25 Best After-School Jobs For 13-Year-Olds

If you are looking for after-school jobs for 13-year-olds, you will want to consider some out-of-the-box options. 

This is because most companies won’t consider hiring teens unless they are at least 14 years of age. Many companies push that rule back to age 15 or 16. 

Luckily, there are jobs available for teenagers. We’ve found the best after-school jobs for 13-year olds who want to earn decent money.

Top Jobs for 13-Year-Olds

With a little creativity, extra income opportunities for 13-year-olds are plentiful. In order of potential earnings, here are jobs teens can do regardless of their location or the season.

1. YouTuber 

Do you have a gift for engaging with an audience? Or, do you have valuable skills you can share, such as life skills, fashion advice or a great sense of humor? 

If you answered yes, becoming a YouTuber could be a great opportunity. As a YouTuber, you can make money via the advertisements placed on your videos.

You can also earn money from sponsor deals when you promote specific brands or products. 

To get started, you’ll need to work on building a large audience. This is necessary if you want to make money as a YouTuber or other social media influencer.

However, if you publish engaging content and build a large audience, you have the potential to make thousands of dollars per month. 

For instance, popular YouTuber MrBeast earned over $50 million on YouTube in 2020 alone, much of which went to charitable causes like ocean cleanup.

Estimated pay rate: Unlimited

2. Voiceover Specialist

Do you have a soothing voice? A funny voice? A commanding voice? Or the ability to imitate popular characters’ voices? If so, you could earn money as a voiceover specialist.

Voiceover specialists are the people you hear but never see on TV and radio commercials. 

Popular voiceover specialist Carrie Olsen has been earning money with voiceover work for years. 

The average voiceover salary is nearly $30 per hour, according to Indeed. Since that’s the “average” pay, you could earn even more than that.

You can check out Carrie’s voiceover courses to see if that might be a good business choice for you. 

Estimated pay rate: $30 per hour 

3. Logo Designer

Logo designers specialize in graphic design and create logos for companies or websites. If you have graphic design skills, this could be a good job for you. 

Note that you don’t have to have a graphic design degree or have studied graphic design to work in logo design.

Companies such as Redbubble will let you upload your graphic designs for free on their website.

Then, when someone purchases those designs, Redbubble will print them on a t-shirt, mug or other items. 

You’ll get a portion of all of the items that sell with your logo on them. You can even upload multiple designs to Redbubble.

Another option is to advertise your logo design skills on social media sites (along with examples) and solicit freelance jobs. 

Posting a profile on sites such as Upwork (with your parent’s permission) can be a good way to get work. 

Estimated pay rate: $22 per hour

4. Painter

If you’re good at painting neatly, you could earn money by painting the interior walls of apartments or homes. You could also paint wood fences.

Advertise your painting services to homeowners in your neighborhood to make them aware of your business. 

You can even offer to paint your own family’s fence or an interior room for free so that you can get some practice while advertising your work at the same time. 

Take pictures of your best work and print out flyers to give to potential clients. The main thing to remember with painting is that neatness counts.

Estimated pay rate: $20.39 per hour 

5. Pool Cleaner

If you live in an area where a lot of homeowners have pools, you may want to start your own pool cleaning business. This after school job for 13-year-olds may require some training.

Learning to clean pools correctly takes some practice. However, if you have your own pool, you might be able to learn good techniques by cleaning your family’s pool.

There are YouTube videos you can learn from as well. Advertise your services in your neighborhood or on social media accounts. 

Have your parents go with you when you clean until you get a solid list of clients that you know and trust. 

Estimated pay rate: $19.86 per hour 

6. Photographer

Do you have a knack for taking great photos? If so, why not work as a photographer? You can work for yourself and take photos for family and friends. 

Maybe you’d like to specialize in taking photos of kids, pets or of entire families. Alternately, you can take photos and publish them on a stock photo website such as Shutterstock. 

When you sell stock photos, you get a commission each time someone buys the rights to use your photo on their blog or website.

The average pay rate listed here is for photographers that work for employers. If you work for yourself, you can choose the hourly rate you charge. 

Estimated pay rate: $19.73 per hour 

7. Landscaper

Landscapers do a variety of yard work and make good money doing it. For instance, you might simply mow lawns or shovel snow if you have a landscaping business. 

Those are the most popular tasks for landscapers who are teenagers. In fact, I know a man who started mowing lawns when he was 12.

He learned how to be successful by talking with landscapers in his neighborhood as well as ones he’d see while out and about.

Today that young man is 21 years old and has his own landscaping business with over a dozen employees. He grew his modest lawn mowing business to that level by providing good service, being prompt and charging a fair price. 

His reputation grew over the years, and now he is a well-known landscaper that gets many referrals from his clients. 

Estimated pay rate: $18.53 per hour 

8. Baker

Do you like baking? While baking at a bakery or a store is likely not an option for a 13-year-old, you can bake and sell the goods that you make at home.

Most city farmers’ markets will allow teens to sell baked goods. Or you could sell them to family and friends.

