Neighbor.com Survey Finds Nearly 70% of Recent Graduates Turn to Gig Work to Cover Their Bills

LEHI, Utah, May 12, 2022 — Neighbor.com, the peer-to-peer self storage marketplace, surveyed 1,000 college students and recent graduates about the current job landscape, as well as their saving and spending behaviors, in the Students and Grads Money Report. The survey found that most students and graduates are optimistic about their future opportunities, but are still having a hard time finding good jobs with wages high enough to cover all their bills.

The study uncovered that 46% of recent grads spend 75% of their paycheck on bills. That means recent grads need a side hustle to help supplement their entry-level salary. Nearly 70% of respondents are doing some type of gig work to earn more money outside of their 9-5 jobs, while 1 in 3 relies on gig work as the main source of income.

“People are struggling to pay their bills and are always looking for ways to make more. Most of them are turning to gig-type jobs to supplement their 9-to-5 income. This illustrates one of the core reasons we started Neighbor—to help people make a passive income,” said Joseph Woodbury, co-founder and CEO of Neighbor. “There are an estimated 33.6 million spare bedrooms throughout the U.S., meaning a lot of people can take advantage of the storage gig and turn their unused space into cash.”

Additional findings from the report:

• No Savings—Nearly 50% of college students either don’t have a savings account or have one but have no money in it.
• Tracking Finances—30% of college students use a budgeting app to manage where their money goes.
• No Credit Cards—59% of college students either don’t have a credit card at all or have one that they use only for emergencies.
• Parental Support—73% of college students say they’ve received financial help from their parents.
• Discretionary Spending— More than 50% of extra cash is spent on clothing and accessories.

See additional Looking for space to store your stuff, or have extra space? Visit neighbor.com to get started.



About Neighbor

Founded in 2017, Neighbor is a community marketplace based in the Silicon Slopes of Lehi, Utah. The company connects people with unused space in their garages, attics, basements, and driveways to renters looking for affordable self storage. Neighbor benefits renters by providing safer, more accessible storage for half the price of a traditional self storage unit, while allowing hosts to earn thousands of dollars per year from their unused space. Neighbor’s investors include real estate leaders and marketplace experts, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Fifth Wall, and the CEOs of DoorDash, Uber, Overstock and StockX.

Media Contact

Casey Schow
casey@neighbor.com