10+ Best Side Jobs For Teachers In 2022

On average, teachers don’t earn very much money in the United States, earning an average of about $54,000 per year. That puts them around the 70th percentile in terms of income compared to other jobs, but that number varies greatly depending on the state and city you live in. 

In addition to teaching full-time, many teachers choose to take on side jobs to supplement their income. 

For many teachers, summer break feels like the only time of year when they get to take some time off from their full-time job at school. 

However, there are plenty of great side jobs that allow teachers to earn some extra money during their down time over the summer months and year-round as well! 

Whether you want to fill up your gas tank or finally pay off your student loans, here are some unique and flexible side jobs you can use to make the money you need while still doing something you love!

Based on your expertise, experience, and location, you can find side jobs as an independent contractor that complement your teaching job in ways you never thought possible. From tutoring to blogging to editing, here are 10 best side jobs for teachers that make the most of your skills, talents, and time outside of the classroom

10+ Best Side Jobs For Teachers

Here are 10+ best side jobs for teachers you can choose from in order to start making some extra cash without sacrificing your time with family and friends during your downtime.

1) Consulting

It’s very common for teachers to take on some form of consulting as a side job. For example, many educators are drawn to content-based services such as tutoring and test prep. 

There are lots of opportunities in this arena because many people view getting help with these types of services as an insurance policy against failure. 

Whether you’re a teacher looking to earn some extra cash or a teacher looking to get involved in your community, consulting is an increasingly popular best side job for teachers. Companies and individuals will often hire consultants to help them out with projects they can’t complete on their own. 

If you have expertise in a certain area, you might be able to pick up work just by reaching out on social media or LinkedIn. 

And because business owners are always looking for new ideas, many will offer to pay if it means getting access to your skills and knowledge. 

Who knows—one day your consulting career could become full-time! Just make sure you check out our tips for making money as a consultant first. You don’t want to jump into something without doing your research.

2) Virtual Assistant Work

A lot of people think about running their own businesses, but few know how to launch and grow a profitable side business. That’s where virtual assistants can help. 

Virtual assistants (VAs) are those who use technology to do anything from accounting and design to website programming, writing, and marketing. 

As a teacher, you know how important it is to be organized, and a VA side job lets you exercise those skills in a new environment. 

With virtual assistant work, you’ll be acting as an extension of someone else’s team by taking care of business-related tasks and offering help with planning and other organizational responsibilities. 

As an experienced educator, you’ll have all kinds of useful advice to share with your new boss or clients. And since there are millions of small businesses in need of help with basic admin tasks (like researching local regulations on marketing materials), it won’t take long before your teaching talents translate into great paychecks. 

(Pro tip: If writing about business documents makes your eyes glaze over in boredom, consider typing up resumes and cover letters instead.) 

Best of all, if you’re already working full-time as a teacher, you can likely pick up some extra cash on nights and weekends. You might even find that once you get started, your new duties don’t seem like work at all! Best side jobs for teachers!

Also interesting is the fact that you can find them all over social media platforms like Upwork and Fiverr. And since VAs typically take on small tasks in big volumes, teachers can pick up a side job without having to leave their homes or classrooms for hours at a time — making it one of the best side jobs for teachers who are looking to make some extra cash! 

Best of all, many VAs work with clients on an ongoing basis so there’s always work available.

3) Dropshipping

One of the easiest and best side jobs for teachers to try is dropshipping, which is basically just sales with no inventory. As a teacher, you probably already have experience with what it takes to sell a product (and even if you don’t, that’s OK—you can learn quickly). 

Dropshipping is a business model that involves shipping items directly to customers from third-party suppliers. As such, dropshippers do not have to keep merchandise in stock and can quickly obtain stock when an order comes in, as opposed to traditional brick-and-mortar stores where new goods come from a warehouse. 

The practice of dropshipping is completely free and allows teachers to run their businesses while they continue working full time, making it one of the best side jobs for teachers. 

In fact, if you’re looking for ways to make money on eBay without investing any capital, then learning how to dropship could be a good option. 

There are many different eCommerce platforms you can use like Shopify or even your own website with WooCommerce which is what I personally use for my eCommerce store today (which you can see here). 

Another benefit of using dropshipping over wholesale sourcing is that you don’t need thousands of dollars worth of inventory sitting around your house just waiting to be sold. 

This means no more storage units or large closets filled with clothes that may never sell!

You also don’t need any initial investment since everything will be shipped directly from your supplier’s warehouse straight to your customer’s door. 

