15 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 After-School Jobs for Teens

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.

Average 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. 

Average 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. 

Average 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.

Average 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. 

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. 

Average 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. 

Average 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 20 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. 

Average 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. 

Average 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.

Average 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? 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

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!