RizonIs day trading a good side hustle? What the research says
For most people, no. In the best-known study 97% of persistent day traders lost money. The numbers, what they mean per hour, and a free way to test yourself.
Short answer: For most people, no. In the best-known study, 97% of Brazilian day traders who kept at it for 300 days or more lost money, and only 1.1% earned more than the minimum wage. In Taiwan, under 1% outperformed consistently. A side hustle pays you for your hours, and on these numbers day trading mostly charges you for them. If you still want to try, you can find out for free on paper first.
The numbers
| Study | Finding |
|---|---|
| Brazil, 19,646 starters, 2013 to 2015 | Only 7.9% lasted more than 300 sessions |
| Brazil, the 1,551 who lasted | 97% lost money; 1.1% beat the minimum wage (US$16 a day); the best made US$310 a day |
| Taiwan, about 450,000 traders a year | About 20% profit in a typical year; under 1% consistently outperform |
| Taiwan | More than 75% quit within two years |
| EU regulators on CFDs, 2018 | 74 to 89% of retail accounts lose money |
These are real accounts, net of fees and before tax. One author disputes the Brazilian paper's conclusions, but its numbers line up with what other countries show.
Compared with an actual side hustle
A side hustle has three things going for it: you get paid for your time, you can stop at any point, and the worst case is earning nothing. Day trading is different on all three.
| Typical side hustle | Day trading | |
|---|---|---|
| Worst case | You earn nothing | You lose your capital |
| Paid per hour | Yes | No: most hours earn nothing or lose |
| Needs capital | Rarely | Yes: returns scale with what you put in |
| Hours | When you choose | When the market's moving, often your day job's hours |
| Typical result | Modest income | A loss, per the table above |
"How to make $100 a day" is the wrong sum
Do the arithmetic first. Say you've got $5,000 and you want $100 a day. That's 2% a day, every day, or roughly 150 times your money over a year of trading days. Nobody compounds at that. Professional funds are pleased with far less. So anyone showing you this math as a target is selling something.
You also no longer need $25,000 to start in the US, since FINRA has replaced the old pattern day trader rule (brokers can phase it in until Oct 2027). A lower barrier doesn't change the numbers above.
What would make it reasonable
- You treat it as a hobby with a fixed budget that you can afford to lose all of.
- You've run a written rule through a few hundred trades on paper, after costs.
- You don't need the money. Needing a trade to work is a reliable way to trade badly.
Find out for free
Fifty trades on a simulator won't prove you can trade, but they can quickly show that you can't yet, for nothing. Free simulators with no sign-up cover stocks, and Rizon has Bitcoin and gold on a real order book. They're practice money: you can't earn anything on them, and that's the point. Here's how to do it properly.
FAQ
Can I make $100 a day with day trading?
Some people do, but very few do it reliably. In the Brazilian study only 1.1% of persistent traders earned over US$16 a day.
How much does the average day trader make?
On the evidence, less than nothing. The study's median persistent trader lost money after fees, and most quit.
Do 97% of day traders lose money?
That's from the Brazilian study, of those who lasted 300 days or more. It isn't a universal figure. A separate paper on Taiwan found 97% could expect to lose on any given day, which measures something different.
Is day trading better than a side job?
As a way to earn money, no: a side job pays you with near certainty. As an interest, it can be fine if you keep the budget small and accept you'll probably lose it.
Can you day trade with $100?
Mechanically, on some crypto platforms and prediction markets, yes. But returns scale with capital, and costs weigh more on small trades, so it won't produce an income. It's still enough to learn something.