As a teen, you may have some extra time that you want to use to earn some cash for your needs and wants. That’s great! Starting a gig early has several benefits for you.
Aside from earning some money, you also develop an entrepreneurial spirit, learn to prioritize, channel your creativity, build your confidence, and have a headstart in financial independence.
If you want to know how to hustle in high school, you’ve come to the right place.
Listed here is a mix of online, offline, and interesting side gigs that are perfect for teens like you. Choose the ones that you think suit your skills.
Mow Lawns
Teens who are at least 13 years old can earn up to $40 by mowing lawns. You can earn up to $200 if you can mow four lawns per day.
There’s no shortage of lawns to mow, especially if you live in an area with lots of grass. You can line up multiple jobs and even have repeat customers if you do your job well.
However, you have to rent or purchase a lawnmower in case you don’t have any at home before you can start this side hustle. You also need to know how to operate this equipment to avoid injury.
You’ll also face stiff competition since lawn mowing jobs are extremely popular.
Lawn mowing is a side hustle you should consider if you can handle regular responsibility and can take positive or negative feedback from your customers. It’s a good option if you’re detail-oriented and have the stamina and skills to handle heavy equipment.
Rake Leaves
Earn as much as $5 per bag by raking leaves. You can be as young as 13 years old to start this side hustle.
Offer your services to your neighbors or post about it on Facebook to get clients. Do a good job so you’ll get repeat customers.
It’s a good side hustle during the fall season or if you’re living in an area with lots of trees in the neighborhood.
Shovel Snow
Most people don’t want to shovel snow because it’s a cumbersome task. You can make money out of that by offering a snow shoveling service and earn between $8 and $15 per hour.
You can be as young as 13 years old and have a good snow shovel to start your own snow shoveling service.
It can be a fun task that pays well. But you have to be willing to put in some effort and time. Furthermore, it’s a seasonal business and is best suited if you’re living in an area where it snows regularly during winter.
Babysitting
You can earn between $8 and $17 an hour by offering babysitting services.
You can offer this service to your neighbors, friends, or even your parents. You may also ask them to let their colleagues know that you’re looking for babysitting work.
If you love to be around kids, then babysitting is an excellent side hustle for you. Teens who are at least 13 years old can do this job as long as they have the consent of their guardian or parent.
If you’re between 14 years old and 17 years old, you can sign up for a Care.com account so you can look for more babysitting opportunities in your local area.
Babysitting helps you improve your problem-solving skills, personal growth, and creativity. It helps boost your patience and confidence. But you also need to be responsible and know how to look after kids.
Pet Sitting
If you’re a pet lover, you can put that to good use by pet sitting. You can earn up to $35 per day.
You can look after the pets of other people while they’re at work or on vacation. You may advertise your services to people in your community or ask your parents to tell their friends that you’re looking for pet sitting work.
Whether you’re 13 years old or 18 years old, pet sitting is a good side hustle if you’re fond of taking care of pets.
House-sitting
You can watch over people’s homes and earn between $25 and $45 per day. It’s the perfect gig if you’re at least 13 years old.
You can find house-sitting jobs in your neighborhood or you can also post an ad on Craigslist.
Run Errands
You may also find people in your area who are too busy to run errands. You should consider offering errand services, such as going to the supermarket for them or picking up their dry cleaning.
If you’re at least 13 years old and you like being out and about, then offer to run errands for busy families or individuals. You can charge an hourly rate of as much as $30 an hour or a bit less when starting out.
Pool Cleaning
If you live in an area where most residents have pools, you should consider offering pool cleaning services. You can decide how much you want to charge and schedule the days when you want to work.
You can be as young as 13 years old and work as a pool cleaner in your neighborhood. You can earn as much as $15 per hour.
As always, ask for your parent’s consent first before taking on this side hustle. You also need to make sure that you know the basics of pool maintenance, such as how to get rid of debris.
At the very least, you’ll need to have your own pool cleaner, net, and skimmer, so you have the tools needed to get the job done. You can use the ones you have at home or ask your parents to buy them for you so you can get started with your side hustle.