Overall, dropshipping is one of the best side jobs for teachers because it doesn’t require much startup capital, has low overhead costs, and does not require much time commitment. If you’d like to learn more about starting a successful dropshipping business from home, check out our Ultimate Guide to Dropshipping

4) Blogging

Teaching can be a difficult and stressful job, but it’s something teachers are good at—they have to be. They develop content, create lectures, coordinate lessons, and keep students engaged. All of these skills can translate easily into lucrative side jobs online. 

If you teach a specific subject, you might consider monetizing your knowledge through an online medium such as starting a WordPress blog

Being a blogger is one of my favorite side jobs; I work at home and set my own hours, but it’s not just about getting paid to post. I love writing and interacting with readers, so blogging is a fun hobby that allows you to make money as a teacher. 

As a blogger, you are expected to develop an audience based on their professionalism, skill level, experience, expertise, knowledge, and overall ability to create quality content. By writing content like these professional posts, you will build credibility and trust within your niche community.

In turn, you are rewarded by search engine ranking as Google values authority sites over low-quality sites in its algorithm. This ensures higher rankings for your site.

You’ll also develop a reputation for yourself as a trusted source of information within your industry or topic area.

Of course, you may need to be active on social media in order to build an audience (depending on what you’re blogging about), but once you have fans, you can easily make $200 or more per month from ads alone. 

There are also plenty of other ways to monetize your site as well. You could sell advertising space directly, create your own products and sell them through your site, become a freelance writer for others’ sites, or even start your own affiliate program! The possibilities are endless when you’re creating content online as a blogger. This is therefore one of the best side jobs for teachers

Want to know what others did before becoming full-time bloggers? Here is a detailed guide on how to successfully start a blog

5) Coaching

One of my favorite side jobs is coaching games. I find it’s a great way to keep fit and active, earn some money, and spend time with an athletic group of people. 

If you live in a city or town with multiple sports leagues, there are probably opportunities to coach teams in your area. 

Another way you can come around this side job as a teacher is by coaching your child’s team. Depending on your schedule, you could coach one or two nights a week. 

Most teams practice just once a week and play their games on weekends. You’ll want to pick up games immediately following practices so they don’t interfere with lessons, but that means you can coach on school nights (and earn extra money). 

A lot of schools provide transportation to away games, so you won’t have to drive. After-school sports are great because they only happen when there aren’t any regular-season sports, which means fewer team parents trying to recruit your student for other sports!

6) Teaching At An After-School Program

Many after-school programs are looking for teachers who can teach art, science, math or music. 

These jobs typically pay less than full-time teaching positions but offer more flexibility if you’re looking to make some extra cash while working part time. 

Programs often run from 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m., meaning you can work in another job during regular business hours and still be home in time for dinner with your family.

7) Freelance Writing

Freelance writing is a hot side job choice, especially if you’re a whiz with words. 

Freelance writing sites like Guru and Upwork can help you find clients who need blogs or content written for their websites. 

Freelance writing is a pretty common side job. If you have any kind of basic skills with grammar, spelling, and punctuation, there are freelance sites out there looking to make writing jobs available to you. 

It’s pretty simple work—most of it involves drafting news articles, product descriptions, and other content in exchange for a day rate. 

The best thing about freelance writing is that it pays quickly—usually within 48 hours—and while rates depend on experience level and niche knowledge (e.g., your ability to write SEO-friendly content), generally speaking you can expect to make between $10-$20 per hour. 

And if you’re able to secure repeat business from clients, then making more than $1,000 per month as a freelance writer isn’t out of reach. 

8) Online Teaching

Since you’re working in education, one of your best side jobs as a teacher is to teach online. That can take many forms, from e-learning (both virtual and live classes) to interactive tools like websites and videos. 

One thing that’s important to remember with any kind of teaching is that it doesn’t need to be confined to traditional classroom settings. 

Find other ways—even if they seem unconventional—to reach students outside of class and make some extra money at the same time. 

A successful side job doesn’t even need to be reserved exclusively for weekends or nights; when your students don’t see you all day long at school, think about giving them lessons on their mobile devices during lunch or break time or even just in between classes. 

You might also consider tutoring kids in subjects outside of your area of expertise; if you have an interest in sports, for example, you could help kids improve their game by teaching them about physical fitness and nutrition. 

If you have experience with music or art, there are plenty of opportunities to share what you know through private lessons or group workshops. 

You could even start a business based on whatever skill set comes most naturally to you! For example, maybe you enjoy cooking or crafts and want to offer special classes or events. Whatever your specialty, using it as a way to earn more money while still doing something you love will keep things interesting while helping others learn new skills along the way. 

