Best Side Hustles for Teens (2026): 18 Ways to Make Real Money

If you are a teenager looking to make money, most guides tell you to mow lawns and babysit. That is not wrong but it is not 2005 anymore. The internet has created income opportunities that did not exist a decade ago, and many are perfect for teenagers with limited hours, no car, and zero startup capital.

The teen side hustle landscape in 2026 is nothing like your parents experience. You can earn $50 to $500+/month from your phone or laptop, build skills that serve your career for decades, and start businesses that grow beyond pocket money territory.

This guide focuses on hustles that work for teens aged 13 to 17, including age requirements, realistic earnings, and how to start with zero experience.

First: This Is Important

Hey, my name is Mark.

Side hustles are great for learning how money works. But the most valuable thing you can build as a teen is not savings. It is a skill that compounds over time.

The model I use builds digital assets generating $500 to $1,200/month each. I wish I had discovered this approach as a teenager. Starting early gives you a decade-long head start over most adults.

Go here to see the exact system I use to do this

Online Side Hustles (Work From Your Room)

1. Freelancing on Fiverr

Minimum age: 13 with parental permission Earning potential: $50 to $500+/month

Create gigs offering services you can deliver digitally: graphic design, video editing, social media content, writing, logo design, data entry. Fiverr is ideal because buyers come to you. If you can do anything creative on a computer, even basic Canva design, you can earn.

Start by creating 2 to 3 gigs, price first ones low ($5 to $15) to build reviews, then raise prices. See how to make money on Fiverr.

2. Social Media Management for Local Businesses

Minimum age: No formal requirement Earning potential: $100 to $500+/month per client

Manage Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook for local businesses. Restaurants, salons, gyms, and small shops need this but cannot afford agencies. You understand social platforms better than most business owners. That is your advantage.

Build a sample portfolio with mock posts for local businesses, then approach them with your samples. One client is all you need to start. See how to make money as a social media manager.

3. YouTube and TikTok Content Creation

Minimum age: 13 (parental consent for under 18) Earning potential: $0 to $2,000+/month

Create video content in a niche you care about: gaming, study tips, DIY, fashion, sports, cooking, tech reviews. Not a fast money strategy since it takes months of consistent posting. But the skills you develop (video editing, storytelling, audience building) are extraordinarily valuable.

YouTube pays through AdSense after 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. TikTok pays through Creator Fund. Both enable sponsorships and affiliate marketing as audience grows. See how to make money on YouTube and how to make money on TikTok.

4. Online Tutoring

Minimum age: Varies by platform (some 18+, informal works for younger teens) Earning potential: $15 to $40/hour

Help younger students with subjects you excel in. Parents pay well for reliable tutoring. Advertise through school boards, neighbourhood Facebook groups, and Nextdoor. Platforms like Wyzant serve 18+ tutors, so younger teens should focus on local networks.

5. Selling Digital Products on Etsy

Minimum age: 13 with parental account Earning potential: $50 to $500+/month

Create and sell downloadable products: printable planners, study guides, digital art, phone wallpapers, Notion templates. Digital products cost nothing to reproduce after creation. A single template taking 2 hours to create can sell hundreds of times. See how to make money on Etsy and best digital products to sell online.

6. Print on Demand

Minimum age: Redbubble 16+, Merch by Amazon 18+, Etsy with Printify 13+ via parental account Earning potential: $25 to $500+/month

Design t-shirts, hoodies, phone cases, stickers. Upload designs. When someone buys, the platform prints and ships. Create designs targeting teen interests: school spirit, gaming, sports, memes, niche humour. See how to make money with print on demand.

7. Selling Items You Do Not Need

Minimum age: No requirement (parental help for shipping/payment) Earning potential: $50 to $500 one-time or recurring if sourcing

Sell unused clothing, shoes, electronics, video games, books, collectibles on Depop, Poshmark, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Mercari. Fastest path to first income. Many teens transition from selling own items to thrift flipping. See how to make money on Depop and how to make money on Poshmark.

8. Online Surveys (Supplementary Only)

Minimum age: 13+ for most platforms Earning potential: $20 to $100/month

Complete surveys, watch videos, play games for points redeemable for cash or gift cards. Expect $1 to $5 per survey, $5 to $15/hour at best. Flexible but low-paying. Use as pocket money supplement alongside a primary method, not as your strategy. See best survey sites for teens.

Offline Side Hustles

9. Lawn Care and Yard Work

Earning potential: $20 to $50 per yard

Mow lawns, rake leaves, pull weeds, shovel snow. Do 3 yards on a Saturday and earn $60 to $150 in hours. Zero startup cost if using the homeowner’s equipment.

