Gig work is a broad category that includes selling goods, renting property, and completing short-term or platform-based tasks. In the Federal Reserve’s 2024 SHED report, 20% of adults said they had performed at least one gig activity during the prior month. Census nonemployer statistics add a business perspective: listed gig-economy-related individual proprietorship industries generated approximately $152.6 billion in receipts in 2023.
Contents
- How many adults participate
- What gig activities include
- Time, employment, and age patterns
- Who participates
- Flexibility, income, and benefits
- Industries and nonemployer businesses
How many adults participate
The Federal Reserve’s 2024 SHED report measured gig activity during the month before the survey. Its broad measure found that 20% of adults had done some type of gig activity. This measure includes selling, renting, and short-term tasks, so it is wider than a definition limited to app-based delivery or ride-hailing work.
The same report found that 14% of adults had done any selling or renting activity, while 9% had done any short-term task. Four percent had performed short-term tasks using an app or website. These categories overlap: one adult may have sold an item and also completed a platform task during the same measurement period.
The participation figures describe activity, not necessarily a person’s primary occupation. In fact, 21% of people who did gig activities said gig work was their main job. The remaining participants included people using gig work alongside another job, school, family responsibilities, or other sources of income.
The Federal Reserve’s earlier 2015 EIWA survey provides a separate historical reference point. It found that 36% of respondents undertook informal paid work activities, and 65% of qualified respondents said earning extra income was a main reason for participating. These 2015 results use a different survey and concept from the 2024 SHED figures; they should not be treated as a directly comparable trend series. The Federal Reserve EIWA survey is also a legacy source whose results were not independently verified for this article.
What gig activities include
Selling goods was the most common detailed selling category in the 2024 SHED results. Thirteen percent of adults sold items as a gig activity. The components included 10% who sold items they had previously owned, 4% who sold items purchased to resell, and 3% who sold items they had made or repurposed.
Renting was less common in the measured month: 2% of adults offered short-term rentals. Because the selling and renting measures are combined in the 14% figure for any selling or renting, the categories should not be added together as though they represented separate people.
Short-term tasks formed another part of the gig economy. Nine percent of adults did any short-term task, and 4% used an app or website to do those tasks. The broad 20% overall figure includes all three activity families: selling, renting, and tasks.
| 2024 SHED activity measure | Share of adults |
|---|---|
| Any gig activity | 20% |
| Any selling or renting | 14% |
| Any short-term task | 9% |
| Short-term task using an app or website | 4% |
| Offered a short-term rental | 2% |
The detailed selling categories also show why gig-economy statistics can look different depending on the definition. A measure focused on platform tasks will omit many people selling used possessions. A measure covering all informal or independent activity may include services that are not mediated by a digital platform.
Time, employment, and age patterns
Gig activity was usually limited in weekly time commitment among participants. Ninety-six percent of people doing gig activities said they usually spent less than 35 hours per week on them. Seventy percent spent less than five hours per week. These figures indicate that most reported gig activity was part-time by hours, although the survey also found that gig work was the main job for 21% of participants.
The SHED results also connect gig activity with labor-force measurement. Twenty-eight percent of gig workers said they were not working for pay or profit in the prior month while also earning through gigs. Across all adults, 6% said they were not working for pay or profit in the prior month while also earning through gigs.
Among people doing gig activities, 20% said they spent at least five hours per week on them and also reported not working. Including those people would raise the employment rate by 1 percentage point. This is an estimate about the effect of a particular classification choice, not a statement that every gig participant should be counted as employed under every labor statistic.
Age differences were visible in the 2024 SHED participation results. Twenty-six percent of adults ages 18 to 29 had done any gig activity, compared with 24% of adults ages 30 to 44 and 21% of adults ages 45 to 59. The share was 12% among adults age 60 and older.
| Age group | Any gig activity |
|---|---|
| 18–29 | 26% |
| 30–44 | 24% |
| 45–59 | 21% |
| 60 and older | 12% |
Students reported a 30% participation rate, versus 19% among non-students. Parents of younger children reported 26%, compared with 19% among adults who were not parents of younger children. These are descriptive shares from the survey and do not establish why the groups differed.
