17 Highest Paid Side Hustles of 2024

If you had the chance, wouldn’t you want to make an extra $2000 monthly? Do you feel like you can fasttrack the achievement of your financial goals with a side hustle? You’re not alone.

According to a Zapier study, 61.1 million Americans feel the same way. This article will show you 17 of the highest paid side hustles you can do part-time in 2023.

The 17 Best side hustles of 2024

1. Become a Virtual Assistant

Being a virtual assistant is an easy side hustle that doesn’t require much experience. All you need is a basic set of skills that you can pick up quickly.

According to Payscale, the average hourly wage for virtual assistants is $15.72. If you don’t have much relevant experience, your starting hourly wage will most likely be low (about $10 or less hourly). However, once you’ve specialized and created a brand online, you might be making up to $35 per hour. The average US virtual assistant makes $67,115 per year.

First you’ll need to identify your proficiencies. For example, if you have strong editorial skills, then you could offer services such as transcriptions, email writing etc. You’ll have to search for clients on job boards, build a portfolio of client reviews and keep honing your skills.

2. Become a freelance writer

Freelance writing is one of the most popular side hustles for single moms. Aside from being versatile and lucrative, it can be pretty fun. Without paying any money, you can start your own freelance writing business delivering web content for others.

Many people are attracted to freelance writing because it offers a high degree of flexibility and profitability. In 2022, the average freelance writer in the US makes $63,213 per year. However before starting this seemingly easy side hustle, there are certain steps you need to take:

A. Pick your niche.

Choosing a niche allows you to show expertise and attract higher paying clients. Check out these 5 questions to find your freelance niche.

B. Learn how to write.

When writing for the web, it’s less about wordsmithing to satisfy your readers’ literary desires.

It’s about attracting attention and competing in the fast-paced world of digital media distractions. Successful freelance writers have a thorough understanding of SEO writing and content planning.

C. Build your portfolio.

Clients and agencies will want to see samples of your work before they engage you. Create an eye-catching website for yourself and make it easier for people to find you.

D. Pitch for projects.

Now you are ready to dive in and seek out freelance clients. These would usually be publications, blogs and companies that need to create marketing or sales enablement content. If you’re just starting out, freelance marketplaces like UpWork and Fiverr will help you connect with clients and land gigs. Here are some other alternatives for freelance writers.

3. Start a Blogging Business

Blogging is one of the most lucrative side hustles from home. Some bloggers have been able to turn their blogs into full time passive income sources. Millennial Money reports that after just 2 years of building traffic and subscribers, bloggers can earn upwards of $100,000 per year.

You get to work from anywhere and set your own work hours. However, starting a blog does require some patience as it may take up to 6 months before you earn anything from your blog.

To make money from your blog, you’ll need to grow an audience. That implies:

Choosing a profitable and popular niche.

To make money, you have to create content about things people are interested in. At the same time, you want to choose a niche with products or services that people are paying for. You may be well suited to write a blog about a specific field if you have experience, connections, or background in it.

Creating quality content.

For your blog, you’ll need to create a content strategy that’ll not only cover consistent content creation but also content promotion.

You’re going to create more written content. You should consider supplementing these with videos, infographics, podcasts, guest posts and other content formats. You should ideally have a solid understanding of SEO. Remember, the goal is building an audience.

Monetize your blog.

You earn money from your blog through affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, display ads, and selling digital or physical products. Affiliate marketing is the most common blog monetization strategy used by almost all top earning bloggers. Popular affiliate marketing programs you can join include CJ Affiliate, Amazon affiliates, and ShareASale.

4. Teach English Online

There are over a billion people learning English worldwide. Companies like Cambly, VIPKID, and iTutor cater to this need and are consistently in search of qualified English teachers.

In many of these English teaching marketplaces, teachers set their own hours and their hourly rates, which range from $5-$80 per hour. An Online English Teacher in the US makes on average $41,182 per year.

