Most Hustlers Now Juggle Multiple Side Hustles

For a growing share of American workers, one job plus one gig is no longer the shape of extra work. A survey of one thousand adults who earn side income, conducted in February 2026 by The Penny Hoarder, found that 53% would struggle to cover essential expenses without the extra money, and most respondents now run multiple side hustles to close the gap.

The typical respondent brings in $1,275 a month from side work, or roughly fifteen thousand dollars across a year. For a household earning about sixty-two thousand dollars a year, that adds roughly a quarter to annual income. Within the group, 44% report exactly two gigs, while smaller shares report three, four or more, and the money from multiple side hustles goes mostly toward bills rather than luxuries.

Covering living expenses is the top reason for hustling, cited by 29%, followed by building emergency savings at 21% and paying down debt at 12%. Household expenses can run upwards of eighty-five thousand dollars a year, according to the survey's companion research, while median earnings for full-time salaried workers sit well below that expense figure. Three in four respondents say rising costs increased their reliance on side income over the past year.

Transportation and delivery ties creative services as the most common type of side work, with online selling close behind. The mix explains why the extra hours look so different from person to person for workers running multiple side hustles: a delivery shift after dinner, a design project on weekends, or a small storefront run from a kitchen table.

The hours add up, and so does the strain

Respondents average 13 extra hours a week on side work, which totals 676 hours across a year, or seventeen extra full work weeks. That is time stacked on top of a full-time job for people running multiple side hustles, and it leaves little room for rest or for anything unexpected.

The strain shows up in the same survey: 65% say they feel burned out at least sometimes, while only one in ten say they never do. Fewer than half describe themselves as financially secure, and a separate question found 58% of working adults live paycheck to paycheck. The extra income helps, but it does not remove the pressure that made it necessary.

A backup plan that refuses to quit

For many hustlers, the second income doubles as insurance. The survey found 62% treat a side hustle as protection against job loss, and 40% say they would keep it even if their main employer offered a 20% raise. The same research found only 37% of working adults keep a dedicated emergency fund, which helps explain why the backup plan stays in place.

Asked about the future, 42% plan to keep hustling long term and 47% expect to quit eventually. Flexibility leads the wish list, with 73% calling a flexible schedule the most important feature of a side gig, ahead of high earning potential at 39%. The pattern points to workers running multiple side hustles who want control over when they work, even when the work itself is tiring.

The wider picture looks similar

Other surveys point in the same direction, even when their headline numbers differ. Bankrate's mid-2025 survey found 27% of adults currently hold a side hustle, with a typical haul of about $200 a month, and Gen Z the most likely generation to hustle at 34%. Bankrate's typical monthly haul sits well below the Penny Hoarder median, a gap the two surveys' different samples help explain, and both agree the practice is now ordinary rather than rare.

Federal data points the same way: 8.6 million Americans hold multiple jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures cited in the survey. The count covers only people whose second job pays a wage from an employer, so sellers and freelancers fall outside it entirely, and the true total is higher.

Taxes add a wrinkle that catches many hustlers off guard. One in five respondents say they have not set aside money for what they owe or are unsure what they owe, while 43% set money aside and pay at filing. Side income usually arrives without withholding, so the tax bill lands all at once, and multiple side hustles can mean several income streams to track.

The survey ran on the Pollfish platform and weighted responses by age, gender, region, and income to better reflect the adult population. For now, income from multiple side hustles is doing the work a raise used to do, covering rent and groceries one extra shift at a time.

Sources: Money Talks News, reporting on The Penny Hoarder survey. The Bankrate survey is cited by name in the article.