Ask HN: What are some side hustles for Software Developers?

I made 78k as a web developer in Connecticut in 2004. You need to find another job. 70k in NYC is too low for a software developer.

People are saying you are underpaid at 70k/year in NYC, but a question that needs to be asked is - what is your level of experience?

If you are mid to senior level, yes, you're grossly underpaid. If you're entry to junior level, then I'd say you're still underpaid, but not extremely so.

Unless you're working in a tech company (excluding early stage startups) or finance (banks, hedge funds), I'd say 70k for a junior engineer isn't extremely underpaid.

FYI, I started my career a decade+ ago in NYC at 45k, but at a (big) company notorious for underpaying. Five years later I moved to a better company, but that 45k starting salary continued to hurt me and my new base salary as a 5yoe SWE was 75k - in finance at that. Meanwhile we have fresh grads starting at FAANG at well above six figures :)

But to directly answer your question, the "side hustle" that will most easily (relatively speaking) help you to increase your income is to become a Professional Leetcoder/Professional Whiteboard Technical Interviewer. I say that with no snark, and I too, am in a quest to become one.