“Moonlighting to pick up extra money or pursue a passion is part of a time-honored practice”
Black Americans are still pursuing side hustles, not as a trend but as a time-tested money-making need and growth strategy. In 2024, 15.2% of Black or African Americans had an active side hustle, above the 13.6% national average, and 6.4% worked more than one job during December alone.
But there are persisting wage gaps. Black employees make on average 20% less than Whites, driving this imperative. The gig economy, worth $556 billion, and companies such as Uber, TaskRabbit, and Upwork are now crucial conduits for supplemental income, with 86% of freelancers looking forward to future growth. Black entrepreneurs, on the other hand, have turned 35% of new ventures into moonlight ventures amidst employers’ return‑to‑office demands.
Next‑generation AI side hustles, from consulting to content creation, promise six‑figure opportunities, leading the way for future decentralized and tech‑led income streams. This article examines the latest data, current situations, and upcoming trends while offering effective ways to help current side hustlers and future giggers to optimize their chances of success.
Why Black People Do Side Hustles:
The motivation for extra jobs in the African American community is grounded by the challenging economic positions while drawing attention to racial wage and wealth inequalities in the U.S. relative to Black communities.
Source: Pexel
Racial wage gaps endure:
In 2022, the median weekly wage for Black employees was $878 compared to $1,085 for White employees among full-time workers. The wide gender pay gap is much worse: Black women only earned 70% of what white male workers earned in 2022, relative to 83% for white women. Over a career, these gaps add up to negatively hundreds of thousands of lost earnings. They also label side hustling as an economic necessity.
In wealth statistics, the median white household held $168,800 more than the median Black household in 2019, and $201,700 in 2021. The racial wealth gap is a product of historical policies like redlining and limited access to government-assistance New Deal programs that continue to funnel Black families into financial precarity and promote side hustling as a means to add income.
The “Black Tax”:
Black families are incurring a “Black Tax,” which happens in two ways. First, state and local tax policies are discriminatory as Black homeowners are often subject to value property assessments that they are overcharged. Second, Black families (extended family) are burdened by familial obligations, which is referred to by South African Black professionals as the “Black tax”. In this situation higher earning Black professionals are financially responsible for their families which reduces savings and terms of any future investments. The interplay of these two forces increases the economic burden on Black families which has led to side hustling, as a way to offset household budgets.
Cultural Drivers & Community Uplift
Source: Pexel
Tradition of Mutual Aid
Mutual aid societies have been central to Black community life since at least the 1700s, pooling resources to bury the dead, care for widows, and support education. These societies seeded Black churches and schools, embedding a culture in which collective financial pooling and entrepreneurial ventures were viewed as communal responsibilities.
Sou‑Sou and Collective Savings
West African sou‑sou clubs, which act as rotating savings schemes, traveled to the Americas via the slave trade and thrive today among diaspora communities. In these groups, members contribute a fixed amount regularly, with each member receiving the lump sum in rotation, fostering both capital accumulation and social accountability.
African Markets & Diaspora Networks
Across Africa and its diaspora, markets and entrepreneurial networks facilitate trade and knowledge sharing. Organizations like the African Diaspora Network unite entrepreneurs across continents They offer mentorship, investment pools, and market access, demonstrating how Black people do side hustles not only for survival but for regional uplift and cross‑border prosperity.
Black Side Hustles in the Gig Economy: Rise of Digital Platforms
The digital era has ushered in platforms like Uber, Lyft, TaskRabbit, and Upwork, enabling on‑demand work with flexible schedules. People of Color, including Black workers, have harnessed these platforms: 27% of Black adults under 50 have earned money via an online gig platform, compared with 16% of White adults.
Side Hustle Boom
In 2023, 52% of Americans started side hustles, driven by inflationary pressures and the cost‑of‑living crisis. While many earn under $500 per month, extra jobs remain critical for covering essentials and saving for long‑term goals.
Black Women’s Gig Strategies
Black women disproportionately leverage side hustles to offset pay inequities. From launching skincare lines to freelancing as consultants, they create income streams that mitigate a systemic wage gap that, according to predictions, won’t close until 2227 at current rates.
Challenges & Opportunities
Gig work offers autonomy but comes with risks: lack of benefits, income volatility, and social media platform discrimination. Yet, entrepreneurial Black side hustlers view gig platforms as stepping stones to brand building and network expansion, transforming work into scalable businesses.
Source: Pexel
Profiles & Success Stories
Nicaila Matthews Okome:
Nicaila Matthews Okome turned her podcast, Side Hustle Pro, into a community of over 100,000 listeners, providing actionable strategies and spotlighting Black women entrepreneurs who scaled side gigs into full‑time ventures.
Kathryn Finney: From Fashion Blog to Venture Fund
Kathryn Finney parlayed her fashion blog The Budget Fashionista into digitalundivided, a tech incubator for women of color, and later founded Genius Guild, a $20 million venture fund that backs Black‑led startups.