Check your city and state laws regarding food sales before you start your business. Each city and state has different rules you’ll have to follow. 

Estimated pay rate: $15.70 per hour 

9. Shoe Shiner

A shoe shiner specializes in shining shoes for people. Leather shoes often dull out over time and need a good buffing with new coats of black or brown shoe polish.

Shoe shiners often work directly for department stores or hotels. Many shoe shiners start their own businesses working from home. 

Since you’re not old enough to work in a store, your best option is to start your own business. Figure out how long it takes you to shine a pair of shoes.

Then use your math skills to determine how much you want to make on an hourly basis. For instance, if it takes you 15 minutes to shine a pair of shoes and you want to earn $20 per hour, you can charge $5 per shoeshine. 

Bonus: Shoe shiners often earn tips as well, which could increase your earnings.

Estimated pay rate: $15 per hour 

10. Garage Cleaner

Garage cleaners get paid for cleaning and organizing peoples’ garages. You might have to do this job with the homeowner, or they might tell you what to do and leave you to it. 

This can be a dirty job, and you may need special cleaners to clean garage floors or walls and windows due to the grease and grime that can accumulate in garages.

Conversely, your clients might ask you to organize their belongings or sweep out the dust and dirt on the floor. 

Advertise your services with family, friends and people in your neighborhood.

Estimated pay rate: $15 per hour

11. Mascot

Working as a mascot can be a fun job. Mascots dress up in costumes and entertain people at venues. 

For instance, you might work as a mascot at a local high school football game. Or, you could work as a mascot for a local store. 

My oldest daughter used to dress up in a dog costume and work as a mascot for a local pet store. The pay was good, and she had a fun time entertaining the kids that came to the store. 

If you’ve got a bit of an actor in you and think it might be fun to play the role of an animal or other mascot, this could be the job for you.

Estimated pay rate: $14 per hour

12. Car Washer

Why not start a mobile car washing business to earn money? You can bring cleaning supplies, buckets, rags and a portable handheld vacuum to each client’s home or business.

Charge a predetermined rate and clean out the inside and outside of their car or truck. Have them pay you via cash or by using Venmo.

For an added special touch, leave them a business card that says “Thank you for your business!” on the back of the card.

Put the card on their dash so that they remember to call you the next time they need their car cleaned. 

Estimated pay rate: $14 per hour

13. Dog Walker

If you like dogs, why not start a dog walking business? This can be a great after school job for 13-year-olds.

Pet owners regularly need dog walkers to take their dogs out while they are at work or to help care for them while they are out of town.

Generally, dog owners will have everything you need to walk their dogs. This includes leashes, collars, harnesses and poop bags. 

Simply find a park or an area with a nice walking path nearby and start walking.

Estimated pay rate: $14 per hour

14. Babysitter

Do you like caring for children? Are you a patient person? If so, working as a babysitter could be a good option for you. 

The pay varies based on how many kids you’re caring for at once and the age of the kids.

In general, you’ll earn a higher hourly rate if you’re caring for several kids or if the child is younger and requires more attention.

Advertise your services with family, friends and neighbors. Negotiate your hourly rate with your client as all families have different budgets for babysitters. 

That said, don’t hesitate to turn down a job that doesn’t pay you enough for the work you put in. 

Estimated pay rate: $12 per hour

15. Household Assistant

A household assistant (also called a Mother’s Helper) helps stay-at-home parents with a variety of tasks.

As a household assistant, you might be asked to watch children, prepare meals or help with cleaning and organizing tasks. 

For example, you might be asked to wash, dry and fold laundry. Or, you may help kids with schoolwork. You might even be asked to walk the family dog or help put away groceries. 

One nice thing about this job is that there is a lot of variety, so you’ll probably never be bored. 

Similar to other opportunities, you can advertise your services with family, friends and neighbors. 

Estimated pay rate: $10 per hour

16. Resale Expert

A resale expert works at finding items for free or cheap, and then resells them for a profit.

If you’re the type of person who can learn to spot a good deal at a garage sale, in stores or online and then resell those items to others, this might be your dream job.

Look for good deals at places such as:

• Clearance racks/shelves at big box stores
• Local garage sales
• Sites such as Craigslist and
• Curbside freebies

And other places where you can find items for free or cheap. The key to success in this type of business is knowing what you can resell items for.

Use a selling app to help you determine what prices similar items are selling for online. Then sell your items on a site like Craigslist or eBay.

Remember to take selling and shipping fees into account as you price your items.

Estimated pay rate: Unlimited

17. Errand Runner

Another after school job for 13-year-olds is that of errand runner. As an errand runner, you’ll go places and do things for the people you work for.

For example, you might make a trip to the grocery store for an elderly neighbor.

Or you might drop something off at the post office for a business owner who can’t leave their shop.

This type of job is best if you live in a town that has stores and other shops nearby. Having a bike to get to those places will help too.

Advertise by delivering flyers describing your business to people in your city or neighborhood.

Estimated pay rate: $10 per hour

18. T-Shirt Designer

Do you have a knack for thinking up great slogans? Why not make money designing your own t-shirts?

