About 9 million Americans held more than one job in September, representing 5.5% of everyone employed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than half of multiple jobholders combine a full-time primary job with part-time work. That figure counts people already working multiple jobs, not those considering one. For workers weighing the option, the central question is what an extra paycheck needs to accomplish—and what the work will cost in time, expenses and recovery.

Why workers take on a second job

A second job is paid work alongside a primary job. People may take one to manage higher prices or housing costs, pay down debt, build savings or reduce their reliance on a single employer. The BLS defines a multiple jobholder as someone who held at least two jobs during the survey week, with at least one paying a wage or salary. Someone running two businesses of their own is excluded. Freelance or gig work may also fall outside the count.

Informal terms such as polyworking and income stacking describe combining income sources. The September total rose modestly from 8.8 million, or 5.4%, a year earlier. Meanwhile, 17% of adults told the Federal Reserve they had worked more or taken another job because of higher prices.

Five reasons people consider extra work

1. Rising living costs

When prices rise, a steady paycheck can buy less. In the Federal Reserve’s 2025 survey of household finances, conducted in October 2025, 58% of adults said price changes had worsened their financial situation. That was down from 60% in 2024 and 65% in 2023, but still a majority. The survey also found that 17% worked more or took another job in response to higher prices, one percentage point below 2024. The measure includes longer hours at an existing job, not only new jobs.

Calculate net earnings before accepting a shift. For example, a hypothetical 10-hour weekend shift at $18 an hour pays $180 before taxes. After $25 for commuting and parking and $40 for extra childcare, $115 remains before taxes—or $11.50 per hour worked, without accounting for travel time.

2. Housing costs

Housing is often a household’s largest fixed expense. Nearly half of renter households were cost burdened in 2024, spending more than 30% of their income on housing, according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. The center also identifies rising property taxes, insurance costs and mortgage rates as pressures on homeowners.

A part-time job may start within weeks, while moving, refinancing or finding a roommate takes time. Extra work can therefore serve as a bridge through a temporary housing squeeze, such as a rent increase before a lease ends or the period between a move and a raise. If the budget depends on two jobs indefinitely, consider whether the schedule is sustainable during the primary job’s busiest season and continue addressing the housing expense itself.

3. Debt payments

Credit card balances increased by $21 billion to $1.26 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. A 6.97% share of card balances moved into serious delinquency, slightly higher than a year earlier.

Give extra earnings a specific purpose, such as paying down one balance, to create a clear endpoint. Also plan for taxes. The IRS says a second job or side business can change how much tax you owe and advises people with multiple jobs to review withholding. Self-employment income may require estimated tax payments.

4. Emergency savings

In 2025, 55% of adults had saved enough to cover three months of expenses, unchanged from the year before, according to the Federal Reserve. In the same survey, 63% said they would pay for a hypothetical $400 expense with cash or its equivalent. Set a savings target, calculate the shortfall and divide it by the extra work’s net earnings to estimate how long the job may be needed.

5. Job security concerns

Layoffs, restructuring and automation can prompt workers to question whether their primary role will last. Early-career workers are also watching AI reshape tasks that used to define their roles. A second job may reduce dependence on one employer and create new professional relationships, but it offers less diversification if both jobs are in the same industry. Census Bureau research based on 2013 survey data found that 73.8% of men and about 66% of women with multiple jobs worked in the same industry in both.

Where second jobs are common

A Census Bureau analysis published in 2021, using data through early 2018, found that health care and social assistance accounted for 16.8% of second jobs. Accommodation and food services represented 16.7%, retail 14.5% and administrative and support services 10.8%. These are shares of all second jobs, not the percentage of workers in each industry who held two jobs.

In 2025 BLS annual averages for multiple jobholders, the rate was 5.7% among workers ages 25 to 54, 5.9% among women and 4.9% among men. Black workers had the highest rate among the racial and ethnic groups shown, at 6.6%. These group rates describe patterns, not the reasons an individual holds multiple jobs.

Potential career benefits—and the trade-offs

Depending on the work, a second job can provide paid practice in a skill your main role does not use, test whether another industry suits you, build portfolio work or create a record to show future employers. It may expand your professional contacts, offer firsthand knowledge of what clients will pay for, or make room for an interest your main career does not accommodate. Some workers may also gain another employer reference if their primary role ends. These benefits are not automatic: ask what a typical week involves, who you will work with and what you could show for the experience after six months.

Multiple income sources can strengthen income security, but they do not make a particular job more secure. Job security concerns whether your current position lasts; income security concerns whether your household can pay its bills if circumstances change; career security comes from skills and relationships that help you find another role. A second job may support income security and, if it teaches portable skills, career security. Keep each employer’s time and equipment separate, build transferable skills, diversify across industries where possible and maintain savings. Above all, calculate earnings after expenses and taxes, define the job’s purpose and protect the time and energy needed to perform well in your primary role.