\u201cI\u2019m making enough money now doing DoorDash to keep up with the bills, but for anything else in the house, this is going to help out,\u201d he said, as he waited for an employee at the B Positive plasma center in Holmes, Pennsylvania, to insert a thick needle into his arm. <\/p>\n
About an hour later, the employee came back to collect a container of his straw-colored plasma that would be tested, frozen and turned into medicines sold for a profit to patients around the world. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a scene repeated by an estimated 200,000 people a day across the country as part of a multibillion-dollar business fueled by a growing number of Americans willing to trade their blood for money in an economy where many have seen their job prospects weaken<\/a>, costs rise and savings dwindle<\/a>. Despite data that shows a relatively stable economy, middle-class Americans say they have had to start selling their plasma over the past year to cover basic expenses, from medical bills to a winter coat for their child. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m angry that I\u2019m working this much, that I\u2019m educated, that I\u2019m articulate, that I have marketable skills, and that I\u2019m reduced to selling my plasma,\u201d said Jill Chamberlain, in Phoenix, who has gone from making $87,000 a year to $16.11 an hour after being laid off from her job overseeing the finances of a local business in 2024. \u201cI was ashamed at first, but now I\u2019m angry. This is not how things are supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you have a story to share about how you\u2019re getting by in this economy? <\/strong><\/em>Email reporter Shannon Pettypiece<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Last year, people in the U.S. made an estimated $4.7 billion selling about 62.5 million liters of their plasma, a more than 30% increase in the amount of plasma collected since 2022, according to Peter Jaworski<\/a>, a professor at Georgetown University who studies the ethics and economics of the plasma business. <\/p>\n The transactions occur in more than 1,200 plasma centers \u2014 there are now more places to sell plasma than there are Costco stores \u2014 and more are popping up in solidly middle-class neighborhoods, including suburban strip malls and college towns, Jaworski said. As America\u2019s economic divide widens, with the top 1% of households owning more than 30% of the country\u2019s wealth<\/a>, the payments people receive for selling plasma are playing a quiet role in keeping households above water financially. <\/p>\n![\"that](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-02\/260211-jill-chamberlain-plasma-mn-1140-4005d7.jpg\")