The best overall summer side hustle is golf caddying.
If you want to work from home, or need a non-customer-facing role, task sites provide the best side hustle.
The easiest time to find work is during the summer, which is peak season for numerous industries, from tourism and hospitality, to agriculture and fitness. Country clubs, for instance, need twice as many employees during this period, and across America that represents an extra 200,000 jobs every summer.
Working at a country club was actually one of my favorite summer side hustles I picked up during college (the tips were very generous). To help you find your favorite summer side hustle—which I am taking to mean casual work that anyone can realistically get—I have put together a ranking of the best opportunities. And yes, I've included non-customer-facing options.
Golf Caddy
My absolute favorite summer side gig was working as a golf caddy. The hours were very sociable, the pay was great (after tips), and the work was completely relaxing; all I had to do was walk around a golf course and make small talk.
And before you ask, tons of courses also hire junior caddies who aren't expected to "read the green" and provide suggestions. So you can look for this kind of work even if you've never played golf before.
The only downside to this side-gig is that finding the work isn't easy. At least, the jobs are rarely advertised online. To get started, find every local golf course and reach out with a polite email to ask whether they are hiring caddies for the summer.
Task Sites
Task sites are a form of online work, so not strictly relevant to summer. But I wanted to include a side hustle for those who don't want to work outside or deal with customers.
So how does it work? These sites will pay you a small amount to complete quick, simple tasks online. For instance, you might be answering surveys for market research companies, or testing new games as a player-tester. And after completing some tasks, you can withdraw your money via PayPal or bank transfer.
The best of these sites is Freecash, which has the highest Trustpilot score, one of the lowest minimum payout thresholds ($5), and the best earning rates. The average user makes $35 daily on Freecash, while top earners race to make $5000 each month.
You might be surprised to see lawn mowing so high up on the list, but as a summer side gig it has everything you want: Low-stress, no commitment, sociable hours, and (potentially) solid pay.
You probably need to live in the suburbs for this side hustle to be viable, and you will need a lawnmower (they start at about $150), but then you're good to go.
To begin, I recommend you load up your lawnmower in a vehicle (most will even fit in a bike trailer), then start knocking on doors, going street by street. In terms of pricing, you really have to know your area; more money than sense? Go high, maybe even $70. For average lawns in most neighborhoods, I would suggest starting at $30 minimum.
Dog Walking
Just as with lawn mowing, dog walking is perfect for summer. You're basically being paid to go on walks, during sociable hours, and for good money. But I have to rank dog walking below lawn mowing, as actually finding the work is quite a bit harder.
While you could advertise locally, with flyers or via a platform like NextDoor, I found thebest success looking for work as a dog walker on purpose-built platforms like Wag and Rover.
To be successful on those platforms, you really need to take time crafting your profile. Use a friendly picture, describe your experience with pets, and—until you have good reviews—offer a competitive rate.
Child Care Opportunities
Child Care can be one of the highest-paying forms of casual work, especially during the summer, when so many parents need help looking after their kids during the holidays.
You could even use this as a chance to get away for a summer and work abroad as an au pair (basically a young, live-in nanny). Au pairs typically get their housing and transport covered, but you are expected to learn the local language.
But to earn the most per hour from child care, try babysitting in your area, especially if you are happy to work in the evening. If you have a larger space, you could also consider sitting multiple children at your own home during the day, but be warned this is difficult work.
Whatever form of child care you choose to pursue, do not limit yourself by trying to work exclusively through word of mouth and social connections. You should try online platforms as well, like Care.
Country Club Server
This could be even higher on the list, as country club tips are second to none, but it is also very hard work. Expect to be on your feet non-stop during your shifts, and you will have to deal with some insufferable customers.
I consider this to be the best side hustle for anyone with hospitality experience, looking for more full-on work, but with only a few months free during the summer.
To get started, you will need to contact your local clubs and ask if they are hiring. For these kinds of junior positions, they rarely if ever post them online.
