Side hustle participation hits a multi-year low, Bankrate finds
Bankrate's Side Hustle Survey reported that only about 27% of American adults have a side hustle in 2025, the lowest share since 2017 in their tracking, down from 36% the year before. Median monthly side income in their data sits near $200, while average monthly earnings among side hustlers are higher but also down slightly year over year. Those two numbers sitting side by side is the whole Sidequity lesson: averages are not your budget, and fewer people hustling does not mean the work got easier.
Source: Bankrate. This page is Sidequity's summary and commentary. We do not republish the original article or use publisher photos. Read the full piece at the source link.
What Bankrate reported
According to Bankrate's published survey summary, 27% of U.S. adults have a side hustle, with median monthly side hustle earnings around $200 and average monthly earnings among side hustlers near $885 in 2025. The piece notes a shift in motivation: more side hustlers using extra income for discretionary spending than in some prior years, while fewer Americans overall are taking on extra work.
Bankrate cites YouGov fieldwork in early June 2025 with a sample of 2,616 adults using a nonprobability sample with demographic quotas and weights. Sidequity does not conduct the survey; we summarize published findings and add planning context.
Median vs average in your model
A $200 median and an $885 average in the same dataset usually means a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up while most respondents cluster lower. That is normal in side income, where a few skilled freelancers or seasonal grinds sit beside many low-hour gig weeks.
Illustrative: $200 net a month over 20 side hours is $10 per hour before you even debate tax reserve. The same $200 over 8 hours is $25. Surveys that skip hours invite fantasy budgeting.
Participation falling can be good or bad news
Bankrate's analysts note higher interest rates and a tighter labor market as possible reasons fewer people side hustle now. Some workers may have found better primary wages. Others may have tried gigs, found thin net hourly, and quit. Falling participation is not proof that side income is unnecessary. It may mean the marginal hustle stopped making sense for more people.
Discretionary vs essential spending
When surveys show more side income going to voluntary purchases, readers with rent pressure should not assume that applies to them. Name your gap. If essentials are the reason you drive or freelance, run rent gap or extra income goal with net numbers from a normal week.
Sidequity takeaway
Bankrate's survey is useful context: side hustles are common but not universal, and monthly medians are modest. Use it to sanity-check headlines that imply everyone earns four figures on the side. Log your deposits, costs, and hours. If net hourly fails your floor, stopping is a rational outcome, not a personal failure.
Read the original
This page is Sidequity commentary on Bankrate reporting. Read Bankrate's full survey article for charts, quotes, and methodology. We link out and do not republish their work.
This is an estimate, not advice
Every result here is a rough model based only on the numbers you enter. Sidequity is an informational tool and does not provide professional, tax, legal, investment, or financial advice, and it makes no income guarantees. Any tax set-aside is a planning placeholder, not a tax calculation.
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Published June 11, 2026. Back to story archive · Editorial policy