Dean Forbes: Telesales to Tech CEO
Born into poverty in London, Dean Forbes overcame homelessness to become CEO of Forterro, a £1 billion tech company. His “Chief Side Hustler” approach, holding multiple jobs, saving aggressively, and investing in his skills, illustrates how strategic hustles can yield extraordinary outcomes.
Strategies & Resources
Source: Pexel
1. Audit Your Financial Gap
Start by quantifying exactly how much supplemental income that you will need. Tools like the InCharge Budget Calculator let you enter all of your expenses and compare them against net income to reveal your monthly shortfall. Similarly, the 50/30/20 rule calculator from NerdWallet divides your net income into needs, wants, and savings, helping you pinpoint the extra funds required each month. Use these insights to set a clear side‑hustle earnings target, whether that’s an extra $200 or $1,000 per month.
2. Leverage High‑Demand Platforms
Freelance marketplaces remain a proven way to access clients at scale. As of 2024, Upwork logged about 855,000 active clients, a 2% year‑over‑year increase, solidifying its lead in the freelance ecosystem. Fiverr, meanwhile, serves over 3.8 million active buyers, making it the second-largest platform and a fertile ground for creative and technical gigs. Prioritize niches where demand is surging for professions such as graphic design, digital marketing, and web development, to boost your booking rate and command higher fees.
3. Invest in AI Skills
AI and prompt engineering are among the fastest‑growing side hustle categories. Coursera’s “Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT” course teaches you advanced prompt patterns and application design to harness large language models effectively. On Udemy, “OpenAI Assistants with OpenAI Python API” offers hands-on training in building AI‑driven tools, with over 569 reviews attesting to its practical value. For business‑focused prompting, the “ChatGPT & Generative AI: Prompt Engineering for Business” course provides strategies for crafting AI‑powered marketing and productivity solutions. As demand for AI expertise grows, these skills can translate into $20–$200/hour consulting fees.
4. Formalize & Scale
Establishing a legal business entity protects your assets and lends credibility. IncFile is frequently recommended for its affordability and responsive customer service, making it a top choice for LLC formation in 2024. LegalZoom also remains popular for bundled legal templates and resources as your business expands. To keep your finances organized, small‑business accounting apps like QuickBooks or Xero allow you to track income, expenses, invoices, and receipts all from your smartphone. Automating bookkeeping ensures you can focus on growth rather than manual record‑keeping.
5. Tap Grant Programs & Funding
Specialized funds and government programs can provide non‑dilutive capital and mentorship:
- The Doonie Fund offers micro‑investments under $1,000 specifically for Black women entrepreneurs, with over $200,000 disbursed in its first six weeks.
- Google for Startups Black Founders Fund has awarded more than $40 million in equity‑free cash awards, plus mentorship and Google Cloud credits, to Black‑led startups since 2020.
- SBA Minority Entrepreneur Programs include counseling, training, and targeted financing: in fiscal 2024, the SBA backed $56 billion in small‑business loans, 5,200 of which, totaling $1.5 billion, were for Black‑owned businesses.
In 2025, side hustles are still a necessary staple and neutralizer for Black Americans facing wage disparities and economic uncertainty. Leverage the gig economy’s vast platforms and new AI tools to not only fill income gaps now but also set up resilient, suitable businesses.
Want to learn more about side hustling? Pause your busy schedule and spend lunch with FunTimes. Check out our upcoming free enlightening virtual event “5 to 9: Why We Do The Side Hustle.” Discover what drives us to lead a life and career dominated by multiple jobs. Do we do it for profit or passion? Find out, as local expert side hustlers Tiffany Spraggins, Shekhinah B., and event host Lavonne Nichols weigh in with their hard-earned expertise and experience about the side hustle playbook. Panelist Spraggins is the Director of the Power Up Your Business Program at Community College of Philadelphia. Shekhinah B. is the Executive Director of The Women’s Coalition for Empowerment, Inc. and author of The Art Economic Empowerment Workbook & Take Charge. Host Nichols is a certified life coach, a multi-media professional, a singer, the author of Uncaged, a self-help empowerment resource, and the founder of Say Something Good LLC, which supports women’s healing journeys. So, if you’re gigging it, we’re digging it.
🎙 Hosted by: Lavonne Nichols
🎤 Guests: Tiffany Spraggins (community‑driven entrepreneur coach) & Shekhinah B. (author community leader)
📅 Date: Friday, May 16th
⏰ Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST
📍 Where: IG Live @funtimesmagazine
This one is for the dreamers, doers, and those making it happen, one side hustle at a time. Tap in
Anand Subramanian is a freelance photographer and content writer based out of Tamil Nadu, India. Having a background in Engineering always made him curious about life on the other side of the spectrum. He leapt forward towards the Photography life and never looked back. Specializing in Documentary and Portrait photography gave him an up-close and personal view into the complexities of human beings and those experiences helped him branch out from visual to words. Today he is mentoring passionate photographers and writing about the different dimensions of the art world.
