We don’t need to tell you that some teenagers have made a lot of money, but the richest
have done so mainly because they became celebrities through music or acting or even YouTube.
Some teens have even made a small fortune as entrepreneurs.
But today we are going to talk about what you might call normal jobs, things the average
teen can do while working through the summer or doing part-time work as they study.
Jobs that you could do and make a bit of spending money.
We’ll focus mainly on the USA as that’s where most of the English language articles
on this subject have been written, but perhaps there might be similar jobs in other parts
of the world that also pay well.
Welcome to this episode of the Infographics Show, Highest Paying Jobs for Teenagers.
Let’s start with summer jobs for teens.
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, these days only 40 percent of American teens take
a summer job, which is way down from the early 90s when it was 60 percent.
Are American teens getting lazier, or do they just have better ways of making a buck?
That we don’t know, but do know what jobs pay a decent wage.
Tutor This could be a summer job, but it could also
be a regular part-time job.
You obviously must be talented to earn the big bucks, but if you can show some acumen
for tutoring and have a very good educational background a young tutor can rake in 30 to
40 dollars an hour.
Even the average wage is 20 bucks an hour, and that’s not bad at all.
It’s likely that 18-year olds will get the higher wages, but if you are talented at a
particular subject and you can help someone else there is no reason someone younger couldn’t
earn some good money.
You could also do this through websites such as “Enroll” or “SameSpeak” (teaching
English), but the pay isn’t as good as sitting down with someone in your own private lesson.
Still, if you are 16 or older you can get up to 20 dollars an hour tutoring online.
Working the Phones What if you don’t have any kind of special
academic talent?
Uhaul says if you are 16, have a USB headset and a decent Internet connection you can work
for them as a Seasonal Center Sales Reservations Agent.
You’ll be helping customers on the phone from your house.
You will start on 10 bucks an hour and be paid throughout your 4-week training.
You can also get bonuses which will drive the wage up.
Caddy Forbes tells us that you can start caddying
at just 14-years old.
It might help to be a golfer yourself of course, but if caddies are in demand and you know
a little about golf maybe you could land this job if you are presentable and fairly fit.
We are told that if you carry two bags around the course over 18-holes you get around 120
bucks, and it usually takes about 4 hours to complete a round.
But that 120 bucks for staying in shape (if you walk the course) and watching a beautiful
game could be much more as you’ll be getting tips, and golfers on some courses are certainly
not short of cash.
One New Jersey course offering a job online as we write this, says, “Our caddies are
mostly high school aged boys and girls working at, perhaps, their first job.
They live and go to school locally.
Some are on local high school golf teams.”
What a fun way to spend a summer.
Landscaping It was a job for the entrepreneurial teen
of the past and it still is today.
While some landscaping work requires a certain degree of skill and experience to be left
alone doing it, teens will be allowed to learn on the job or can be hired to do the hard
labor.
The average wage when landscaping with a company, for a teen, is about $12.
But why not set-up on your own and start mowing all those lawns in the neighborhood.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us the median wage for residential lawn mowing right
now is $13.31 per hour.
Forbes says it’s closer to $20, but you must know that you’ll be spending some cash
on fuel and maintenance.
You’ll need a mower and the folks in the neighborhood will have to trust you somewhat
before they’ll let you loose on their garden.
The American lawn is a much talked about topic these days, with the Scientific American asking
in 2017, “Why do Americans place so much importance on lawn maintenance?”
Well, the short answer is lawns are all about status, and the bigger the better if you want
to be admired or envied.
Mowers of America, your job is safe.
Caregiver If taking care of grass isn’t your thing,
why not take care of something with a pulse?
Did you know that you can become a caregiver at just 16 years old?
You could just be hanging out with the aged, bringing them their food or doing their errands,
and for that we are told you will be getting around $10 an hour.
Good old hard labor You can work on a construction site as a laborer
as young as 16-years old, and you might get paid as much as $20 an hour.
Or what about becoming a weed trimmer?
We are talking about marijuana, not pesky, unwanted weeds.