House Sitting
House-sitting should really be called pet-sitting. You live in someone's house for a few weeks or months, and in exchange for not paying rent, you feed their animals. At least, that's 99% of the jobs advertised on TrustedHousesitters.
While you won't actually be making money with this side hustle, because you're trading a service for rent, it can be a great way to save money over the summer. And you could easily couple this job with another side hustle, like completing paid tasks online, to maximize your summer earnings.
Summer Camps (Tutor/Supporting Role)
Summer camps provide hundreds of thousands of jobs to people during the summer, and they're always on the lookout for students back from college, who have the energy to match the kids.
This can be a fun and rewarding side hustle, and that can pay well if you're qualified to be a tutor or counselor. The only real downside you need to consider is that you will be living at the camp full-time, and so it does require more commitment than other side hustles.
To go looking for this kind of work, you can use traditional job-searching platforms as well as sites like American Summer Camps. One piece of advice: Read the jobs ads carefully, some of the more religiously-focused camps keep their ads deliberately vague.
Beach Bar Server
It goes without saying that Beach Bar servers do not get country club-level tips. But, in every other regard, this can be great summer work: Low-stress (at least for hospitality), sociable hours (not many beach bars stay open till late), the chance to be outside all day, and a relaxed clientele.
You need to live near a popular beach, obviously, but besides that you don't need any qualifications to get started. You don't even need prior experience in hospitality, as beach bars are almost always focused on providing casual service.
Today's Special Offers in
Live Offers
Swimming Pool Attendant
You don't need to live near a beach for this one; every town has a public pool, and every summer that pool will be hiring.
I only did this work for a few weeks while I was in-between other jobs, but it was certainly a hustle I can recommend. The hours were great, the weather was good, and most of my day was spent walking around, handing out towels, and people watching.
You will be making close to minimum wage, and tips are basically non-existent, but it is a very relaxing side-hustle for the summer, and a great first job.
Please note, I worked as an attendant, not a lifeguard. If you want to work as an actual lifeguard, you will need to take a 40-hour course. At the pool I worked, the lifeguards earned basically the same as attendants, so I did not bother with the course.
Hotel Work (Cleaning, Reception, Service)
Hotels reliably see a spike of customers in the summer, even in non-touristy areas, and they often have a huge variety of jobs on offer. From guest entertainment roles for the extroverts, to cleaning and janitor work for the introverts.
If you are looking for Summer work, then alongside looking into any other side hustle on the list that interests you, I recommend emailing the hotels in your town and asking if they are hiring. You will be shocked at the assortment of opportunities you hear about, and you never know, you might stumble across a future career.
Amusement Parks
This is another industry that sees a massive spike in popularity during the summer, and they almost always need seasonal staff to sell tickets, make food, and clean up. You won't get to do the fun stuff like operating rides, but you can enjoy a fairly low-stress, mostly outside, summer side-gig.
Unless you have a small local amusement park to work at, you will probably be dealing with a massive company like Disney or Six Flags. To start looking for work, go to the careers portals of these parks.
Ticketing at Historical Sites
If you live near a historical site of importance, there's a very good chance they will be hiring seasonal staff each summer to help with ticketing. While this kind of work is often mundane, it's also low stress and the hours are sociable. And, let's face it, at historical sites you're unlikely to run into many tricky customers.
Getting started is simple, go to the website of the historical site near you to find their contact details, and send a polite email asking whether they are hiring for the summer.
Car Washing
Washing cars in the summer might sound like a relaxing side hustle, but it is far harder worker than a lot of people realize, hence I have it so low in the ranking.
If you want to give it a go then, as with lawn-mowing, I suggest you get your equipment loaded up and then simply start knocking on doors. This is not the kind of service people will be looking for online, but it wouldn't hurt to also write a NextDoor post.
In terms of how much to charge for car washing, I would start low at perhaps $15 for a simple wash, then you can upsell services like interior vacuuming for another $10.
