moreover, over half of them reported deriving particular satisfaction from the diversity of having more than one source of income. Therefore, it is not the extra income that seems to contribute to satisfaction but the ability to choose one’s work and the sense of accomplishment from mastering a new field.

The analysis also helps to understand why conventional measures of professional fulfillment, such as total income, job title, or even working hours, are not always fulfilling or sustainable indicators for a long period of time. The side hustle provides many diverse opportunities: from the ability to select projects to working from home or even to create an entire product that the founder can proudly call their own. Each of these examples represents a chance to feel fulfilled that is no less significant than salary growth or career advancement.

Financially, the side hustle can also provide much needed breathing space. Earnings from different sources allow for more control over cash flow and, consequently, greater financial security. The ability to refuse to work if the work is not to one’s liking and choose the most comfortable conditions for working increases self-esteem and transforms one’s attitude to money, making it less of a determining factor for happiness. This is especially important for people whose professional aspirations are at odds with the realities of their current work and who feel trapped between dissatisfying opportunities. This potential benefit, and one of the most attractive features of the side hustle, has little to do with extra income but is reflected in the choice of work conditions for the most part.

When selecting the work to be done as a side hustle, people usually consider the opportunities available to them in much too broad a context. What matters is not the idea itself but how practical it is given the time and skills at hand. Most side-hubbers surveyed identified several basic strategies for creating a side hustle. They all boil down to taking advantage of existing know-how and skills, identifying the target audience for these skills, and choosing the most appropriate platform for engaging with this audience.

A closer look at these strategies reveals that many people are attracted to the simplest and most obvious ways of generating additional income. So, in the sphere of freelancing, people mostly use their skills in writing, design, programming or consulting, which can be offered on websites like Upwork, Fiverr, Contra or other platforms designed specifically for this. In particular, writers’ services increasingly appear in the form of newsletters, which means that they are looking for their audience on Substack. Reselling is another popular side hustle, which is facilitated by such platforms as Etsy, eBay, StockX, Whatnot and others. It is noteworthy that many bookkeepers and local service providers turn to the same software solutions as large business use, such as QuickBooks or Xero.

The advice of business coaches on the topic of side-hustling is no different from the rest of the recommendations. When selecting an idea for a side hustle, it is important to count on your abilities and work with them rather than try to acquire completely new ones. It is also important not to try to «go it alone» but to use ready-made assets. This includes time: people very often underestimate how long it will take to develop a side hustle, and consequently, how much free time they will have. A side hustle should be something that you do consistently for at least 90 days before concluding whether it is profitable and what changes to adopt. In addition, most experts advise to focus on one idea rather than trying to develop several at once. Demand is much more important than passion for the work, so it is worth finding a problem that people are already looking for a solution to rather than trying to force people to need something that they do not particularly want. The key point is that the side hustle should fit the capabilities within the framework of the current lifestyle rather than the reverse.

One of the reasons why side-hubbers find themselves in trouble is that they greatly overestimate their own opportunities to earn money. People often fall for the myth of a quick and easy side hustle, and so they do not achieve the results they are hoping for. One of the mistakes that side-hubbers make when choosing their own way of additional income is to confuse additional income with a «quick solution». This is reinforced by surveys that show that people are willing to spend as little as possible time on a side hustle while achieving as much as possible. This is a rather naive perception of the concept of a side hustle, which assumes the possibility of additional income without any particular effort. Realizing what the opportunities for growth really are allows one to avoid some of these «side hustle traps.»

One thing that many side-hubbers forget is that time is a limited resource, and so they do not always realize how much of it a side hustle will consume. Many people find that once they have set up their side hustle, the required amount of time appears to be much higher than they initially anticipated. Consequently, they burn out from fatigue and are eager to quit because they feel that their efforts are not being rewarded. According to an industry survey conducted in 2025, 67 percent of side-hubbers say they have experienced burnout. One of the main reasons for this, as mentioned in the previous section, is the lack of interest in the chosen side hustle.

The solution to this problem lies primarily in choosing the right opportunity that fits into one’s lifestyle. It is much more realistic to begin to develop and implement side-hubbing projects not by selecting the most promising opportunities, but by using one’s own skills, which allows one to take into account the amount of effort and time that will be spent. It is this approach that will allow more people to realize that a side hustle is not a quick and easy way to make some extra cash but rather an ongoing project that requires dedication and perseverance.

An analysis of the motivations and challenges of side-hubbers shows that most often a side hustle changes and enhances not only one’s financial prospects but also the way one perceives work and life in general. For many, the ability to work on their own terms is more valuable than any additional income. The side hustle offers a variety of options that cannot be found in the traditional employment system. This might be the ability to choose one’s tasks, working conditions, the right to work from home, to select the most comfortable hours or to engage in a long-term project with one’s own product. Each of these opportunities to varying degrees contributes to a person’s professional fulfillment, which can be much more important than a decent salary from a traditional job. The side hustle rarely offers high income, but it allows one to create conditions that are close to an ideal work environment. It is not just the ability to «choose» that attracts people to side-hubbing – it also means freedom from the «inability to choose», which is the main characteristic of the modern work culture.

As for the income from the side hustle, it is an important addition to the existing one, but it rarely replaces it. The ability to control two sources of income contributes to financial stability and therefore allows one to make decisions not prompted solely by a desire to earn more. People turn to a side hustle in order to free themselves from the obligation to be in perpetual employment. They choose the type of work in their capacity as masters, consultants, or designers and form the concept of their own project, which is no less fascinating than their main activity. With the right planning and dedication, a side hustle can become a viable alternative to traditional employment. At the same time, many side-hubbers who are engaged in a number of different areas are content with the status quo and do not want to take their side hustle to the next level.