High-Paying Jobs for Teens

The best way to make money and secure your financial future is to find a high-paying job. As a teenager, finding a high-paying job at 18 can be a huge game changer to setting up your financial security earlier in life.

A majority of young adults spend most of their money on food, clothes or video games. It’s not uncommon for a teenager to start working at a young age. There are many types of jobs out there to hunt down and try and get. You can be lucky enough to work an online job such as an influencer or you might be just starting out and have to look for a good starting job.

Below you’ll find the most common high-paying jobs for teenagers. A majority of this high-paying jobs are for people who are 18 or older but many are open to people of all ages.

You’d be shocked at how many jobs out there actually pay good money. At first glance you’ll probably shove them aside thinking they make pennies when in reality, with a little effort and location, they can make a lot more than most of the high-paying jobs further down the page.

A lot of these unique high-paying jobs are easy to get into as well.

List of Unique Higher-Paying Jobs:

These may not sound like the most lucrative jobs but they tend to pull in a good penny for little to no experience. A few of these survive off tips, much like a server, which is why we mentioned being in the right area.

Lets use a Valet Attendant as an example. A valet parking attendant makes around $12 per hour on average before taking in any tips. Depending on where you work you can almost always expect to work with at least 2 to 3 other attendants. Let’s say a single attendant parks 5 cars per hour. If there are 3 of you, yourself included, then you guys have parked 15 cars per hour. The average “going rate” for a tip nationwide is $2-$5 per car. That means, as a group, you guys are pulling in anywhere from $30 to $75 extra per hour. These tips are usually shared among the attendants for the night.

Taking that scenario above we can then map out how much more a valet attendant can make per hour for a basic 8 hour shift. If you factor in your starting wages, that means you’re already making $96 for the day. Since most attendants split the tips, you can add anywhere from $80 to $200 to your daily take. If you’re following along that means your $12 starting wage just increased to a range of $22 to $37 per hour.

That’s insane right? It all takes hard work and dedication. There are tons of ways you can make good money at jobs no one would expect. A lot of people look down on people who do valet for a living but many ignore the positive side of it – tips!

If you’re still not sold on being creative and finding unique jobs to make some good cash, continue reading for more high-paying jobs.

As a bank teller you can expect an average starting pay around $14 to $16 dollars per hour. This is a harder position to grab right out of high-school or even with no experience since you’re dealing with money. Many banks want to see some form of loyalty before they allow you to handle their customer’s finances.

There is no best time to apply for a bank teller position as banks hire for this position year round. You should try to have your high-school diploma and if you have formal education in finance, beyond high-school, it increases your chances. The bank teller position is one of the “doorway” positions that open up someone to the rest of the bank as a career growth opportunity.

You’ll want to check job marketplace websites, local banks and national chain websites for career opportunities.

As an administrative assistant you can expect an average starting pay around $14 to $20 dollars per hour. In this position you would be helping your supervisor with everyday tasks. These tasks can range from answering phone calls to scheduling meetings with clients.

There is no best time to apply for an administrative assistant position. These positions don’t come up too often because of how lucrative they are and how much they pay even with no experience. Depending on the industry and your years of experience, you could end up making more than $20 within a few years.

You’ll want to check job marketplace websites and local businesses for job postings.

A delivery driver for a company like UPS, FedEx, or even a local machine shop can make pretty good money. You can expect to average around $15 to $17 dollars per hour on your first day and it goes up with the more experience you have. These types of drivers tend to earn more than your pizza delivery driver but they have some more restrictions and requirements placed on them, such as obtaining a commercial driver’s license (CDL) or permit. You’ll most likely work in pretty bad weather depending where you live but it can be a pretty fruitful career path.

The best time to apply for a position like this is after you’ve obtained a CDL and have had some experience driving a larger truck. Many of the places you obtain your CDL from require you to drive for them from 6-12 months and this counts as experience.

The best way to find these types of jobs is to look for local delivery and freight companies. You may even want to search for local CDL training companies as they may be able to refer you to other companies as well.

A nanny typically cares for one or two children and can be a live-in nanny or just someone who is there for a large portion of the week. You’ll have to pass a background check and be willing to work with and take care of kids but you can start out making good money. We wouldn’t compare this to your standard babysitter, most nannies end up working more hours and are a lot more involved with the children’s lives and development.

You can expect to get paid around $15 per hour as a nanny. The best time to find nanny jobs is early spring when parents are looking for summer help. You can still find these types of jobs throughout the year but they are not posted as often.

A receptionist job can be pretty hard to get since most places want you to have a bit more than just a high school diploma. If you are able to land one, you could be looking at making well over minimum wage for some light office and clerical work.

As a receptionist you typically need to have some sort of typing ability and phone etiquette. This job can start you around $12 per hour and can go up closer to $20 depending on how skilled you are and your experience. The best places to find receptionist jobs are to look at local businesses and job marketplace boards.

A trade position is a great job for someone who doesn’t see college in their future. Typically these jobs are in construction, electrician, mechanic, plumber, or HVAC. These jobs usually pay fairly well out of the gate but after you’ve completed training your pay tends to grow quite a bit and you’ll avoid having any student loan debt. You may even luck out and be able to find a company that offers tuition reimbursement for training courses within your trade.

If you enter a trade you can expect to be making fairly decent money right out of the gate. Most of the trade apprentices start around $12 to $15 per hour. You’re usually in a probationary period for the first 6-9 months and after that you tend to see a substantial pay increase if you’re a good worker. After this probationary period you should expect your pay to go well over $20 per hour depending on the trade you’re in.

A majority of the trade workers make well over $50,000 a year after a few years of experience with many who own their own company making well over $100,000 a year. You should look for a local union for more information on how to join their trade union. They should also help provide you with training and an apprenticeship.

A web designer has the opportunity to make a boat load of cash right out of high school. It isn’t that easy since most places will require at least a portfolio showing previous work. However, if you have an extensive portfolio this is a great career to get into.

If you’re a good web designer you can average around $15 to $20 per hour. The best designers can make around $30 per hour working at various companies or agencies. If you’re a freelancer there is a bit more of a range but if you stay busy most end up making more than someone who works at a marketing agency or in-house at a company.

You should look for local marketing businesses, job boards and even larger companies who hire these types of roles.