10 Best Side Jobs that Pay Well in 2022

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Best Platforms for Side Jobs that Pay Well

DoorDash

Earn $25 per hour plus keep 100% of your tips (4000 cities in USA)

You can use any mode of transportation: your car, bicycle or motorcycle

You have the freedom to pick and choose which orders you want to accept

Grubhub

Make around $12 per hour + tips and create your own flexible schedule

No resume, interview or delivery experience required, and no dress code

Cash your earnings out up to $500 a day (free for Chase Bank customers)

GoPuff

Experienced delivery drivers can earn up to $21 per hour ($13 on average)

Choose when you want to work based on your schedule in 1000 cities

Delivery snacks, drinks, grocery, quick meals, cleaning supplies and more

10 Side Jobs that Pay Well

Food Delivery Driver (Grubhub)

(Average pay: $10 ― $17.74 per hour)

GrubHub Summary

• High average earnings of $12 per hour
• Instant cash out for your earnings
• Earn more from tips and peak periods
• Deliver with car, bike, scooter, motorcycle

A food delivery driver is a person responsible for transporting food products from production areas to clients.

To get any delivery driver jobs in the US, you need to fulfill the following requirements:

1. Have a valid driver’s license under your name
2. Poses a 4-door or 2-door car
3. Meet the minimum age requirement to drive in your city
4. Has a social security number

And to get started, you need to sign up for a food delivery platform such as Grubhub, DoorDash or Uber, among others.

On average, you can make between $10 and $17.74 per hour. This makes food delivery one of the best paying side jobs from home. 

Related: 6 Typing Jobs That You Can Do From Home

Paid Surveys (Inboxdollars)

(Average pay: $3 ― $5 for 5 to 25 minutes)

InboxDollars Summary

• $5 sign up bonus
• Great referral program – 30% that referral makes
• Most of the surveys pay $0.50 to $1
• 13 extra ways to earn money

Paid surveys are types of reviews that reward you for giving your honest opinions or responses on various topics. For instance, a survey platform can provide you with gift cards or cash to respond to a particular product’s questions.

To participate in a paid survey, you need to:

• Find the best-paid survey websites you want to join in
• Sign up with your email address and create passwords to secure your accounts

After that, you can either download the individual websites’ mobile apps or access them via your PC to get started.

You can earn between $3 and $5 for 5 to 25 minutes of surveys with sites like Swagbucks, InboxDollars, and MyPoints. Such figures make paid surveys one of the best side jobs considering the efforts required.

Ride-Share Driver (Lyft)

(Average pay: $12.94 ― $18.60 per hour)

Lyft Summary

• Your working hours are up to you
• Instant payment with the Lyft debit card
• 3 different ways to earn more money
• 3rd party liability insurance offered

A ride-share driver is an individual who transports clients to places they want to go or who can pick up and deliver food orders.

To become a ride-share driver, you need to meet specific minimum requirements depending on the company you’re willing to work for.

Here are the conditions you must meet for Uber—which can represent the requirements for other ride-share driver companies:

1. Have an eligible 4- door vehicle
2. Poses a valid US driver’s license
3. Have a minimum of 1-year driving experience in the USA. Or have 3 years driving experience if you’re below 23 years.
4. Meet the minimum driving age in your city, etc.

To get started, you simply:

• Sign up with the company you want to work for
• Share the required documents
• Download the required app and start working

In general, you can make an average of $12.94, $16, and $18.60 per hour when working with ride-sharing companies such as Via, Lyft, and Uber, respectively. 

Online Writer (Fiverr)

(Average pay: $30 per hour)

Fiverr Summary

• Set your own prices for your services
• Choose from over 500 service categories
• 3 different options for cashing out
• Protection from fradulent chargebacks

An online writer is a person who specializes in creating website content such as blogs, copywrites, SEO content, etc; that can be read on a digital gadget such as a smartphone, tablet, or computer.

You can use the following tips to succeed as an online writer:

1. Select a niche topic
2. Set up a blog or website
3. Create great samples
4. Pitch your services to potential clients from writing job boards such as Upwork
5. Gather testimonials from your clients
6. Continue looking for well-paying gigs

To get started, you can open your online writing account on sites like Upwork. Or look out for writing gigs on platforms such as  Reddit, and Problogger, among others. 

On average you can earn up to $30 per hour as a freelance online writer making it one of the side jobs that pay well.

Pet Sitting (Petsitter)

(Average pay: $11.42 per hour)

A pet sitter is a person who provides pets with daily care while their owners are on vacation. Therefore, as a pet sitter, you’ll, in most cases, stay in a pet owner’s home during the vacation period to allow the animals to remain in a familiar environment. In addition to pet caring, you may also be required to offer the owner essential services, such as vacuuming pet hair and collecting mail.

To successfully audition as a pet sitter, you require the following skills and competencies:

• A vast amount of hands-on experience with the animals you’re going to take care of. In this case, experience as a veterinary assistant or technician is an added advantage.
• An understanding of animal first aid and CPR
• A good rapport with animals
•  Reliability and trustworthiness

To get started you can sign up on sites like petsitter, housesittersamerica, and trustedhousitters and apply for the available jobs. 

