A new study by GoTu, the largest dental talent marketplace, reveals which side jobs pay the most and how hard they are to get into.

Key side jobs trends in America:

• Part-time dentists earn $88 per hour, the highest rate among all gig economy jobs, bringing in over $123K yearly.
• With the fastest job growth at nearly 30%, freelance cybersecurity consultants are in high demand as companies face new AI threats.
• Massage therapists can start earning $39 per hour with just a certificate, making it one of the easiest high-paying gig jobs to take on.

The research examined hourly wages across different gig jobs to find which ones pay workers the most. Jobs were ranked based on what freelancers actually charge per hour on average.

The report also looked at annual income potential, how fast each sector is growing, and what someone needs to get started in that role.

Each job also received a barrier to entry score from 1 to 5, where 1 means no formal education required and 5 means advanced degrees and licensing are needed.

Here’s a look at the top 10 highest-paying gig economy jobs:

1. Dentist

• Average hourly wage:$88.15
• Annual income potential:$123.4K
• Education level:Doctoral/professional degree + license

Freelance dentists earn the most among all gig workers, charging around $88 per hour. That translates to over $123K yearly for those working a typical freelance schedule of about 1,400 hours.

Dental work has shifted toward independent practice models, where dentists rent chair space at clinics rather than taking salaried positions.

This opened up more roles, and the field is now growing 4% annually. Getting into freelance dentistry takes time, though, as it requires going through dental school and obtaining state licensing.

2. Content Strategist

Content strategists come second, earning nearly $71 hourly. They work with brands to plan what content gets created, when it goes out, and who it targets. At this rate, their annual income reaches about $99K.

Content strategists are also in high demand, as the job openings have been growing 6% over recent years.

Unlike dentistry, strategists only need a bachelor’s degree plus some years of experience, making it a popular side job for college graduates who want flexible work.

3. Dental Consultant

Dental consultants rank third, charging $58 per hour on average. These professionals help dental offices improve their operations, train staff, or set up new practices.

With yearly earnings around $81K, the role is more for experienced dentists who want to step back from patient care.

The consulting side of dentistry is expanding faster than clinical work, growing 9% annually. And like freelance dentists, consultants need clinical backgrounds and degrees.

4. Software Developer

Software developers are also among the highest-paid gig roles. These freelancers build apps for clients who need custom solutions or short-term help. For these types of tasks, they usually charge about $56 hourly, making close to $79K per year.

Despite how fast AI is taking over coding, developer jobs are still growing 15% annually, which is actually one of the fastest rates among all gig jobs.

While a bachelor’s degree is typical, some freelancers enter the field through boot camps, making it a more accessible tech role.

5. Dental Hygienist

Dental hygienists round out the top five, earning $52 per hour on average. They clean teeth, take X-rays, and screen patients for oral diseases, usually working a few days per week at different dental offices. Yearly income reaches around $73K for those maintaining regular schedules.

The role requires an associate’s degree and state licensing, making it more accessible than becoming a dentist while still paying well above median gig wages. Hygienist positions are also growing 7% annually.

Cary Gahm, co-founder of GoTu, commented on the study:

“The gig economy rewards specialized skills over credentials in some cases, but healthcare roles still require degrees. That’s actually why dentists and hygienists can charge premium rates, as their work requires licensing and a more extensive background. What’s changed is how these workers structure their careers. In the past, most dental professionals worked full-time at one practice. Now they are like real freelancers: rotating between multiple offices, setting their own schedules, and in many cases earning more than their salaried colleagues.”

The programme was powered by New Horizons, a frontline global IT training company with a presence in over 80 countries of the world.

New Horizons is the IT consultant/partner to Spring of Life school, a relationship that has spanned many years.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony organized by the school recently, the Founder/Director of the School Mrs. Stella Adibe expressed her joy that Spring of Life and Fountain of Wisdom has been living up to its billing as top-quality and front-row IT-driven School in Enugu for many years and that the achievement by this group of students is glaring testaments to that fact.

She reiterated her delight at the productive strategic International ICT Partnership that her school established with New Horizons, a US-based, world’s largest International IT Skills and Certification Training Organization that has a presence in 80 countries of the world.

