How Much Should You Earn from Your Side Hustle?

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A side hustle can help you turn around a difficult financial situation. Whether you are looking to pay off debt, improve your retirement savings, or are looking to pad your cash flow to retire early, it may be possible with a side hustle. A recent Bankrate survey found that the average side hustler brings in $8,000 per year for their efforts. How does your side hustle stack up, and what can you do to reach that $8,000 range and beyond?

How Much Do People Earn With Side Hustles?

The June 2018 Bankrate survey found that 37 percent of Americans have a side job, meaning nearly 4 in 10 Americans are side hustlers. That is a massive number of people! If that number applies to all working adults, that means there are more than 50 million people with a side hustle in the United States bringing in a total $400 million per year!

While 49 percent of side hustles bring in up to $200 per month, 15 percent of side hustlers bring in more than $1,000 per month. Imagine an extra $12,000 or more per year in income. What could that do for you? Could it help you get out of debt? Perhaps it could get you on track for early retirement? Maybe you would choose to split your side hustle income into savings and an extra annual trip? There are no rules for how you use your own money as long as you follow your budget.

The average monthly income from a side hustle was $686 for all surveyed, or about $8,200 per year. That can be life changing money!

How People Hustle

Of those who side hustle, not all do so on a daily or even weekly basis. Of survey responses, the distribution between weekly, a few times a month, about once a month, and less than once a month were roughly even among side hustlers. That means about half of side hustlers work on their hustle once a month or less.

A tip from someone who turned your side hustle into a full-time, six-figure business: you need to work on it more than monthly if you want your side hustle to thrive.

The report also found that Millennials are the most likely generation to hustle. Side hustles decline with age, though it should be the opposite! As your skills grow, your opportunities to earn more on your own go up as well! Don’t let your golden years be idle years. Turn them into a fun business opportunity and challenge that can grow your wealth.

When they get to work, the most popular side hustles are home repair and landscaping, online sales, crafts, and child care. Substitute teacher and artist/musician came up next. It blows my mind that people are not taking advantage of additional skills and education for higher end and creative side hustles like writing, bookkeeping, and website design.

Interestingly, men also earn more from side jobs than women by a large margin, nearly 3x. Men bring in $989 per month from side hustles while women typically bring in $361. While we don’t know hourly rates for these gigs, this is a vast income disparity and something that warrants further study. There is no reason men should be making more than women with side hustles unless they are simply working harder, but I doubt that is the entire story.

Side Hustle Your Way to Financial Success

You never know what your side hustle can do until you give it a try. Amazon started with its first sale in Jeff Bezos garage. Facebook came out of a dorm room idea. My business that pays for my entire life and allows my wife to stay at home with the kids started as a hobby. Give your side hustle idea a try and you might find yourself on the way to your first million, or at least a little less financial stress.

By Eric Rosenberg

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