Side Hustle Statistics 2021

1 in 3 Americans have a side hustle, and the number is growing.

According to a Zapier survey, approximately 34% of Americans, or one in three, have a side hustle.

Side hustles have been and continue to be a rising trend. Google Trends graph clearly shows the growing interest over time for the search term ‘side hustles.’

Also, according to the survey:

67% started their side hustle within the past 3 years

31% started theirs in 2020

24% of Americans planned to start a side hustle in 2021

Exploding topics gives a great visual of the popularity of the search term ‘side hustle.’

1600% growth in 5 year time period

49.5K searches/month in the United States

So, having a side hustle is popular and growing. If you have not started a side hustle (yet), should you?

Why start a side hustle?

There can be several reasons to start a side hustle. You could have more than one reason — all of them can be valid!

According to the survey, the reasons for starting a side hustle included:

46% – create passive income

38% – do something they enjoy

33% – diversify their income (multiple sources)

28% – develop a new skill

25% – save up for a specific financial goal

23% – save up for a specific purchase

16% – test a specific business idea

YES!

To all of that.

Times are changing.

Whether you are a working parent or stay-at-home, or in college, or unemployed, or somewhere in the continuum called life, it’s less likely now than ever before that we are going to work a job that sucks for the rest of our lives. It’s not going to happen.

Enter.

One job/career + one or more smaller gigs or side hustles.

Or.

A few jobs/gigs/side hustles.

Goal 👉 Financial Freedom

Find and do work that fuels you, not work that drains you. Side hustles are a great way to find just that — what works for you and brings you joy.

Having said that.

Starting a side hustle can be overwhelming.

There is a lot — a lot of misinformation and scams out there. How do you know which sides hustles are legit and which ones you should stay away from? How do you know which ones you might enjoy and maybe even turn them into a lucrative business?

Stick around. Look around.

We research, analyze, and test side hustles to find out whether they work or not so that you don’t have to go down the rabbit holes for weeks only to return empty-handed and with less money in your pocket than you started with.

Alie | The Moneymakr