10 states where workers crave side gigs

For many employees, the 9-to-5 just doesn't cut it anymore — in terms of both culture and income — and they're looking elsewhere to supplement their professional lives.

Forty-four percent of Americans currently have a side job, according to Wisevoter, a bipartisan educational site. The platform recently analyzed recent data on Google searches for side jobs between December 2022 and January 2023 compared to 2021 and 2020. The difference was remarkable — employees are searching for side jobs 49.8% more than last year and almost 70% compared to 2020. 

Idaho ranked first among the states where the most residents are searching for additional employment opportunities, followed closely by Indiana, Utah and Missouri, according to Wisevoter's report. Supplemental income is likely a large part of the reason behind the increased demand, but not the only one. 

Read more: Over 90% of Americans have side hustles — but it's not just for the money

Side hustles include everything from teaching online courses and doing freelance work to selling handcrafted products on platforms like Etsy, or even starting a YouTube channel or a podcast. For many, making more money falls second to exploring new opportunities and more flexibility. 

"People's hours are being cut and they're being laid off — they might have had to be entrepreneurial and push their side hustle to the front because of the economic need," says Paul Flatters, co-founder and CEO of Trajectory Partnerships, a business specialized in analyzing trends and consumer behavior. "But side hustles are also often things that people are passionate about and interested in and they often want that reflected in what they want to do with the rest of their life." 

See where the workforce is most eager for some change, according to Wisevoter's list: