11 Best Summer Side Hustles for College Students (Ranked)

Guideposts

It’s summer break and you’re looking to make the most of it – your favorite foods, a lot of fun, and … money?

Yes, money. And potentially a lot of it.

Being home for college break can mean a lot more than sleeping in, enjoying your favorite home-cooked meals, and hanging out with old friends. In fact, putting your money-making hat on may be one of the most efficient ways to spend your college summers. It all depends on which summer side hustle you plan to make money with.

The 11 Best Summer Side Hustles for College Students

The best way to spend your summer months of freedom will be to find the highest paying side hustle that gives you the most bang for your buck. You’ll want something that will enable you to work when you are feeling productive and where the opportunity cost for you is low. For example, let’s say you want the evenings out to spend time with old friends from high school. It’ll be best for you to find a side hustle that you can work during the day. Or if you despise the amount of time you have to spend indoors during your school working hours, you may want to maximize your time outdoors and find a job landscaping instead.

Whatever your preference, below are the top 11 summer side hustles for college students. The top side hustles are structured around flex work, and are higher paying. Meaning, you can pick up work as you please, and you could theoretically work less since the payout is higher (1 hour of work doing chores could pay you $30/hr, vs. 2 hours of working as a mover for $15/hr). Given the ability to control your working hours and their high return on your time, they’re ranked as more optimal side hustles.

Second is outdoor work. You can maximize your time outdoors by finding a side hustle that differentiates vastly from your regular school workload. Not only that, but they tend to pay well on average too.

Service work and manual labor rank lowest, but still bring in a fairly high pay rate for your time. If you specialize in manual labor or enjoy the thrill of a good ride around town, these sorts of side hustles will be a fun way to spend your time.

RankSide HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
1Tasks or Chores$30.00$1200.00$4,800.00$14,400.00Flex Work
2Website Tester$29.00$1160.00$4,640.00$13,920.00Flex Work
3Freelance$27.00$1080.00$4,320.00$12,960.00Flex Work
4Online Surveys$25.00$1000.00$4,000.00$12,000.00Flex Work
5Event Planner$22.00$880.00$3,520.00$10,560.00Outdoor Work
6Summer Sales$20.00$800.00$3,200.00$9,600.00Outdoor Work
7Babysitter$17.00$680.00$2,720.00$8,160.00Service Work
8Amazon$17.00$680.00$2,720.00$8,160.00Service Work
9Uber or Lyft$16.50$660.00$2,640.00$7,920.00Service Work
10Mover$15.00$600.00$2,400.00$7,200.00Manual labor
11Landscaper$15.00$600.00$2,400.00$7,200.00Manual labor

Additionally, you may enjoy taking up a side hustle from a wide array of possibilities. If none of the above appeal to you, consider starting a side hustle from one of our honorable mention hustles.

Honorable MentionsHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)
Delivery Driver$14.00$560.00$2,240.00$6,720.00
Farmhand$12.00$480.00$1,920.00$5,760.00
Lifeguard$12.00$480.00$1,920.00$5,760.00

1. Tasks or Chores ($30/hr)

RankSide HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
1Tasks or Chores$30.00$1200.00$4,800.00$14,400.00Flex Work

Our number one summer side hustle pick is performing tasks or chores. Due to its high average pay of $30/hr and its flexible working hours, it’s an ideal summer side hustle for college students looking to make the most out of their time.

Flex work means you can pick up jobs as you see fit. You’re also not narrowed down to a single kind of job. You could hang TVs in someone’s home one day, and be doing laundry the next. Whatever skills you want to leverage are the ones you can choose to get paid for. Spend your time as you please and make some good money doing it. Offer your services on sites like TaskRabbit or other chore platforms to get started.

2. Freelance ($27/hr)

RankSide HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
2Freelance $27.00$1080.00$4,320.00$12,960.00Flex Work

Similar to performing tasks or chores, freelancing allows you a high rate of pay and a flexible work schedule. Our top picks for freelance jobs are either writing (average $30/hr pay) or graphic design (average $25/hr pay), though you could leverage whatever skills you have.

The flexible nature of your work is advantageous, and you can get started on sites like Fiverr or Upwork relatively easily. The downside is that you would have to perform most of your work from your computer. If you’d rather be out of your screen for a few months, this may not be the best side hustle for you. However, you could take advantage exploring places around your hometown to do your work in (libraries, remote hubs, etc.) to keep the summer adventure high.

3. Website Tester ($26/hr)

RankSide HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
3Website Tester$26.00$1040.00$4,160.00$12,480.00Flex Work

Similar to freelancing, website testing grants you all the flexibility of controlling your own schedule while averaging a high pay rate ($26/hr). The startup costs are extremely low, and you can get started with a platform like UserTesting quickly. The quick time to get started means you don’t have to wait long in your summer plans to begin making money.

The cons are that you may want to use these summer months to step away from your computer or phone. But if you’re more of a homebody anyway, this might be right up your alley.

