Rising prices and weak hiring have pushed millions of Americans into side hustles, with Gen Z leading the trend. New research and job-market data show e-commerce is the most common path to extra income, while life coaching—along with brand content and affiliat
Night deliveries, handmade listings, late-night scrolling for brand deals—more Americans are building a second income stream just to keep up. New research suggests nearly one in three people are now doing side work as essential costs rise again, and the urgency isn’t limited to those struggling.
For many. the choice has shifted from “extra” to “backup.” A ZipRecruiter survey estimates 35% of Americans have an alternate income stream. and after a year of historically weak job growth in 2025. people are adding income not only for bills and essentials. but to create a cushion if layoffs hit in a job market that remains weak outside of a few resilient sectors.
That tension is showing up in the numbers. New research from Omnisend finds 28% of Americans have taken on a side hustle. Nearly half of them—49%—started within the past year. About 54% said they took one up “to earn extra money for bills or essentials.”
A separate Bankrate survey last year found side hustles cut across age groups: 34% of Gen Z, 31% of millennials, 23% of Gen X, and 22% of baby boomers said they have sought one out.
Job insecurity is part of the story. ZipRecruiter Economist Nicole Bachaud said people are relying on side hustles to prepare for a “what if” environment, after the market’s softness left many imagining how hard it would be to find another job quickly.
“The market sitting the way it did for the last year, I think a lot of people were saying, ‘If I were to lose my job right now, it would be really hard to find something else,’” Bachaud said. “Adding something on the side is just really to prepare themselves for the ‘what if’ environment.”
Side hustles don’t just live among the financially squeezed, either. High earners are most likely to have supplemental work. The ZipRecruiter survey found about 45% of those earning more than $150. 000 do supplemental work. compared to about 31% of workers earning less than $25. 000 and about 31% of those earning between $25. 000 and $50. 000.
Kory Kantenga, head of economics for the Americas at LinkedIn, tied that gap to opportunity and access—saying it’s easier to add income when your starting point puts more options within reach.
“It’s the old adage: The more money you have, the easier it is to make money,” Kantenga said. “For example, you today are an AI engineer and you’re working for a company. There’s a lot of AI consulting work there available to you. It’s just sitting there waiting for the taking.”
The most popular side hustles: selling and reselling online
When Americans name how they’re making extra money, e-commerce dominates. People are selling handmade goods, secondhand items, and digital products on platforms including eBay, Etsy, and Facebook Marketplace.
Omnisend’s report found that among people with side hustles, about 46% sell or resell products online, 31% do freelance work, and 21% do social media content creation or run a blog.
Greg Zakowicz, an ecommerce advisor to Omnisend, pointed to changes in consumer behavior—especially for households that feel squeezed.
“People are going out less, especially if they have less money. They’re wearing their clothes less, wearing their shoes less – it’s easier to resell this stuff,” Zakowicz said.
He linked that resale momentum to a blunt question more Americans are asking: how to get money with the least amount of effort.
“…the popularity of resale markets leads him to believe Americans are asking, ‘How do I get the money for the least amount of effort?’”
E-commerce is also where the monthly paychecks look most likely to top $1,000. Of e-commerce side hustlers who responded to the Omnisend survey, about 39% said they make more than $1,000 each month. The comparison is smaller for other categories: about 28% of freelancers, 26% of food delivery workers, and 19% of content creators.
What pays the most: life coaching rises, brand content follows
Profitability doesn’t always track popularity, and a BestBrokers analysis using income data from Upwork tried to separate out what’s most lucrative.
It ranked life coaches as the highest earners, making $150 per hour on average. The analysis cautioned that “demand depends heavily on personal brand and reputation.”
Content creators for brands come next at an average of $40 per hour, though it warned income can be inconsistent early on, depending on traffic and conversions. Affiliate marketers averaged $37.50 per hour.
Beyond the top tier, the analysis said e-commerce freelancers, photographers, T-shirt designers, influencer marketing freelancers, copywriters, and tutors make upward of $30 per hour on average.
Other work categories landed a bit lower but still above $20 per hour on average: photo editors, proofreaders, Canva designers, blog writers, and digital artists.
Zakowicz offered three practical reminders for anyone trying to turn a new idea into a steady side paycheck: “time is money,” understanding your finances matters, and being realistic doesn’t hurt.
“The thing people don’t realize is you’ve got to look at that next step ahead,” Zakowicz said. “That next step might be a cliff, and you got to be willing to pack a parachute.”
Where the moment stands now
Side hustles took off after the start of the pandemic, when inflation surged and remote work gave employees back time they would have otherwise spent commuting. With prices climbing again, new research suggests the second-income experiment is no longer a temporary workaround.
The Omnisend report finds 28% of Americans have taken on a side hustle. with 49% starting in the past year and 54% saying they did it to earn extra money for bills or essentials. Across the board. people are treating these gigs as both cashflow and protection—covering what’s due now. and building a buffer for the day they might need it most.
side hustles e-commerce inflation Gen Z gig economy Upwork Omnisend ZipRecruiter life coaching affiliate marketing
Side gigs are just layoffs with extra steps.
My cousin does “life coaching” and charges like $199 for a Zoom call… so apparently that’s the new e-commerce? lol
Wait so 1 in 3 people are doing side work “essential” now? I thought coaching was like a scam thing. Also e-commerce most common?? That explains why every ad I see is for dropshipping but nobody ever says how it’s going.
“Late-night scrolling for brand deals” sounds like influencer stuff but they’re acting like it’s normal job training. Prices are high yeah, but then it’s like everyone’s just freelancing forever now. I don’t get how people keep doing it if the job market is weak, like isn’t that why they’re side hustling??