10. Pet Sitting and Dog Walking

Earning potential: $15 to $30 per walk, $25 to $75 per overnight sit

Rover and Wag require 18+ but direct neighbourhood clients work for younger teens. Post on Nextdoor and neighbourhood Facebook groups. Holiday weekends and summer vacations are especially lucrative.

11. Babysitting

Minimum age: Typically 12+ Earning potential: $12 to $25/hour

Average rates: $12 to $20/hour for one child, $15 to $25 for multiples. A 4-hour evening gig earns $48 to $100. Red Cross babysitting certification ($35) justifies higher rates.

12. Car Washing and Detailing

Earning potential: $20 to $50 per exterior, $75 to $150 for full detail

Basic supplies cost under $30. Exterior wash: 30 to 45 minutes. Full detail: 2 to 3 hours at premium pricing. Advertise through neighbourhood social media.

13. In-Person Tutoring

Earning potential: $15 to $30/hour

In-person tutoring commands higher rates than online because parents value accountability and face-to-face focus. If you got an A in a subject, you can tutor students taking that class.

Skill-Building Hustles (Lower Pay Now, Higher Value Later)

14. Learning to Code

Earning potential: $0 initially, $20 to $100+/hour within 6 to 12 months

Learn web development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) or Python through free resources (freeCodeCamp, The Odin Project, CS50). Then freelance on Fiverr or build sites for local businesses.

This is the highest-ROI teen side hustle. The skill takes months but creates a foundation worth $50,000 to $150,000+/year as a career. Starting at 15 means competence by 17, years ahead of peers entering college CS programs.

The learning path: spend 30 to 60 minutes daily on freeCodeCamp for 3 months. Build 3 small projects (a personal website, a to-do app, a simple game). Put those projects on GitHub. Create a Fiverr gig offering basic website creation. Your first client might pay $50 to $100 for a simple site. But within a year you could be charging $500 to $2,000 per project.

See how to make money coding.

15. Photography

Earning potential: $50 to $300 per session

Photograph events, portraits, products, or social media content. A smartphone with a good camera is sufficient to start. Offer senior portraits to classmates ($50 to $150), product photos for local businesses ($25 to $75).

Photography is more accessible than ever in 2026. Modern smartphone cameras produce professional-quality images. The difference between amateur and professional photos is not the camera. It is understanding lighting, composition, and editing. Spend a weekend watching YouTube photography tutorials, practice on friends, and you are ready to offer paid sessions. Instagram serves as both portfolio and marketing channel.

16. Video Editing

Earning potential: $15 to $50/hour

Edit YouTube videos, TikTok content, podcast episodes. DaVinci Resolve is free and professional-grade. Many YouTubers desperately need editors and will pay $25 to $100+ per video.

The demand for video editors is enormous and growing. Every YouTube creator with 10,000+ subscribers who posts weekly needs editing help. Most cannot afford professional editors at $100/hour but will happily pay a skilled teenager $25 to $50/hour. Find potential clients by commenting helpfully on mid-sized YouTube channels in niches you enjoy, then offer your editing services via DM.

See how to make money as a video editor.

17. Starting a Blog

Earning potential: $0 for months, $100 to $1,000+/month long-term

Build a website about a topic you know, create content, attract search traffic, earn through ads and affiliates. Slowest to generate income but highest long-term ceiling. A blog started at 15 could earn $500+/month by 17 and $2,000+/month by 19, all from content you wrote years ago.

The teenage advantage: you have time. Adults starting blogs need income quickly. You can afford to build slowly and correctly, publishing quality content twice per week for 2 years without the pressure of needing immediate returns. That patience creates a substantial asset by the time you graduate high school.

See how to make money blogging.

18. Reselling (Thrift Flipping)

Earning potential: $100 to $1,000+/month

Buy underpriced items at thrift stores, garage sales, clearance racks. Resell on eBay, Poshmark, Depop, Facebook Marketplace at market price. Teaches market economics in real-time. Start with clothing and shoes since those are easiest for teens to evaluate. Popular brands like Nike, Lululemon, Patagonia consistently resell at healthy margins.

The learning curve is in recognising value. Spend a week browsing sold listings on eBay and Poshmark to learn what brands and items sell for. Then visit your local thrift store with that knowledge. A pair of Nike Dunks bought for $8 at Goodwill and sold for $60 on eBay is a $52 profit from 30 minutes of work. Scale that by visiting thrift stores twice weekly and you can build consistent income surprisingly fast.

