Best Side Hustle Ideas For Students In 2024
side hustle ideas for students can be a viable way for college students to earn a little extra money or to help fund education and living expenses.
For most students, side hustle ideas for student jobs must meet two main criteria: offer flexible schedules and be readily available. Here are some ways to make money as a college student that might fit the bill.
Best Side Jobs For College Students
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Babysitting Or Babysitting
Are you responsible and good with kids? Side hustle ideas for students working as a babysitter or nanny can be a great option for you. Childcare positions can pay fairly well, especially if you have experience or credentials such as a CPR certificate.
The American Red Cross has online CPR classes for $37, and some organizations offer free classes.
Your location and the number of children you care for also affect how much money you earn. According to the caregiving website UrbanSitter, the average rate for babysitting a child in the United States is $22.68 per hour.
Plus, these gigs often bring downtime for studying while the kids sleep or are busy doing their own homework.
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Walking The Dog
If you’re a dog person, get paid to walk them in your spare time.
You can set your rate, and side hustle ideas for students but the average salary for professional dog walkers ranges from about $14 to $19 an hour, according to data from employment marketplace ZipRecruiter. Can add an hour or two of walking between classes or on weekends.
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Pet Sitting Or Housesitting
Apps like Wag and Rover can connect you with paid pet-sitting or pet-boarding gigs.
This type of side hustle ideas for students usually requires you to be available for longer hours a day than dog walking, but it can mean more money in your pocket.
Check out sites like HouseSitter.com and HouseSitters America. Staying at someone else’s house is a great side hustle ideas for students to get a much-needed break from cramped dorm rooms and annoying roommates, and you’ll get plenty of study time as a bonus. But be prepared to do light work, such as collecting mail or watering plants.
Sitters typically earn between $20 and $100 per day, depending on the field and scope of duties.
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Driving For Lyft Or Uber
Working around your class as a rideshare driver may appeal to you. First, side hustle ideas for students check if you meet the age requirements to be an Uber driver or Lyft driver in your city. Then, research the salary potential.
Many factors affect how much drivers earn, including ride length, demand, bonuses, and tips.
The average pay for Uber and Lyft drivers is about $15 to $25 an hour, according to SideHusl.com, a site that reviews side job platforms.
It’s worth mentioning that driving gigs also come with their share of expenses. You have to own a car and pay for your own gas, maintenance, and rideshare insurance, for example. Many drivers earn less than the minimum wage in their state when all is said and done.
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Delivering Food, Groceries, Or Other Items
Don’t like driving strangers around? Transporting food, groceries or packages may increase your speed.
You can sign up for a courier location through services like DoorDash, Uber Eats, Instacart, and Shipt. Delivery drivers earn an average of about $18.60 an hour, according to job listing site Indeed.
You don’t necessarily need a car though. Many companies allow you to deliver by bike or scooter, which can reduce your out-of-pocket costs.
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Shopping For Groceries
If your transportation is unreliable or constant commuting doesn’t appeal to you, try strictly grocery shopping. side hustle ideas for students You can sign up to shop instead of driving with Instacart, Amazon, or similar companies.
The role is simple: you track items in a store or warehouse to fill customers’ orders and prepare them for pickup.
Shoppers can often choose their own schedule, which fits student lifestyles, and have minimal requirements to get started. However, shoppers typically don’t earn tips.
Instacart’s in-store shoppers earn about $16 to $20 an hour, according to Glassdoor, a job review site.
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Selling Clothes, Books, Electronics And More
Earn extra cash by side hustle ideas for students by getting rid of unwanted items or using your talents. How much money you make depends on exactly what you sell and how often.
Maybe you can get $400 for an old iPhone using a website like Decluttr or Gazelle. Maybe you regularly sell prints on Etsy for $30 a pop. Or you can search local yard sales for inexpensive trinkets and resell them on eBay.
There is an online marketplace for almost anything. Try Poshmark, Facebook, and more for clothes, shoes, jewelry, or home accessories. You can also sell used textbooks at your college bookstore or on sites like AbeBooks and Amazon.