4. Online Surveys ($25/hr)

RankSide HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
4Online Surveys$25.00$1000.00$4,000.00$12,000.00Flex Work

Taking online surveys is another simple summer side hustle that has a high return on your time ($25/hr) while still being flexible for your schedule. Similar to freelancing and website testing, you can run your side hustle from your computer – no other labor required.

While you may have to remain online for this side hustle, it’s important to know that you can jump in and out of the work easily as well. That means it’s an ideal side hustle for someone who has a hectic summer schedule. If you’re aways running from place to place, you can squeeze in a few survey responses during downtime or between activities. This makes it an ideal way to produce higher returns with less effort.

5. Event Planner ($22/hr)

RankSide HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
5Event Planner$22.00$880.00$3,520.00$10,560.00Outdoor Work

Event planning is the highest ranked summer side hustle for outdoor work. Event planning can occur indoors or outdoors, but either way you’ll be able to spend most of your time side hustling outside of your own home. It has an average pay of $22/hr, and since it’s summer, most of the events you’ll be planning are likely to include an outdoor element.

Remember that many of the times you’ll be working an event may be high opportunity cost to you (nights or weekends), but the payout might be enough to justify the work. That, or the satisfaction from a job (event) well done.

6. Summer Sales ($20/hr)

RankSide HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
6Summer Sales$20.00$800.00$3,200.00$9,600.00Outdoor Work

Summer sales is our second highest ranked outdoor summer side hustle – coming in with an average pay of $20/hr. It’s a bit more stringent in regards to working hours, since you’ll be working during most days or when people are getting home from work. However, the upside is fairly large. Some salespersons can make a significant amount of money during the summer, helping fund a large chunk of their college or school work throughout the rest of the year.

7. BabySitter ($17/hr)

RankSide HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
7Babysitter$17.00$680.00$2,720.00$8,160.00Service Work

Babysitting is our highest ranked service work side hustle, coming in at #7 overall. With an average pay of $17/hr, this side hustle is ideal for care givers or kid lovers. An ideal iteration of this summer side hustle is to sit for children who are home for the summer whose parents still work. There may be a high demand for sitters who can be with children during the daytime in your area, since they’re out of school for summer break.

8. Amazon Driver ($17/hr)

Side HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
Amazon$17.00$680.00$2,720.00$8,160.00Service Work

The second ranked highest paying side hustle for service work is being an Amazon delivery driver. Coming in at $17/hr average pay, you can offer your services to this e-commerce giant for a few months. Depending on where you live and the order of deliveries in your area, you may be able to make more as well. Check out the average pay for delivery driving in your area to see if it would actually rank higher on your summer side hustle list.

9. Uber or Lyft ($16.50/hr)

Side HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
Uber or Lyft$16.50$660.00$2,640.00$7,920.00Service Work

Uber or Lyft driving stands as a great way to pick up some extra cash over the summer. Coming in at $16.50 an hour, it’s a great way to make money and meet new people. You may not even need to have a car to participate in this side hustle if you have access to one at your house. Additionally, this side hustle can also be categorized as flex, since you can set your own hours.

10. Mover ($15/hr)

RankSide HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
10Mover$15.00$600.00$2,400.00$7,200.00Manual labor

Coming in after flex, outdoor, and service work are our top manual labor summer side hustles. Being a summer mover is a great way to get some exercise in, while also making a fair pay ($15/hr).

Manual labor side hustles are great, but are 1:1 side hustles, meaning that your input equals your output. Said another way, every hour working equals an hour of pay. It’s not possible to leverage these side hustles in the way you could doing online work as a freelancer, for example.

11. Landscaper ($15/hr)

RankSide HustleHourly RateWeekly Earnings (5 days/week)Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month)Summer Earnings (3 months)Best for
11Landscaper$15.00$600.00$2,400.00$7,200.00Manual labor

Similar to moving, landscaping is an excellent summer side hustle for college students. You can get good exercise in at a nice pay rate ($15/hr). This can be an ideal summer side hustle if you live in a place with favorable summer conditions. It may be warmer during the summer months generally, but this manual labor could be a little too hot to handle if you live in areas where the temperature could be more 100 degrees on a regular basis.

Summary

When you’re home for the summer, you may find that you need to make better use of your time. Summer side hustling offers the perfect way to make some money while enjoying your time home. Find a high paying summer side hustle with flexible hours, or in the outdoor, service, or manual labor side hustle categories.

Once you’re back in school though, you may consider the best online side hustles to keep your money-making game strong, or go for broke with the highest paying side hustle you can find. Thinking further down the road? Consider if a PhD or Masters is right for you instead.

As you navigate your student years, remember to spend wisely, and to budget responsibly. Doing so can help you climb your financial mountain.

Remember, we’ll be here to help every step along the way.

Climb on, FinBase.

John

John

John is a personal finance writer, editor, and a fellow FinBase climber. Tech worker by day, design owl by night, he is the co-founder and creator behind The Financial Basecamp.
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