Who participates
Participation varied across the race and ethnicity categories reported by the Federal Reserve. Twenty-four percent of Hispanic adults had done any gig activity. The corresponding shares were 19% for White adults, 19% for Black adults, and 17% for Asian adults.
Men reported a 21% participation rate, while women reported 19%. The 2-percentage-point difference is a descriptive result for the survey’s broad any-gig measure.
The group comparisons below use the same overall definition: having done any gig activity during the prior month.
| Group | Share reporting any gig activity |
|---|---|
| Hispanic adults | 24% |
| Men | 21% |
| White adults | 19% |
| Black adults | 19% |
| Women | 19% |
| Asian adults | 17% |
These figures should be read alongside the age, student, and family-status results rather than as isolated explanations. For example, the 30% student rate and 26% rate among adults ages 18 to 29 describe overlapping populations, but neither figure shows the effect of age after accounting for student status.
Flexibility, income, and benefits
People gave both positive and negative reasons for participating. Sixty-one percent of people doing any gig activity agreed that they were their own boss, and 55% said gig work let them work flexible hours. Thirty-five percent said it gave them work-life balance.
Financial pressure was also substantial. Thirty-one percent of people doing any gig activity said they would have trouble making ends meet without gig work. Twenty-eight percent wished they received benefits such as health insurance from doing it.
The balance changed by activity type. Among people doing selling or renting activities, 26% said gig work let them work flexible hours, 27% said they would have trouble making ends meet without it, and 46% said the pay was not consistent enough. Among people doing short-term tasks, the corresponding figures were 70% for flexible hours, 43% for difficulty making ends meet, and 54% for inconsistent pay.
Platform-task participants reported 78% for flexible hours, 52% for work-life balance, 41% for difficulty making ends meet, and 61% for inconsistent pay. Platform-task results are a subset-oriented view and should not be combined with the short-term-task results as though they were independent groups.
| Reported experience | Selling or renting | Short-term tasks | Platform tasks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flexible hours | 26% | 70% | 78% |
| Pay not consistent enough | 46% | 54% | 61% |
| Trouble making ends meet without it | 27% | 43% | 41% |
Health coverage often came from outside gig work. Fifty-three percent of gig workers had employer-provided health insurance, including coverage from another job or a spouse’s job. Eighty-eight percent had any health insurance. In addition, 51% had a non-gig main job. Together, these figures show that gig participation frequently coexisted with other employment and other sources of benefits.
Industries and nonemployer businesses
The Census Bureau’s 2023 Nonemployer Statistics counted individual proprietorships in industries identified as gig-economy-related. Couriers and Messengers had 1,430,708 individual proprietorships, followed by Taxi and Limousine Services with 1,355,360. Janitorial Services had 1,072,010, Independent Artists, Writers and Performers had 1,043,306, and Child Care Services had 529,554.
The 2023 counts span multiple kinds of work, from transportation and delivery to cleaning, creative services, and care. The Census infographic described the listed gig-economy-related industries as generating receipts across 11 NAICS sectors.
Selected 2023 receipts figures were $39,888,326 for Taxi and Limousine Services, $25,370,190 for Independent Artists, Writers and Performers, $19,991,209 for Janitorial Services, $18,677,609 for Couriers and Messengers, and $15,291,360 for Landscaping Services. The approximate total receipts generated by the listed gig-economy-related individual proprietorship industries was $152.6 billion.
The Census Bureau’s 2018 Nonemployer Statistics provide an earlier industry snapshot. Taxi and Limousine Services had 1,179,167 individual proprietorships; Janitorial Services had 935,128; Independent Artists, Writers and Performers had 907,569; Child Care Services had 585,886; and Landscaping Services had 434,554.
For those 2018 top-five gig-related industries, reported receipts were $24.6 billion for Taxi and Limousine Services, $18.9 billion for Independent Artists, Writers and Performers, $14.0 billion for Janitorial Services, $10.8 billion for Landscaping Services, and $9.1 billion for Child Care Services. These historical figures come from the Census 2018 Nonemployer Statistics and are not presented here as independently verified trend comparisons with 2023.
The Census Bureau’s 2025 gig economy story also reported that sole proprietorships made up approximately 86.4% of nonemployers and 67.8% of total U.S. establishments. Those shares describe business structure, while the Federal Reserve figures describe adults’ recent activity; the two measures answer different questions.