Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly said, "With his sophomore effort, the rhymester confidently wraps his unhurried drawl around the hugest, most sparkling synths that exec producer P. Diddy’s riches can buy. Yung though he is, Joc just may be a credible rival to T.I. as the reigning king of ATL swagger. AllMusic editor David Jeffries called it a "big improvement" over New Joc City, praising the T.I.-less looser vibe throughout the album's track listing, calling Hustlenomics "a step in the right direction for Joc, but more importantly to the listener, it's always entertaining and quite impressive in parts." DJBooth's Nathan Slavik gave praise to tracks like "Hell Yeah" and "Brand New" for having the kind of "feel good vibes" that work best for Joc than being on either side of "straight hardcore" or "family-friendly". He later called Hustlenomics "a decent album that tries so hard to please everyone it loses its own identity. If Joc and Bad Boy are hustlers selling hip-hop, what does that make anyone who buys his album? I'm not hating, I just can’t shake the feeling I'm being hustled." PopMatters contributor Josh Timmermann felt that Joc was a "marginally talented, deeply generic rapper" throughout the record and gave credit to the various producers and featured artists for elevating the material, saying "f this album proves nothing else, it’s that the formula still works: hire A-list producers and guest rappers, and you're all but guaranteed a passable hip-hop record." Despite commending the production overall, Andres Tardio of HipHopDX said, "On an album full of bewildering lines, no special dances and no real draw in general, Joc is left without much to dance on. Even if he does "walk it out the bank," we are still grading a rap album and Hustlenomics is a class that should be missed." Rolling Stones Christian Hoard was critical of the album, saying that Joc's "slack diction, mild drawl and unremarkable rhymes about drug-slinging and his own greatness" resembled that of a poor interpretation of the Game, concluding that it's "less a treatise than a collection of lame get-rich anthems. It will probably earn Joc another gold chain or six, but it feels pretty generic."
Commercial performance
Hustlenomics sold 70,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200. As of April 2009, it has sold approximately 200,000 copies according to Nielsen Soundscan.