Most of these companies require the following;

• A Bachelor’s Degree (for English as a second language or English as a foreign language)
• Any of the following professional teaching certifications.
  • TESOL – Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
  • TEFL – Teaching English as a Foreign Language
  • TESL – Teaching English as a Second Language

If you’re already a certified teacher with classroom experience, online teaching can be a terrific opportunity to keep doing what you love while earning money in your spare time.

5. Recycle old gadgets

In the last 5 years, global e-waste increased by 21%. Yet most of your unused and discarded tech devices can be recycled. You can make money off your unused electronic gadgets by trading them for gift cards or cash through BestBuy, Gizmogo, Decluttr or Gazelle.

If you have a truck plus a few hired hands, you can even charge a small amount to help people dispose of their scrap TVs and electronics.

6. Start real estate investing

Historically, real estate investing has been one of the most reliable investments. Purchase a home, rent it out, and accumulate wealth. However, conventional buy and hold real estate investing requires significant time and financial commitment. Fortunately, you can begin investing in real estate modestly in a number of ways to begin a side hustle.

Investing through a real estate crowdfunding platform.

The popularity of real estate crowdfunding has grown as new platforms have emerged in recent years. While some are exclusively available to authorized investors, others are open to anybody and require only a few hundred dollars as a minimum commitment.

Buying shares of a real estate investment trust (REIT).

One of the simplest and least expensive methods to start a real estate side hustle is to invest in a REIT. Simply create a brokerage account and purchase a REIT share (which often costs less than $100).

House flipping.

Flipping is a good way to learn the ropes about real estate investing. You buy a property that needs work, renovate it, and then list it on the market.

It sounds simple but there are pros and cons to flipping houses. While you can make a lot of money quickly, you could spend too much money on rehabs if you don’t do enough due diligence. It could also take more time than expected to flip a house.

To save money, an investor could buy a modest condo, or single-family house that requires work and handle some or all of the work themselves on weekends. You can borrow money from friends and family to start your house flipping venture.

Wholesaling.

In wholesaling, an intermediary enters into a contract for a home, then finds a buyer for the property at a slightly higher price. Wholesaling real estate is one of the best side hustles for real estate agents who already have access to the MLS and know how to find off-market properties.

It applies the concept of retail wholesaling to real estate, where a middleman buys a product from the manufacturer at wholesale price and then sells to a retailer.

7. Rent out your spare room on AirBnB

If you have an extra bedroom in your home, renting it out on Airbnb might be a great way to supplement your income.

However, make sure you know your county and city rules regarding AirBnBs. You’ll also want to make sure the room is furnished adequately. You can earn a decent sum of money by renting out the room, depending on your location and other facilities in your property.

8. Become a Travel Agent

Working from home as a travel agent may be an option for you if you have experience in the travel industry or are willing to undergo training. A travel agent helps people plan their vacations and travels.

They either work for a travel agency or as self employed travel agents. If working for an agency, a travel agent receives salary plus commissions depending on how much new business they bring in.

Independent travel agents make money primarily by earning commissions or charging certain fees for planning services.

9. Make money mowing lawns

This is perhaps one of the oldest and most straightforward side hustles available. Now, mowing lawns for a living requires some effort, but finding clients and getting paid is simple.

You will likely have to spend a small amount on equipment and materials to start your business, unless you already have them. You’ll also need to spend money on marketing items like flyers, ads, and business cards. To transport your equipment to and from your various job sites, you will also need a pickup truck.

10. Create an online course

One of the most effective strategies to generate passive side income is to create online courses. You don’t need to be an expert to create an online course, but you should know more than most people about the subject.

The courses range from beginner guitar training to using specific software, and many people make thousands of dollars every month from these. There are intuitive platforms like Teachable, Udemy and SKillshare that make it easy to create and sell your course online.

11. Become a book coach

As a side hustle, book coaches can provide a wealth of services, from correcting spelling errors to marketing. And while there are plenty of book coaches offering these services, it is up to the writer to determine exactly what they need.