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Tutoring
You are a good student and you get good grades. Why not pay some of that? There are many subjects and ages that you can work as a teacher.
Helping other students side hustle ideas for students to improve their academic performance or preparing for tests like the ACT and SAT is also bound to feel rewarding. According to ZipRecruiter, private tutoring gigs pay around $27 an hour.
You can tutor in person or online through websites like Tutor.com and TutorMe if your application is approved.
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Acting As Resident Advisor
A resident advisor, or resident assistant, serves as a peer mentor and problem solver.
Benefits vary by school, but many RAs receive free room and board on campus, priority class registration, and a small stipend or hourly wage.
The position requires a large time commitment, but side hustle ideas for students can help you develop valuable leadership and communication skills.
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Sale Of Course Notes
Look into making some extra money as a note-taker.
You want to be sure to sell notes in a legal way, as doing so without consent may violate your university’s rules or local laws. Try contacting your school’s disability services center for approved opportunities.
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Working As a Lifeguard Or Swimming Instructor
Side hustle ideas for students As an experienced swimmer, you can find part-time work as a lifeguard or teach swimming lessons. In fact, the average wage is about $15 to $28 an hour. Ask about job opportunities at your university or community pool.
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Participation In Research Studies
Some departments on campus, such as psychology, sometimes allow students or community members to participate in paid research studies.
Universities usually post details of open or upcoming studies on their department websites, and students can usually sign up by logging in through a special portal.
You may be able to side hustle ideas for students to participate in virtual studies from other universities or companies. Participants will often complete computer tasks, take surveys, or answer interview questions.
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Freelancing Online
The freelancing world offers virtually endless opportunities.
However, these online platforms take a chunk of your earnings, and competition among freelancers can be fierce.
Remember that paychecks can be irregular or unreliable, and filing taxes as a freelancer can be confusing.
But you will have the ability to side hustle ideas for students to set your own pay rate and the freedom to work on your own timeline.
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Cleaning, Yard Work And Other Odd Jobs
If you are willing to do more physical work, you can also take up different types of side jobs.
For example, you can get paid to run errands like yard work, housework, assembling furniture, house painting, and even dry cleaning.
You can advertise these and other services on your own or through apps like TaskRabbit and Care.com. Family, friends, and neighbors can make great initial clients.
Odd job side hustle ideas for students are a good way to earn extra money as needed during your time outside of school. Payment will vary depending on the task and where you are.
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Working In Retail Or Food Service
Retail and food service roles — such as a cashier, barista or server — are common among the college-age population. These side hustle ideas for students jobs probably won’t be glamorous and there’s a good chance you’ll only earn minimum wage.
But food and retail gigs can offer flexibility that accommodates your student’s schedule and is easier to come by than other options on this list.
There is also the possibility of earning tips or commission. Plus, you get to work on your customer service and people skills. Find opportunities at your campus dining hall or local shops and restaurants.
Benefits Of Having a Side Hustle In College
This lie is drilled through the school system and then reinforced by parents stuck in the past. While this may have been true in my time, it is no longer the reality. Don’t get me wrong.
I am not saying that studying is a waste of time. Many degrees are very useful and the student experience is unforgettable. However, relying only on a degree to make you rich is not the right approach.
This is why it is so important for students to start a side hustle ideas for students that have the potential to turn into something bigger in the future. See, I wasn’t rich enough to afford university or perhaps academically smart enough, but I always had side hustles.
Eventually, side hustle ideas for students turned into a multi-million dollar business and made me a millionaire. That’s why today I’m going to dive into seven side hustles students can start this year.
Five of these important categories. How long does it take to learn, how much money do you need and how hard is it to make a thousand dollars a month?
side hustle ideas for students number one, faceless short-form content. This is Daniel Beaton. Like many of you, he started using social media for fun at the age of 13 Now 16, she’s making half a million dollars a month by creating short-form content on Snapchat without even showing her face.
It seems unbelievable but it is completely true. My son, Kurt, actually bumped into him at LAX airport and after doing some research, I can assure you he is not capping.