Walk The Dog
Apart from offering pet sitting services, you may also try working as a dog walker. You’ll find many people who are too busy to walk their dog so they can hire you to do it for them, instead.
It’s a fun job for teens who are at least 13 years old and love pets. Not only that, you get to enjoy the outdoors while earning as much as $15 per dog.
Scoop Pet Poop
It’s not a glamorous job, but you can also earn cash by scooping pet poop. You have to be willing to do the dirty work if you want to take on this kind of side hustle.
You can charge between $10 and $15 per dog and per visit. You can start offering this service if you’re at least 13 years old.
You’ll find a massive customer base and you can expand your services to include dog walking and pet sitting.
Grocery Shopping Services
Many people don’t have the time or just can’t make it to the store to buy their groceries. You can earn up to $20 by offering grocery shopping services.
If you’re 18 years old, you can get shopping gigs at Instacart or Postmates. But, even if you’re as young as 13 years old, as long as you know how to shop for groceries, you can offer this service to your neighbors.
Your client will give you a shopping list. Your job is to buy all the items listed in the shops they prefer and deliver them to their home.
Work At A Grocery Store
You may also look for part-time work at a grocery store. Most supermarkets hire applicants who are at least 18 years old, but, you’ll find some grocery stores that hire teenagers as young as 14 years old. Check your local area for grocery stores that may hire you.
Some known grocery stores that are known to hire teenagers are Kroger, Publix, and Wegmans.
Work At A Fast-Food Or Restaurant
Try working at a fast-food chain or restaurant if you’re looking for a part-time gig. This side hustle is ideal for teens as young as 14 years old.
Some of the popular restaurants that hire teenagers include McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, and Subway.
Clean Houses
You may also offer to clean houses and earn up to $13 an hour. It’s a side hustle that even 13-year-old kids can do as long as they’re responsible. You may offer basic house cleaning services like sweeping, wiping surfaces, vacuuming carpets, and organizing clothes.
Deliver Newspapers
Be a teen newspaper delivery person as young as 13 years old and earn between $10 and $15 per hour. You’ll be responsible for delivering newspapers every day, every week, or twice a week.
You need to wake up early in the morning to deliver newspapers on foot or by riding a bike.
Wash Cars
Washing cars is also a good side hustle for teenagers as young as 13 years old. You can earn between $5 and $20 per car based on the service you offer.
This side hustle is great for teens who are too young to get a job at a grocery store or restaurant. Washing cars will teach you how to work hard and it’s a good form of exercise.
Run a Garage Sale
Run a garage sale if you have a lot of stuff that you no longer use, or if your parents have things that they want to get rid of.
Some of the most popular items sold at garage sales are old clothes, shoes, toys, household goods, furniture, books, and board games.
You can earn a lot of money depending on the items you sell.
Tutoring
Tutoring is one of the best and most popular side hustles for teens. You should consider this gig if you’re strong in a particular subject.
You can earn between $20 and $50 for providing after-school lessons.
It’s a flexible side hustle that allows you to earn good money by helping other kids with their schoolwork.
Sell Your Own Merchandise
If you’re good at creating designs, you may consider selling your own merchandise. You can design your own T-shirts, mugs, face masks, phone cases, throw pillow covers, and more and sell them to your friends, family, neighbors, or participate in bazaars.
You can also upload your designs online, such as on Teespring, RedBubble, and Merch by Amazon. Even if you are just 13 years old, you can earn up to $1,000 if a lot of people buy your design.
Virtual Assistance
Work as a virtual assistant and earn between $10 and $30 per hour depending on your skills. You should be at least 15 years old to do this job.
As a virtual assistant, you’ll perform various business tasks such as answering emails and phone calls, managing calendars, and performing outreach.
You can have this side gig in the comfort of your home. You can also be a freelance virtual assistant.
Blogging
Blogging is a side hustle that can give you a passive income of $30 per day per article.
