New data has revealed the states where people are the most interested in starting side hustles.
The information, sourced from Google Trends by blogger Andzelika D. and posted on web hosting company Hostinger’s website, also revealed the most popular side hustles across the U.S., with virtual assistant, delivery driver and e-commerce coming out on top.
Side hustles, or side gigs, are sources of income that don’t come from a person’s regular 9-5 job, and are usually part-time.
When mapped by Newsweek, the data showed that the state with the most interest in starting side hustles was Utah, which reported the highest number of searches for associated key words in the country. All results were adjusted for population.
Which Side Hustles Are the Most Popular, and Where?
The state with the second-highest interest in side hustles was Minnesota, followed by Indiana and Arizona. Conversely, the states with the smallest interest in starting alternative income sources were Mississippi, West Virginia, and Alaska.
The findings also revealed which side hustles were the most popular across the U.S. The top 10 most searched for side gigs in 2024 were:
- Virtual assistant
- Delivery driver
- E-commerce
- Creative writing
- Online surveys
- Dog walking
- Tutoring
- Pet sitting
- Rideshare driver
- Rent a car/home.
Not all states wanted the same side hustles, though. For example, citizens in Connecticut were looking to provide services that suited the suburbs, like tutoring, petsitting, and dog-walking. Meanwhile, in Vermont transport was more of the focus, with ridesharing and rental cars being the top-searched gigs there.
Georgia and Maryland led the U.S. in interest in virtual assistance side gigs, while New England states such as Vermont, Delaware, and Rhode Island showed more interest in creative writing.
Additionally, states with larger urban areas, such as New York and Illinois, showed the most interest in online surveys, which tend to be more useful for urban economies.
According to finance service site MarketWatch, more than half of Americans have a side hustle of some kind, with a survey from earlier this year showing that 54 percent of the country had earned income from something other than their main full-time job.
Millennials and Gen Z were the age groups driving this number, as they were the generations that engaged most with side hustles. Millennials earned the most out of any age group from their side hustles, with an average of $1,129 a month from a side gig of some kind, according to Andzelika D.
Emma Jones, founder and CEO of small business support platform Enterprise Nation, told Newsweek that growing interest in side gigs had also increased in other Western nations, as the world continued to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.
Jones said: “We’ve observed the trend toward side hustling growing exponentially over the past decade in the UK. It allows people to de-risk, self-fund and test their business idea by holding down a day job.
“Starting a business is now an established part of people’s long-term career plans, particularly among Gen Z. While their salaries continue to stagnate and bills continue to rise, they are taking their financial futures into their own hands.
“As these inflationary pressures persist, starting a business is a trend that will only continue on an upward trajectory as young entrepreneurs can now easily access technology, business support, and tap into a growing awareness of the benefits of entrepreneurship as fresh opportunities increase year-on-year.
“As Gen Z confidently picks up their entrepreneurial pace, they are using business support to overcome challenges to boost success, giving them an advantage to other generations.”
Across all generations, the average side hustle in 2024 earned $891 a month, which was an increase of $81 on 2023, according to Andzelika D.’s blog. Gen Z was the generation most likely to have a side gig of some kind.
The average side hustle takes up around 11-16 hours of someone’s time, with the majority of people running one doing it alone.
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