So why can you do this for so much money? Well, right now, there is a huge war going on between Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
During the pandemic, TikTok became so popular and caught the attention of the world. Since then, all the different social media platforms are competing for this attention.
The more eyes on their app, the more money they can earn from side hustle ideas for students advertisers. Stay with me because this is where it all starts together.
The one thing these platforms need more than anything else is content creators, and what attracts the best creators better than anything else? Money, because we all like that little bit.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but once a platform is established at the top, the payouts will drop as will the competition, so you need to jump on it fast.
Tips For Managing a Side Hustle In College
If you want to make around half a million dollars a month, just like Daniel, the people who get paid the most are those who create original content instead of ripping other people’s content off of YouTube.
Daniel does this by using existing posts, but then adds various voiceovers, music, and editing. This strategy combined with consistent posting leads to extreme growth.
He then expanded with multiple channels in different niches to attract different audiences. So for example, one of his channels is about rapper updates and another focuses on live streamers Now for those important ratings, I’d give it a four out of five.
While creating short clips may seem quick and easy, there’s a lot more that goes into it than you might first think That said, if you watch TikTok or shorts regularly, you’ll be better prepared than most.
Creating short-form clips is much more about understanding human psychology than fancy editing. If you can create a great hook and eventually build toward some kind of payoff, you’ll increase viewing time.
This is the only trick you need to know side hustle ideas for students if you want your post to go viral and earn you a lot of money. Trust me, I managed to get 7 million followers on TikTok using this exact strategy.
The best side hustle idea for students way to teach themselves is to watch short-form content on a daily basis. Make it part of your routine. This may sound different from what many people my age would tell you, but I’m not talking about using it for entertainment.
Every time you stop and take a look, I want you to ask yourself a simple question. What intrigued me enough to stop scrolling and watch the whole thing?
Make a list in your Notes app and before you know it, you’ll have several winning ideas. As good as Daniel. Now, if you don’t think it’s achievable, you need to believe in yourself a little more.
Idea two is an investment. A lot of people will disagree with me on this because it’s not technically a side hustle ideas for students However, it makes me about $17,000 per week, so I thought it was worth mentioning.
It took me years to make it. However, I managed to do everything without a financial advisor charging me a commission on every investment. It’s really not that complicated once you learn the basics.
Let me give you an example. If you invest $500 a month for 40 years and get an average return of 10% per year, you will have more than $1.2 million. I know you are thinking how on earth am I going to make a 10% return? You’re out of touch, old man.
Well, of course, past results are no guarantee of future returns. However, over 10 years, the average annual return of the S&P 500 was 11%. This is exactly how you should think.
I didn’t want to wait until I was old and gray. That’s why I doubled down on learning about investing and then making consistent moves that have paid off significantly.
If you’re a complete beginner, start by investing in low-cost index funds that track the market. It really is that simple. I have multiple videos on my channel breaking down key concepts like passive income, different types of accounts to open, and my favorite, index funds.
Once you master the funky words, you’ll find that it’s really easy to side-hustle ideas for students. Especially with various investment apps you can automate your investments every month so you don’t even have to think about them.
My favorite for this type of thing is Trading 212, so I reached out to them to see if they would be interested in sponsoring this post and they agreed to give you a free share worth $100 when you sign up.
Use the link below and start your investment journey today. Let’s break this down. First, how long does it take to learn? I’d give it a two out of five because it can take a while to get your head around the terminology.
Second, side hustle ideas for students how much money do you need? I would give it a one out of five because you can start with $1. I don’t recommend you keep all your money in stocks though.
Make sure you invest it in your side hustle ideas for students as well. And thirdly, how easy is it to earn a thousand dollars a month? I would give it a one out of five. As for me, I don’t have to do anything. It’s just simple. However, it took me years to get to this point, so be prepared to play the long game.
side hustle ideas for students Idea Three, Discord Server Management. This is Chris Stebbing. When Chris was in university, he started running a Discord server for fun.
He built a community around a common interest and quickly became very knowledgeable about the platform. Finally, a business reached out to him and offered to help me for free, so I took him up on the offer and he completely overhauled my server. Anyway, I’m still running the free Discord group, and if you join us.