The MD/CEO of New Horizons Nigeria, Mr. Tim Akano, in his congratulatory message said he was proud of the first set of 20 MTA-certified students from the Spring of Life schools. He promised that New Horizons Nigeria will continually support the school to make it the epitome of an IT-driven school in this 21st century.

Also, the general manager, Northern Region, New Horizons, Mr. David Abolagba said the outstanding performances by the students confirmed that Enugu and Nigeria at large are blessed with sharp and focused youths who in the future, will emerge as Nigeria’s Industry Captains that will become tomorrow’s entrepreneurial giants like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mack Zuckerberg, Google Boys, etc.

Abolagba said these sets of young entrepreneurs would have been convincingly positioned with their skills to bail the country out of its total dependence on oil and become an IT-driven country like India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, etc that are dominating the world’s lucrative IT market.

Being certified as a Microsoft Technology Associate demonstrates that these students have laid a solid foundation for their information technology career and built the skills needed to get the most out of any organization even at a developmental stage.

A Microsoft Technology Associate is a trained professional whose skills are used in a variety of business functions across many different industries, for example, Database, IT Security, Mobile App Developer, Network Administrator, Project Manager, Software Developer, etc.

Software development has become relatively easy to go into, after all you don’t really need to write all your codes yourself.

While writing this, I was just thinking about how long it would have taken me to deliver on several projects I have worked on. I have at many points reused a lot of code base over the years.

In fact I actually have a collection of codebase I reference every time I am working on a new project, say I am involved in a payment platform, I know that I will need a code that will convert an input to amount/currency, I have only written this code once and used it in several projects.

The advancement of the digital age has created a pathway for developers to reuse existing code snippets, thanks to early developers who have solved many complex problems using their skills. Generally, software development is about solving real-world issues. Every application is made-up of different code snippets, whether you are building an application that reports the current time or you are building an application that processes customer orders, you’ll definitely combine some code logic to arrive at a solution.

A lot of people think software development is complex. If they truly understand how powerful and useful code reuse can be, they’ll really see software development in a different way. As a senior developer, I’ve discovered that whenever I return to Google to look for answers to coding-related issues I’ve already resolved (such as splitting a comma-separated string, converting double to amount, and many other issues), I end up using the same code I did before.

Code reuse is essential in software development because it allows programmers to write the same code over and over again. It saves time, money, and resources; and helps reduce errors by increasing overall quality of products. When business owners hear that you can save them money, they are always happy and will welcome the idea of cost saving, after all nobody likes to waste money.

What is code reuse?

Code reuse means the use of a piece of software in multiple applications. If developers were to replicate some existing applications such as Facebook, it’ll take them less time than it took the original developers because most of the functionalities they require can be found in some open-source repositories. The role that code reuse plays in software development is so huge, it has helped companies save time and money.

One of the most important techniques that software engineers employ to shorten development cycles and boost productivity is source code reuse.

Stack Overflow is One of the most well-known places for developers to look for answers to common issues. There is a saying that many developers would have lost their employment if Stack Overflow goes offline for a week, and this paradigm allows developers to reuse codes or solutions from other developers.

Imagine if everyone had to construct their Blockchain system from the start; it would take a very long time, especially during the creation of smart contacts. This is another example of how code reuse has been beneficial.

Conclusion

Not because developers lack the ability to produce code that will solve their problems, but rather because they feel there is no need to reinvent the wheel, more than 70% of developers rely on code reuse.

The majority of problems in today’s world already have a solution. Utilizing existing codes will speed up development, increase output, and reduce costs. Through this initiative, developers will be able to work together more effectively and reduce code duplication in apps.

I encourage developers to create a personal repository of small pieces of code they believe are often used by them, so that once the need to implement something similar comes, they know exactly where to get such code from. Time they say is money, the more you practice code reuse the more money you save.

About the Author:

Kenneth Nwanganga is the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) at GIGM; a Nigerian-based technologically powered transportation company that operates in many African countries. He is responsible for the company’s technical operations and plays a key role in the development and implementation of new technologies and systems to improve the company’s services and operations.

Kenneth holds a first class degree in Computing from the University of Greenwich in London and an Advanced Diploma in Software Engineering from APTECH Computer Institute in Nigeria.