You can earn an average of $11.42 per hour for this role. This makes it an easy side job that pays well as long as you love your work.

Other than that, you can also consider the following similar jobs:

Social Media Content Manager (Ziprecruiter)

(Average pay: $28 per hour)

ZipRecruiter Summary

• Top-rated app and job search engine
• Simple, 1-tap job application process
• Over 30 different job categories
• More than 7.5 million jobs posted each day

If you’re into social platforms, you can consider social media content manager as one of your side jobs online. In this position, you’ll be in charge of representing an organization across social media streams as the sole voice of the brand. As such, you’ll be creating content, compiling campaigns and responding to comments.

To be effective, you need to:

• Be familiar with web design
• Have an understanding of online marketing platforms
• Poses a solid experience of Google Analytics, keyword research and SEO
• Be able to deliver creative content
• Display great copywriting skills

To start your social media management journey, you can sign up on sites like Upwork and start looking for jobs. Or check out other platforms such as indeed and ZipRecruiter and apply for jobs.   

You can earn an average of $28 per hour working as a social media content manager in the US, making it one of the side jobs that pay well from home. Or side jobs that pay well.

Podcast Producer (Upwork)

(Average pay: $22.62 per hour)

Upwork Summary

• Earn up to $34 per hour as a freelancer
• Get 10 free Connects every month
• Get 40 extra Connects when you pass a test
• Time tracker ensures you get paid

A podcast producer is an individual responsible for providing technical direction and administration during podcast production. Therefore, you’ll be in charge of recording and editing episodes and managing the podcast, among other duties, if you assume this position.

To become a Podcast producer, you require the following primary qualifications:

1. Experience in producing long-form audio programming under strict deadlines
2. Have a proficient and creative approach with digital audio editing tools
3. Be able to work collaboratively on creative content
4. Own excellent communications skills

And to get started you can sign up on Upwork and start looking for production jobs. Similarly head over to indeed and ZipRecruiter, among others for the same.

You can earn $22.62 an hour on average as a Podcast producer. As such, it constitutes one of the side jobs that pay well in the US.

Related: 21 Most In-Demand Freelance Jobs

Virtual Assitant (Upwork)

(Average pay: $19.22 per hour)

A virtual assistant is an independent worker who offers administrative services to clients while working away from the client’s office. In essence, you can work from your home office if you decide to become a virtual assistant.

In most cases, you require at least 1 year of experience as an office manager or administrative assistant. However, you can currently land many virtual assistant jobs if you’re skilled in:

•  Internet marketing
• Graphic design
• Blog post writing
• Content management
• Social media

As a start you can sign up an account on platforms like Upwork, Vanetworking, vickyvirtual, etc., to apply for virtual assistant jobs. 

A virtual assistant position can get you $19.22 an hour on average.

Related: 55 Sites to Find Virtual Assistant Jobs

Graphic Designer (Upwork)

(Average pay: $23.21 per hour)

A graphic designer’s job entails describing requirements and envisioning and developing a variety of graphics. For instance, enable the creation of photos, layouts, logos, illustrations, and many more. Thus, you’ll be responsible for shaping the visual aspects for exhibitions, product packaging, magazines, etc.

Some of the essential skills and critical competencies you will require for this job position include:

• Technical skills regarding color and typography theory
• Teamwork skills to enable collaboration
• Time management skills to allow you to juggle several projects at once
• Communication skills, to seek suggestions and advice from clients and to understand what they want

To get started head over to Upwork and sign an account and start sending your proposals to prospective clients.

You can earn an average of $23.21 per hour as a graphic designer in the US. As such, graphic designing gigs can be considered some of the second jobs that pay well after your main hassle.

Related: 11 Remote Graphic Design Jobs

Photography (Flexjobs)

(Average pay: $20.73 per hour)

FlexJobs Summary

• Jobs in over 50 categories available
• Members get exclusive deals and discounts
• All jobs are guaranteed to be legit
• Get access to 4 job search resources

Photography constitutes the art of capturing light using a camera via film or digital sensor.

Consequently, you’ll require an artistic eye and a blend of technical skills to take pictures of food, landscapes, places, and people, among other things. Having the pre-requisite skills can enable you to work as an event and wedding photographer, fine artist or sell your photographs to commercial clients.

To start your photography career, you can sign up for an account on Upwork and apply for jobs. Or look out for the jobs on search engines such as Flexjobs, and Fiverr.

On average, you can earn $20.73 per hour as a photographer. This makes photography jobs some of the excellent side gigs that pay well as you get to enjoy yourself while earning some decent income. 

10 side jobs that pay well table

Side Jobs FAQ

Why a side job?

A side job comes in handy when you want to earn some extra income to cater to your needs or fulfill your dreams.

On that note, you can be lucky to find jobs on the side that pay well, such as online writing, graphic designing, among others, which can propel you to financial freedom within a year.

What Are My Obligations After Finding My Dream Side Job?

Well-paying side hustles require your maximum input and dedication. By fully committing to your clients, you’ll not only satisfy their requirements, but you can also fall in love with what you do, for instance.