Side Hustles to Avoid as a Teenager

Anything requiring upfront payment. Legitimate side hustles do not charge you to start. If someone asks you to pay $97 to $497 to “unlock” an income system, it is a scam. Walk away. Every method in this guide is free to start.

MLM and network marketing. Some companies target teenagers through social media with promises of easy money selling products and recruiting friends. The business model is designed so that the vast majority of participants lose money. If someone asks you to “join their team” or buy a starter kit, that is a red flag.

Get-rich-quick schemes on TikTok. You will see people claiming to make $10,000/month with zero effort through dropshipping, forex trading, or crypto bots. These videos are designed to sell you courses, not teach you real skills. The people making money from those methods are selling the courses about those methods. That tells you everything.

Anything that feels unsafe. If an online gig requires you to share personal information, meet strangers alone, or do anything that makes you uncomfortable, trust that instinct. Always tell a parent about any new side hustle arrangement, especially those involving meeting clients in person.

How to Get Your First $50 as a Teenager

Here is a concrete plan for earning your first $50 this week.

Day 1: Go through your closet and drawers. Find 5 to 10 items you no longer wear or use. Take clear, well-lit photos. List them on Depop, Poshmark, or Facebook Marketplace. Price 10 percent below comparable listings for fast sales.

Day 2: Tell 5 neighbours you are available for yard work, pet sitting, car washing, or errands this weekend. Post in your neighbourhood Facebook group or on Nextdoor (parents can post on your behalf).

Day 3: Create a Fiverr account (with parental permission). Set up one gig offering something you can do today, whether that is basic Canva design, data entry, writing, or video editing. Price your first gig at $5 to $10 to attract an initial buyer.

Day 4 to 7: Follow up on your listings and neighbourhood outreach. Complete your first paid task. You now have income and proof that you can earn independently.

That first $50 matters more than it sounds. It proves the concept. It shows you that your time and skills have monetary value. And it builds the confidence to push toward $100, $500, and beyond.

Side Hustle Comparison Table for Teens

Side Hustle	Min Age	Startup Cost	Weekly Potential	Skill Value
Fiverr freelancing	13	$0	$25 to $200+	Very high
Social media mgmt	Any	$0	$50 to $200	Very high
YouTube/TikTok	13	$0	$0 to $500+	Very high
Online tutoring	Varies	$0	$30 to $200	High
Etsy digital products	13	$0 to $5	$25 to $200	High
Print on demand	16+	$0	$10 to $150	Medium
Selling own items	Any	$0	$25 to $150	Medium
Surveys	13+	$0	$5 to $25	Low
Lawn care	Any	$0 to $30	$60 to $200	Low
Pet sitting	Any	$0	$50 to $200	Low
Babysitting	12+	$0 to $35	$48 to $200	Medium
Learning to code	Any	$0	$0 initially	Extremely high
Photography	Any	$0	$50 to $300+	High
Video editing	Any	$0	$30 to $200	Very high
Blogging	Any	$0 to $100	$0 initially	Very high
Reselling	Any	$20 to $50	$50 to $400+	High

Legal Stuff Teens Need to Know

Age restrictions: Most platforms require 13+ or 18+. Under 18, you often need a parental account or consent.

Taxes: If you earn more than $400/year from self-employment, you must file a tax return. This applies even at 14. Keep basic records.

Work permits: Some states require permits under 16 or 18 for formal employment. Most side hustles (freelancing, selling online, neighbourhood services) do not fall under formal employment laws, but check your state.

Payment: Under 18, you may need a parent PayPal account or teen checking account to receive payments.

Frequently Asked Questions

Best side hustle for a 13 year old? Neighbourhood services (lawn care, babysitting, pet sitting, car washing) and Fiverr gigs.

Can I make $1,000/month as a teen? Yes with consistent effort across 1 to 2 methods over several months. Social media management, reselling, freelancing, or content creation can all reach this.

What looks good on college applications? Starting a business, content creation, freelancing, tutoring, and coding projects all demonstrate initiative and real-world skills.

Should I focus on money or skill building? Skill building. The money you earn as a teen is small compared to future earnings. But skills like coding, design, writing, and marketing compound over your entire career.

The Bottom Line

The best teen side hustle teaches you skills while earning money. Surveys pay cash but teach nothing. Building a Fiverr business, managing social media, learning to code, or starting YouTube all develop capabilities worth far more than immediate income.

Start with one hustle. Master it. Then add a second. The teens earning $500 to $1,000+/month are doing 1 to 2 things consistently, not 10 things badly.

For digital assets generating $500 to $1,200/month each in recurring revenue, here is how the system works. For more teen money guides, see how to make money as a teenager.