Just remember: Before taking on anything too complicated, consult local laws regarding licensure requirements so that everything stays legal. 

And if teaching isn’t quite right for you but still want a creative side job idea, look into doing freelance work like writing articles online or helping people edit resumes and cover letters! These gigs won’t necessarily pay much but will give you valuable writing practice that could come in handy down the road—and who knows? This could smartest move you will make

9) Personal Training

Personal training is an increasingly popular and best side jobs for teachers because it’s relatively easy to get certified and starts off at a good hourly rate. 

Check out certification courses and programs that are available in your area; they usually cost between $100 and $1,000. The best part of becoming a personal trainer is that you can work out wherever you want, schedule sessions whenever you want, and build your client base however you want (through word-of-mouth or social media advertising). 

Once you’ve established yourself as a trustworthy trainer in your community, you can often find clients on sites like TaskRabbit. And if you have some experience with coding, there are even more options to make money online as a side job teacher—here’s how!

10) Presenting at Conferences

The best side jobs for teachers are also one of their least common, but if you’re a teacher, consider becoming a presenter at local or national conferences. 

If you’re an expert in your field and not currently making use of that fact (through your current profession), now’s your chance to get paid for sharing what you know with others who can benefit from it. 

This is especially true if you choose to present on topics related to education. For example, how do you think someone teaching English as a second language would react to learning they could earn $150 per hour as an ESL tutor? I’m willing to bet they have a few questions. Your knowledge is worth money—so make sure people are paying attention! 

In general, presenting at conferences is one of your best side jobs as a teacher. As a presenter, you can pocket $1,000 to $2,000 or more per appearance depending on how big and prestigious your conference is. It’s also a lot easier than you might think. 

If you’re already an effective teacher (and if you’re reading my book then I assume that’s true), then speaking about education should be relatively easy for you—you probably do it every day in class after all! You just need to channel that same knowledge into a worthwhile presentation on whatever topic or tool inspires you most.

For example, maybe you’ve come up with a fun way to help students remember important concepts from biology or physics. Or maybe you have an idea for improving test scores by getting students excited about the material they might otherwise dread. 

Whatever your idea is, put together a quick PowerPoint deck and submit it to relevant conferences—it could be a fun side job with surprisingly good pay!

When submitting your proposal, remember that some conferences will ask for extra materials such as slides or even samples of student work completed using whatever lesson plan you are proposing. 

Don’t forget these important details when sending in your application; while they may seem like small things now, failing to provide them later could mean losing out on valuable income due to being disqualified from consideration by judges.

11) Tutoring

Tutoring is an excellent side job for teachers because it allows them to pursue a subject they love. Some tutors can even expect to make a pretty penny; Forbes reported that, on average, tutors make around $28 an hour and often work out of their homes in relative anonymity. 

A number of people are looking to hire tutors in all sorts of fields, so there’s likely no shortage of opportunities. You might also find teaching fellowships or summer-camp programs during your downtime. It’s up to you how much time you want to devote to tutoring, but if you like helping others learn, it could be a good fit. 

12) Resume/CV writing

Working as a resume writer might not seem as glamorous as being a teacher, but you can earn some decent money by helping others land better jobs hence it’s one of the best side jobs for teachers

According to SalaryExpert, resume writers make between $30 and $70 per page—or anywhere from $20 to over $100 per hour—so while there isn’t one salary figure that will apply across the board, those numbers should give you an idea of what someone with significant experience could charge. 

If resume writing sounds interesting to you, you should take it up as one the best side jobs for teachers

13) Etsy Storefront

An Etsy storefront is an excellent way to earn some extra cash. Even if you’re just planning on selling a few fun items, setting up an e-commerce presence is essential. 

It’s relatively easy to get an Etsy storefront set up; all you need is an email address and credit card. You can start accepting payments immediately and should have no problem turning your passion into a side job—and possibly even a full-time gig. 

Before you launch your store, make sure to look at what others are doing (see: Top Tips). You don’t want to compete directly with another store that’s already established in your niche; instead focus on offering something different or unique.

Conclusion

These best side jobs for teachers can provide supplemental income, help you pay off student loans and even support your family. So teachers  looking to make a significant change in their finances should consider starting their own side business. 

A great place to start is on teacher job board Indeed, where you can search thousands of full-time and part-time job openings across several industries. 

Hopefully these 10+ best side jobs for teachers will help you get started! Good luck with your job search.

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