18 Profitable Jobs for Teens: Make Money this Summer!

My teenage nephew texted me the other day and asked for summer job ideas. I explained that he could make more money working for himself then working for someone else. And a bonus is that he would have more flexibility.

I also explained that the best type of jobs are reoccurring. Examples of reoccurring jobs are house cleaning, lawn cutting, and window washing, because once a customer is acquired, they keep paying beyond the first payment.

For example, if you make $100 cleaning a house each week it’s $400/month and $5,200/year – for one house!

Here are some examples of side hustles for teens:

1. Trash cans – pulling peoples trash cans out to the curb before pick up and bringing them back to their house after. Pay: $2-4/house/week.
2. Trash can cleaning – disinfecting trash cans – $10/can/cleaning – could be done in conjunction with #1. Would require a pressure washer and detergent.
3. Window cleaning – $14 per window and $20 per glass doors. Likely only 1 to 2 cleaning per year but may be more frequent. Weekly cleaning for business is a better business model. Low overhead and relatively safe.
4. Pool maintenance – you would need some gear and knowledge base but I’ve heard it a good business. Mostly summer season.
5. House cleaning – average $150-500 per cleaning depending on size of the house. A few houses could be a good income. You would need to purchase cleaning gear but its a relatively low cost for materials after that.
6. Landscaping – This takes some skill and a good eye for outdoor esthetics, a truck and a lot of hard work but the pay is very good.
7. Dog walking – Some people do this for a full time job. You just have to find the clients.
8. Dog mess cleaning – this would be a good business because no one wants to do it, it’s reoccurring, no skill needed and almost no overhead.
9. Painting house numbers on curb. – This is not reoccurring but could be an easy way to make some extra money. You would need some number stencils, masking tape and spray paint.
10. Trash picking and reselling. This only works if you have houses in high income neighborhoods and you take things out of the trash that you can sell on Facebook marketplace or another similar app.
11. Flipping items – Another term for this is retail arbitrage. Essentially, its finding items at discount stores, garage sales, thrift shops or even Walmart, Costco, Sam’s, Marshals, TJ Maxx, Home Goods, etc. and selling them online, on eBay or Amazon. Some people make over $100,000 a year doing this as a job.
12. Power washing houses – May be more for the spring season. You would need a vehicle and a pressure washer.
13. Clearing out garages and houses of junk. You would need a trailer or dump truck or maybe a dumpster in some cases. Also safety gear like a mask and gloves. For this job, you clear out junk from houses that have been recently purchased for rehab. You can also pick through the items and keep the valuable items to sell them online. See #11
    You could get connected with some house flippers in your area and offer your services.
14. Post construction cleaning – if you can get connected with a builder and offer your services.
15. Couch flipping – look on Facebook market place and find cheep or free couches. Clean them up and repost them for a profit. I’ve heard that this is a great way to make money. You would need a place to store in between and maybe some help moving them.
16. Buying candy, soda or water and selling at a profit. Location is important. Or consider purchasing some vending machines, offering a laundromat or store to provide your machines for free to serve their customers. Then restock them on a regular basis with supplies from Costco or Sam’s Club.
17. Flipping cars.
    Get a dealer license (I believe they are about $400). Then go to auto auctions. Buy cars at a discounted price, clean them up and resell them for $1000 more then you purchased them.
18. Auto detailing – on-site. While people are at work, you can detail their cars in the work parking lot or at their home. You may need a generator or power source, vac and some cleaning supplies. If also washing, you would need water.

This list is getting long so we’ll stop there. But if you can think of any other good side hustles for teens or you’ve found success with any of these ideas, please post them in the comments!