Factorsto Consider When Choosing a Side Hustle
If you find something that people want to learn, create a course, side hustle ideas for students, and sell it for $100 to $200, you’ve got yourself a little gold mine. Now it’s time for those ratings.
First, side hustle ideas for students how long does it take to learn? I would give it one out of five because most people are already experts in their chosen field. If you need to learn a new skill, it may take a little longer depending on what it is. Second, how much money do you need?
I would give it a two out of five because creating the course involved some costs, like hiring a video editor or buying a camera. Finally, side hustle ideas for students how easy is it to earn a thousand dollars a month? I would rate this one out of five because when you are selling an information product, the profit margin is usually pretty good
side hustle ideas for students Five, AI and Creative Use. Now here’s the thing. When a new piece of technology comes to market, it goes through a four-stage adoption curve.
First, side hustle ideas for students you have the early innovators, who are 2.5% of the population. They are people who are willing to take risks and go against the grain. They will go out and buy the Samsung Fold or the new Apple Vision Pro in its first initial release.
Second, side hustle ideas for students our early adopters are 13.5% of the population. Like innovators, they are willing to take risks, but they prefer to test the product before forming an opinion and recommending it to others.
Thirdly, side hustle ideas for students we have a primary majority. It’s mostly people and they like to stick with what they know and they don’t really want to learn anything new. Now, here’s the important thing.
Whether you like it or not, AI will go through this cycle, so I ask you this very simple question. Should you take it now or wait for everyone else to take advantage and use side hustle ideas for students anyway? There are many creative ways to use AI, but let’s go back to kindness.
For a concrete example, he uses tools like ChatGPT to help him come up with script ideas and then uses machine learning models to generate AI artwork. I’d give it a three out of five.
Because we’re so early in the adoption curve, it doesn’t take a lot of expensive tools to stand out. When Marcy first started her side hustle ideas for students, she ended up being featured on Andrew Tate’s Instagram story because of some of the AI artwork she created.
This gave him all the free publicity he needed to build a strong client base. It just goes to show that you don’t need a lot of cash right now to make an impact. Third, how easy is it to earn a thousand dollars a month? I’d give it a two out of five. AI is still relatively new and there is a lot of competition.
Side Hustles For College Students: Ideas To Make Extra Cash
However, side hustle ideas for students once you get your foot in the door and build a reputation for yourself, there’s no telling how far you can go.
Take Mercy for example. She’s now making thousands through her business, Luxe Collective, and even recently appeared on Dragon’s Den, which is a bit like Shark Tank, and received an investment from Steven Bartlett in exchange for a 3% equity stake.
I’m proud of how far he’s come since appearing on my old podcast years ago. The luxury resale market is set to reach $39.23 billion in 2023, so it’s no wonder Ben is having so much success.
A growing millennial population along with social media is driving much of this interest in luxury resale. Of course, you can imagine that it’s very important that side hustle ideas for students he knows his stuff because just one slip-up can ruin his company’s reputation.
Ben has to carefully check each bag for odors, stitches, and ingredients and even sends samples to a company in New York that uses microscopic technology to check the exact composition of the materials used.
So if you’re passionate about design items and ready to put in the time to learn all the details, it’s worth a shot. Second, how much money do you need? I would give it a one out of five because Ben just started buying one or two luxury items and worked his way up.
Ben did just that. You don’t have to pay for marketing as you can take advantage of social media platforms to grow your customer base completely free. I mean, Ben struck gold on TikTok when he started posting fashion content and has now amassed over 1.6 million followers.
Third, how easy are side hustle ideas for students to earn a thousand dollars a month? I would give it a one out of five. When you’re dealing with luxury goods, the profit margins are usually pretty good. Combine that with the right knowledge and you’ve got yourself a little gold mine.
side hustle ideas for students Seven, Copywriting. This is Adam Stokes. While most people still write what they think readers want to hear, Adam instead writes what is actually in demand and where readers publish online.
He started writing blog posts about his travels to earn some extra cash on the side. Later he teaches others how to earn their own passive income and live anywhere in the world. This later made him a copywriter for major influencers
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