Authors work with book coaches to plan their book, get the words out of their heads onto the page; revise and polish their work; and determine which publishing avenue is best for them. If writing and reading are two of your favorite passions, this will be an easy side job for you.

12. Build an API as a service

You can build an API and charge for its use. For software engineers, programmers, and creators, this is a passive side hustle. Almost every day, businesses make data-driven decisions, and they will gladly pay for anything that adds value/increases profits.

APIs are a terrific way to provide different businesses access to data, so why not build one and charge for its use? You could make a web scraper that collects pertinent data and then a Rest/GraphQL-based API that sits on top of that and gives access to it.

13. Create an Ebook

The advantage of e-books is that they can be written fast, and if you choose a topic that you’re enthusiastic about, they can be a lot of fun to create.

You can use platforms such as Gumroad or Amazon Kindle to host your e-book and handle selling it. However, don’t expect the big bucks. Just 5,000 – less than 3% – of 200,000 authors selling ebooks on Amazon consistently earn $10,000 or more.

Also, ebook writing isn’t entirely passive. You’ll need to do a lot more than just produce a  book in Microsoft Word. You’ll have to write, edit, design a cover, study different sales channels, and learn how to market your book.

14. Create a YouTube channel

YouTube content creation is one of the best side hustles from home, if you are ready to invest the time and effort. All you have to do is publish valuable and enjoyable content on a regular basis. As your audience grows, so will your earnings.

Youtubers can make around $18 for every 1,000 ad views, which equates to $3 to $5 per 1000 video views. Depending on their chosen monetization strategies, YouTubers with at least 1 million subscribers earn about $60,000 a year on average. You can also sell products through your channel, do influencer marketing or create sponsored videos.

In order to monetize your YouTube channel, you must be accepted into the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) as well as have subscribers who engage with your videos.

You can only be accepted if you meet the following criteria:

• Follow YouTube’s monetization policies.
• Live in a country where the Youtube Partner Program is available.
• Have accumulated over 4,000 hours of viewing time during the past year.
• Have over 1,000 subscribers.
• Have a Google AdSense account.
• One of the beneficial aspects of monetizing your account is that old, monetized videos can easily become a source of recurring income.

There are lots of YouTube channels for freelancers you can learn from if you decide to go this direction.

15. Run Facebook ads for businesses

There is an excellent opportunity for those who wish to supplement their income by assisting businesses with awareness creation through Facebook ads. Once you grasp the basics, running Facebook advertising is an easy side hustle that doesn’t require a lot of time or money. With a laptop and an internet connection, it can be done from anywhere.

Without giving up your day job, you can make money managing Facebook ads for local businesses.

16. Start flipping products to eBay and Amazon

Flipping products, or reselling, is a popular side hustle because anyone can do it, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money. However, unless you focus on products that are in high demand, not every item you acquire will be easy to resell.

Buying low and selling high is one of the most popular side jobs for extra money. It’s often acknowledged and promoted by social media influencers like Gary Vaynerchuk.

You can flip almost anything, including inexpensive items. Purchase products for a low price through garage sales, local store deals or from sites like AliBaba, and resell them for slightly higher prices on Amazon or eBay. This is called retail arbitrage.

17. Write neighborhood guides and listing descriptions for realtors

Excellent property descriptions can make a big difference between a property sitting on the market and being sold. When well-crafted, a listing description should present prospective buyers with enough information to motivate them to schedule a showing.

Realtors are always looking for writers who can write high quality descriptions and neighborhood guides. If you have a flair for descriptive writing, here’s a unique side hustle for you.

Ready to start hustling?

Having more money in your pocket has never hurt anyone, whether it’s for extra spending or to put into savings accounts.

However, you should look for a high paying side hustle that you’ll enjoy doing. If you don’t enjoy what you do, it’s unlikely that you’ll stick with it for long. Likewise, try a variety of things because you never know what you’ll enjoy until you try it.

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