There are people online talking about doing this and how they made “fast-cash” during
the weed-trimming season.
It’s best if you get a job where you are paid by the pound as those jobs pay more.
You could also work throughout this season in places such as California and Las Vegas
and earn about $13 an hour.
Then there are fruit picking summer jobs all over the United States.
One writer talks about apple picking, saying, “In bumper years when labor is short, growers
pay up to $28 per bin, and they say experienced workers can fill one bin per hour.”
Lifeguard If all that sounds like too much hard work
you could always become a lifeguard.
You can start this job when you are 15.
You will probably need to have a background check, be able to meet all the physical requirements
set by the American Lifeguard Association and be certified by the American Red Cross
in first aid.
This job usually pays about $9.25 an hour to start, and you might remember that it’s
not all about sitting around the pool or at the waterfront.
You could also be asked to pick up trash throughout the day and do other cleaning and maintenance
jobs.
You can earn more cash if you are experienced and you might get as much as $16 an hour.
Float Away What about being a lifeguard on a cruise ship
and sailing the high seas?
We must say that 18 is the minimum age for the jobs we looked at, but if you are willing
to get onboard you can travel and most of the money you make is saved.
One website writes, “These positions pay between $600-$950 per week.
That’s between $9,600 to $15,200 in income in four months!”.
You could also be a dishwasher or deckhand, you really don’t need any experience for
these jobs.
You might work 12-hour days, 7 days a week, and you might get homesick.
But when you do get home after the summer you’ll have cash in the bank.
Taking care of animals You can become a pet-sitter or dog walker
in the U.S. as a teenager.
You could either go through an agency or just set up by yourself.
You can be as young as 14 for this job, but if you know the people you are working for
perhaps they’d allow you to do the pet duties at an even younger age.
You might need to check the United States Department of Labor website to see if your
area requires you to have a certificate so you can work, but many young folks do this
job.
The website PayScale tell us that dogwalkers in the USA earn anything from $9.72 to $23.99
an hour.
If you love animals, what job could be better?
The Guardian in the UK says dog walkers, “earn a fifth more than the average UK salary – but
work less than half the average hours.”
The newspaper also says it can be hard work, with the dog walker often doing 197 walks
a month.
That’s a lot of walking, but imagine how good that is for your health.
It’s like being paid to exercise.
Baby Sitter This is one job available to most teens, at
least if they are reliable and can show they are trustworthy and good with kids.
It might help if you’ve done something such as the Red Cross safety class.
Forbes tell us baby sitters get an average of $13.44 per hour in the USA, and that’s
not too bad for a teenager.
A recent survey by UrbanSitter, however, said that average is a little on the low side.
It said most families in the U.S. now pay $16.43 an hour to watch over one kid.
$18.86 per hour for two kids and $20.56 per hour for three kids.
Of course, it all depends on the neighborhood.
You can imagine you get paid a good rate for taking care of little Maxima Chan Zuckerberg.
Blame the referee, but he’s only 12 How about being a referee?
You’ll probably be doing kids games, but there is no shortage of them.
Of course, you’ll need to know the sport inside out, but that’s not so unusual for
some young sports fanatics.
You will also likely have to take a course and get some certification, but that might
just be a one-day course.
The best thing, depending on where you work, is you can be as young as 12 or 14 in the
USA.
The wage all depends on the location and what teams are involved.
Still, you can earn anywhere from $15 to $30 an hour as a young referee.
It can be a tough job, though.
In 2018, one report in the UK media talks about a 15-year old referee who during a game
was subjected to “abusive, intimidating, disrespectful and very inappropriate” language
by the other team’s coach and training staff.
That was an adult amateur game, so he could have been paid anywhere from $26 to $52 for
that game, according to numbers given by Mirror newspaper.
Maybe the abuse was worth it.
Could you help us add to this list?
Tell us in the comments what job you had as a teen that paid well?
Or, tell us which job you would take from this list?
Thanks for watching, and as always, please don’t forget to like, share and subscribe.