61% of workers have a side hustle — many earn little for the hours
Kickresume published survey results in June 2026 from 1,070 workers worldwide, asking about side income, hours, motivations, and secrecy at day jobs. The headline is familiar: 61% earn something outside their main job. The details are more useful for planners. One in five side hustlers reports irregular or no consistent income. Delivery and ride-sharing rank high on dollars but often demand long weeks. Knowledge work categories dominate participation. Sidequity summarizes Kickresume's published findings and adds net-hourly context. We did not run the survey.
Source: Kickresume. 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 Kickresume reported
According to Kickresume's press release, 61% of respondents have a side hustle (29% regularly, 32% occasionally). Financial pressure led 48% to start, rising to 60% in the USA. About 24% call side income essential to survival; 31% say it is important but not essential. On earnings, 20% report irregular or no consistent income; another 19% earn roughly $50 to $200 per month. Only about a third regularly exceed $500 per month.
Kickresume fielded the survey in May–June 2026 via its internal database. It is not a probability sample of all workers. Treat percentages as orientation, not your personal forecast.
Categories that pay vs categories people pick
Kickresume's category breakdown shows tech and consulting among the most common paths, while renting assets and delivery rank highest on share of workers earning $500+ monthly in the survey. Renting property or assets topped the high-earner list at 48% but only 5% of respondents do it. Delivery and ride-sharing followed at 47% high earners, with about one in five in that category working 20+ hours weekly on the side.
Sidequity angle: a category can look lucrative in a survey while requiring asset ownership or long driving hours. Net hourly from your own log beats category rank.
Hours, secrecy, and the day job
Kickresume reports 66% have worked on a side hustle during regular working hours at least sometimes, and 36% keep the hustle secret from employers. Separately, 46% say they would quit their main job if side income matched salary, rising to 63% among creative and media workers in the survey. That ambition is not the same as sustainable net pay today.
Gender and regional gaps
Kickresume's write-up notes men are more likely than women to report side income above $500 monthly in the survey, while women cluster more in lower monthly brackets despite similar weekly hours. Financial pressure as a motivation runs higher among women in the data. Regional splits show stronger survival framing in the USA and Asia than in Europe in Kickresume's summary.
Sidequity takeaway
Kickresume's survey fits a pattern other 2026 reports echo: side income is widespread, uneven, and often necessary rather than optional. Use it to question glossy averages, not to pick a category from a leaderboard. Run side hustle income or gig mileage cost with your deposits and hours. If net hourly fails your floor, the survey's 61% participation rate is not a reason to stay.
Read the original
This page is Sidequity commentary on Kickresume's published press release and survey summary. Read the original for full 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 18, 2026. Back to story archive · Editorial policy