Make money

The best jobs for teens, by age

What you can actually get hired for at each age, what it typically pays, and why self-directed work — from mowing lawns to posting videos — skips the rules entirely.

Write It teamUpdated March 12, 20264 min read

The honest answer to "best jobs for teens" depends almost entirely on one number: your age. US labor law draws hard lines at 14 and 16, so this guide is organized the same way — what is actually available to you at 13–15, what opens up at 16–17, and the self-directed work that ignores the lines altogether.

First, the rules that shape everything

Ages 13–15: the self-directed years

Formal employers mostly cannot or will not hire you yet, so the best jobs at this age are the ones you run yourself — which happen to build more skill than any first shift job anyway.

Babysitting. Typically $12–$18/hr at this age. Two or three trusting families is a steadier income than most 15-year-olds with a "real job" have. A babysitting or CPR course helps parents say yes.
Yard work and snow shoveling. Often $20–$40 per yard or driveway. Pay-per-job, so a motivated Saturday beats a week of allowance.
Pet sitting and dog walking. Typically $10–$20 per walk or visit, through neighbors rather than apps (which mostly require 18).
Tutoring younger kids. Typically $10–$20/hr. Being two grades ahead is qualification enough for middle-school math help.
Making short videos. Paid per approved video in UGC programs — details below. Age rules for the platforms themselves apply (13+ with the usual account requirements).

Ages 16–17: the doors open

At 16 the federal hour caps disappear and most employers will hire you. The classic lineup: retail and grocery (typically $12–$16/hr), food service ($12–$15/hr plus sometimes tips), lifeguarding ($13–$20/hr, certification required), and hosting or bussing at restaurants ($12–$16/hr plus tip-outs). Youth sports refereeing is the sleeper — typically $20–$35 per game, weekends only, and leagues are perpetually short of referees.

The self-directed options do not expire at 16, either — they get better, because you can now drive to jobs and charge closer to adult rates for babysitting and tutoring.

The option that works at any age in this range

Making short videos is the one line on this list where being a teenager is an advantage rather than an obstacle — you already speak the format natively — and the program we run pays for it on these terms.

Getting paid to make short videos: the Write It creator program

Write It — the AI writing extension a lot of students already use in Google Docs — runs a creator program that pays you for short videos about the product on TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts. It is the rare version of "get paid to post" with a floor, not just a lottery ticket:

$20 base per approved video. Once a video passes review, the base is yours — even if the clip gets almost no views. You are not gambling on going viral.
$1.50 per 1,000 views on top. Views keep paying after you post. A clip that does 50,000 views earns about $75 in view pay on top of the base.
No follower minimum, no application. You post from your own account, paste the link in the creator dashboard, and the views start counting. Proven video formats with reference clips are provided, or run your own idea.
Cash out from $20, paid through Stripe. One approved video already puts you at the cashout minimum. Payouts go to your bank or debit card.

How to choose, whatever your age

Protect school first. The law caps 14–15-year-olds at 18 school-week hours for a reason. If a job cannot flex during exams, it is the wrong job at any age.
Prefer per-job pay over per-hour pay. Lawns, games refereed, videos approved — work that pays per unit rewards hustle and never schedules you on a test night.
Keep one thing that compounds. A regular tutoring client, a growing posting habit, a list of lawn customers — one asset that is bigger in June than in January.

A first job that fits in your camera roll

Film one short video about Write It, post it on the account you already have, and paste the link in the creator dashboard. Once it passes review, the $20 base is yours — and views keep adding to it.

Join the creator program Try Write It free

Frequently asked questions

What age can you start working as a teen?

Federal law sets 14 as the minimum for most formal non-farm jobs, with tight hour limits until 16. Before 14, self-directed work — babysitting, yard care, pet sitting, casual gigs for neighbors — is the realistic route, and it is often better paid per hour anyway.

What is the best job for a 14 or 15 year old?

Babysitting and tutoring usually pay best at this age, typically $10–$20/hr, and neither needs a permit. Formal jobs that hire at 14 — some grocery stores, ice-cream shops, seasonal parks — work too, but the 3-hour school-day cap makes them a smaller income than the self-directed options.

How can a teenager make money without a work permit?

Work-permit rules apply to formal employment, not to casual self-employment. Babysitting, lawn care, tutoring, selling crafts, and posting videos are all permit-free. For video work specifically, UGC programs pay for the clip itself, so a teenager with a phone can start the same week.

What kind of videos does the program want?

Short vertical clips featuring Write It — a talk-to-camera take, a screen recording of the extension typing an essay, or a before/after. Proven formats with reference videos are provided so you can copy a structure that already works, and posting your own angle is fine too.