According to a recent survey from Quicken, 43% of respondents with a side hustle stated they were earning more money and working fewer hours than if they had a single full-time job.
While side hustles can bring in some extra cash, you could use one to build wealth if you pursue a highly profitable venture.
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GOBankingRates listed several side gigs that are particularly good for building wealth since they’re lucrative, don’t cost much to start or maintain and can be done alongside a full-time job.
Here are the five best side gigs for building wealth in 2025.
1. Investing in Real Estate
“Renting property is one of the best ways to build wealth, and in this day and age, there are property management apps that will automate just about every process you need to manage rentals yourself and avoid spending money on a property manager,” said Ryan Barone, the co-founder and CEO at RentRedi.
“Managing rentals from anywhere with a few taps on your phone makes generating income through a rental side gig about as passive as it gets, and leaves you plenty of time for a full-time job or other pursuits.”
Investing in real estate can be one of the best gigs for building wealth next year, because you can earn money from your rental income and the appreciation of the home’s value. It also doesn’t take much capital to start building a property rental side gig either.
“You can start out by renting spaces you already own, whether that’s an extra bedroom in your current home, storage space in your basement or attic, or a coveted parking space,” Barone added. “Use that income to pay down a mortgage and build equity faster or save up for something bigger.”
Once you’ve built enough capital from equity or savings with your real estate side gig, you can reinvest these profits into acquiring more property. This snowball effect can help you build a real estate portfolio that increases your net worth over time.
If you don’t want to invest in real estate or don’t have the capital to get started, you can look into the next option.
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2. Managing Short-Term Rentals/Working With Airbnb
If you don’t own any property or don’t want to get involved in home ownership, you have other options for profiting from short-term rental platforms like Airbnb.
Based on data from Tipalti, Airbnb hosts earn an average annually amount of $44,235, but your salary will depend on your location and the type of property that you have.
Here are some of the side gigs that can come out of short-term rentals:
- Manage listings. You can offer to manage units for home owners by creating the listing and handling the daily operations.
- Offer a service related to short-term rentals. You can offer to set up listings or cleaning services to ensure that the operations run smoothly.
- You can sublet a place on a short-term rental platform. You can lease out one of the rooms and make some extra money without much additional effort on your end.
3. Selling Digital Products
“Of the 30+ side hustles I’ve tried, selling digital products is one of the most passive side hustles out there,” noted Cody Berman, a side hustle expert and founder of Gold City Ventures.
“Startup costs are extremely low; all you need is some free time and energy. Now that I’ve spent time building out a digital product suite, I earn thousands each month from only a few hours of work.”
You have many options when it comes to selling digital products, including:
- Sell books on Amazon.
- Upload a program to Gumroad.
- Create your own eBook that you market on social media.
If you don’t want to deal with the marketing and operations of selling digital products, you can consider the next option.
4. Open an E-Commerce Store
“A great option is to start an e-commerce store through a platform like Etsy or Shopify,” said Erika Kullberg, an attorney, personal finance expert, and founder of Erika.com.
“Whether you’re selling handmade products or dropshipping, the barrier to entry is pretty low and there’s great potential for scaling your business.”
You don’t need much capital to start your e-commerce business. The best part is that the average salary for an e-commerce business owner is $127,973 a year, based on ZipRecruiter data.
Kullberg added, “Over time you can look to automate certain processes, like shipping and customer service, to make it less time-consuming and more passive.”
Berman elaborated on how you can set up a shop on Etsy:
“First, you create the digital product in a program called Canva. Next, you list that digital product on a marketplace like Etsy. Finally, once that product is listed, customers can buy the product from your store, and the digital file is automatically delivered to them.”
You may want to start by browsing Etsy or a similar platform to see what products are doing well and determine what you can sell in your shop. The key is to perform adequate market research so that you can think of the right product.
5. Freelance Work
The final option for a lucrative side hustle is something that can combine all of the options above. According to ZipRecruiter, the average annual salary for freelance work is over $108,000, and your earnings will vary depending on the services offered.
“If you have a relevant skill set, freelancing can be a good option, especially if you can find a specific niche within which to market,” noted Kullberg.
“Think fields like graphic design, ghostwriting, coding, etc. These roles are often in high demand and can allow you to set your rates and work in your free time.”
You’ll want to take some time to think of a service you can offer and then test our various platforms, like Freelancer.com or Upwork, to see how much you can earn based on your experience and skill level.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Best Side Gigs for Building Wealth in 2025
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