If you love writing, you can start a blog and display advertising. You earn money every time your article is read thanks to the ads displayed on the page.
If your article gets 1,000 page views per month, you may earn up to $30. Imagine how much you’ll earn if you have 50 articles. You’ll have a passive income of up to $1,500 per month.
You can be as young as 14 or 15 years old to start blogging. Umair Quresh became an entrepreneur and expert blogger at the age of 15 years old.
Note, however, that earning from blogs doesn’t happen overnight. You need to create content first and build traffic to your blog, which can take a few months.
Create A YouTube Channel
You can also film and upload videos to your own YouTube channel. You can start earning by showing ads on your videos or through affiliate marketing and sponsorships.
You may earn between 25 cents and $7 if you get 1,000 views for every video you have on your YouTube channel. You have to be at least 18 years old to get an AdSense account, which allows you to monetize your videos through ads.
If you’re younger but interested in earning through YouTube, you can ask your parents or guardian to create an AdSense account for you.
Tanner Braungardt started his YouTube account when he was 16 years old. He created and posted videos about stunts, pranks, and more. Now, he has more than 4 million subscribers and earns a lot of money through his channel.
Proofreading
If you’re good in English and grammar, you may consider offering proofreading and editing services. You can check articles, novels, and reports for typos, grammatical errors, and structural problems.
If you’re 18 years old, you can check ProofreadingServices.com or Polished Paper. You can earn between $12 and $30 an hour as a proofreader or between $9 and $60 an hour as an editor.
If you’re younger but still want to try it as a side gig, you can offer your services to friends or classmates and offer similar rates.
Freelance Writer
If you’re good with words and you like writing, you can monetize this skill by becoming a freelance writer. You can start your freelance writing career at the age of 16 years old.
You can check sites like Fiverr for writing gigs. Beginners usually earn 5 cents per word, which means you can easily get $50 for a 100-word article.
Get positive reviews from clients and more experience so you can charge more for your writing services.
Complete Online Surveys
If you have a lot of free time, you can complete online surveys and earn extra cash. All you need is to have a valid email address to get started.
Survey Junkie can pay you between $5 and $18 per hour for their high-paying surveys. It accepts users who are at least 13 years old from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
Swagbucks lets you earn around $5 for taking 30-minute surveys. It accepts users as young as 13 years old as long as you have parental consent. You need to earn a minimum of $3 to cash out to PayPal or $5 to get a free gift card.
Pinecone Research has the same minimum age requirement. It offers a flat rate of $3 per survey and you can redeem your earnings through your PayPal account or a free gift card of your choice.
Play Games
Did you know that you can earn free cash just by playing games? It’s a lucrative side gig for teenagers and adults.
VeryDice and Long Game Savings let you earn gift cards for playing games. The minimum age requirement is 18 years old but there are others.
Complete Tasks On Reward Sites
Complete tasks on reward sites. There are a few ones, such as FeaturePoints, that accept users who are at least 13 years old.
You can get paid for doing tasks, such as shopping online and browsing the internet.
InstaGC, for instance, allows users who are at least 13 years old as long as they provide parental consent. You can earn between $1 and $5 for doing various online tasks, such as watching videos.
You’ll get paid through PayPal or a gift card, which you can use in various stores, such as iTunes and Amazon.
Final Thoughts
If you’re a teenager looking for ways to make money, it’s good to know that there are several side hustles for teenagers. You can try online work, such as becoming a virtual assistant, or take on traditional gigs such as babysitting or dog walking.
You can go for a side hustle if you just need to earn extra money during your free time. As you gain confidence and experience, you can set up your own small business.
You can be your own boss and earn your own money at a very young age. It’ll be a good starting point towards financial independence.
Congratulations on wanting to make money on your own! Monetize your creative hobby or put your skills to good use by starting a side hustle. Now is the best time to start working on your financial independence.
Aidan has been writing about personal finance for over 6 years. Prior to this, he worked as a Corporate Finance Analyst where he specialized in Due Diligence, Company Valuations and more. He is a CFA charterholder.