Websites such as CafePress will let you create a free account for the site. Then you upload your designs.

People order t-shirts and other products with your designs, and you get a commission from the sales.

CafePress handles all sales, production, shipping and returns. Your job is to create great product ideas and advertise your designs on social media.

The more you advertise your great product designs, the better chance you have at getting sales.

Estimated pay rate: You decide based on the sale price of your design

19. Freelance Worker

Do you have skills you could freelance to the public? Freelancing means that you work for yourself as an independent contractor.

You decide which jobs you do and how much you will charge for a job. Some ideas of skills you can freelance with include:

• Writing articles, poems or stories
• Artwork
• Musical talents
• Graphic design

And other skills. One of the main keys to being successful as a freelancer is to “underpromise and overdeliver”.

In other words, don’t promise something you can’t deliver, and when you do deliver, make it better than your customer asked for.

Know that as a freelancer, it’s important to charge rates that give you a good average hourly pay.

Also, if you earn more than the tax year’s standard deduction that your parents claim you with per year, you’ll have to report your income and expenses on your taxes.

For that reason, it’s important to keep track of all of your income and of your expenses when you work as a freelancer.

Estimated pay rate: You decide your rate

20. Tutor

Are you good at math, English, reading or other school subjects? If so, you may want to offer your services as a tutor.

As a 13-year-old, you could tutor elementary school students in subjects they’re struggling with.

For example, you could teach a 1st grader to read or help a 4th grader better grasp multiplication and division.

Offer your services to neighborhood families with children that are younger than you. Work after school or on weekends.

Estimated pay rate: $10-$15 per hour

21. Yard Cleaner

Dog owners everywhere are searching for hard workers to come and clean up dog messes from their yards.

Cleaning up doggie doo might not be the most fun job a person can have, but it can be an easy way to make money.

Set your rates based on how big each yard is and how much mess there is to clean up.

Work to determine how long it will take you to clean up a yard, and charge a rate that provides for a good average hourly rate for you.

Have a minimum fee as well, and be sure your fee includes the time it takes you to get to and from the job.

For instance, if you decide you want to make $20 minimum per hour and a job will take you one hour to do,15 minutes to get there and another 15 minutes to get back again, charge $30.

Charge a flat fee for jobs that take less than an hour. For example, you might charge $20 per hour with a $20 minimum fee.

Then, if a job takes a half hour you’ll still earn $20.

Of course, it will take some time for you to learn how long a job will take to complete. However, you’ll get better at that as you gain more experience.

Estimated pay rate: You decide

22. Etsy Shop Owner

Do you have a skill for making items? Can you knit or crochet hats, gloves or scarves? Can you design printable posters or wall art?

Do you know how to make jewelry or other items? If so, why not open a shop on Etsy (with a parent’s help) and start offering your goods for sale?

This after school job for 13-year-olds is great because you get to decide what you’ll sell and when you’ll work.

You can sell as much or as little as you want based on the time you have available. There are several ways to make money on Etsy.

Choose your option based on your skills and interests. As with any business you might own, marketing your shop is vital to success.

Estimated pay rate: Unlimited

23. Survey Taker

If you like spending a lot of time on your smartphone or other device, you might want to try earning money by taking surveys.

Sites such as Swagbucks will pay you to share your opinion with them. You earn points (called SB) for every survey you take.

Then you can take your points and get PayPal cash with them. Or you can get gift cards to popular retailers such as Amazon and Starbucks.

Bonus: Swagbucks will pay you for other online activities as well, such as playing games, shopping online and browsing the net.

You won’t make a lot of money on Swagbucks, but it can be a way to earn cash if you’re on your phone anyway.

Estimated pay rate: $3-$5 per hour

24. Gift Wrapper

Are you good at wrapping gifts? Can you give gifts an extra special shine with your gift-wrapping talents?

If so, you may be able to work as a freelance gift wrapper. Obviously, this job would earn you the most money during the Christmas season.

That being said, people need birthday gifts wrapped throughout the year. Advertise your services on social media, ask for a color and gender theme preference, and then get to work on making your gift wrapping stand out.

Charge a fee that includes pay for the time it will take you to wrap the gift(s). Be sure to include a charge for supplies as well.

Estimated pay rate: $20 per hour

25. Snack Stand Owner

Working as a snack stand owner can be one of the best after school jobs for 13-year-olds and can take many forms.

As an example, you can sell lemonade on hot summer days and hot cocoa on cold winter days.

And you can sell snacks and water before local sports games or outside of local fairs and festivals.

Be sure to take the price you pay for each snack into account as you set your prices. Try and charge prices that are comparable with store prices or fair prices.

Buy your items at warehouse clubs or get them during big box or grocery store sales.

Estimated pay rate: Varies depending on your sales

FAQs

Here are a few of the most frequently asked questions about the best after-school jobs for 13-year-olds so you can determine the right option for you.

Summary

Even though most stores don’t hire 13-year-olds, you can find plenty of ways to work and earn money as a teen. You just have to get creative.

Consider which opportunities are most suited to your skills and interests. Then, go make some money!