Side hustles can help you make life-changing increases to your income. What if you could earn enough extra money during your nights and weekends to double your day job paycheck?
If you have the right skills, a flexible schedule, and have enough free time, spare energy, and motivation to work a few extra hours, the best side hustles can help you achieve your financial dreams. Whether you want to pay off debt, bulk up your savings account, or invest for the future, side hustles can give you extra cash flow to make it all possible.
Let’s look at a few of the most lucrative side hustles — and how you can start seeing bigger numbers in your bank account.
Business consulting
One of the best side hustles is to start doing independent consulting projects with corporate career skills that you already use at your day job. Here are some of the best-paying business consulting side hustles, based on survey data from FlexJobs, including average pay per hour:
- Project manager ($46 per hour)
- Consultant ($46 per hour)
- Account manager ($44 per hour)
Freelance work
If you have corporate experience with digital skills and knowledge work, you can make good money with a side hustle doing freelance projects for online clients all over the world. Whether your “email job” skills are in marketing, design, coding, or writing, there are good opportunities to make money online with a freelance side hustle.
Here are a few of the best-paying freelance side hustles, according to average pay data from FlexJobs:
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- Software developer ($60 per hour)
- Web designer ($39 per hour)
- Technical writer ($38 per hour)
- Video editor ($30 per hour)
Home services and pet care
Do you have a knack for helping people get their home lives sorted out? Lots of people need to hire reliable, professional helpers to make their homes run more smoothly and peacefully.
Here are a few of the best-paying side hustles for home services and pet care, according to earnings data from Angi and Preply:
- Handypersons ($50-$150 per hour)
- Home organizers ($55-$100 per hour)
- House cleaners ($25-$80 per hour)
- Dog walkers ($43 per hour)
The exact amount you can make from a home services side hustle will vary based on your location, prevailing pay rates in your city, and your particular skill set.
Teaching online courses
If you enjoy teaching, coaching, tutoring, and helping people learn new skills, you can make money working from home with online teaching side hustles. Some of these include teaching English to non-native English speakers and people in other countries, or selling business coaching courses online.
- English tutors can earn $15-$25 per hour on Preply, an online platform for language learning. You can charge more per hour if you have certifications or teach specialized, in-demand subjects.
- Some of the best-paid teachers on Outschool, an online education platform, earn $10,000 per month or more.
- If you have the right kinds of corporate experience and technical skills, you can record and sell online teaching content with Udemy. Instead of teaching live classes, you can make ongoing passive income by selling your classes to students who want to learn new career skills.
Can you really double your income with a side hustle?
Keep in mind that most of the pay rates listed for side hustles in this article are averages — you can make more or less than these pay scales. But if you want to double your income with a side hustle, it is possible. For example, let’s say you make $50,000 per year at your day job, or about $25 per hour.
What if you could start a side hustle that earns $50 per hour? If you work 20 hours per week on your side hustle, that’s $1,000 of extra income per week, or $50,000 per year (assuming you take two whole weeks off with no side hustling). Imagine earning an extra $50,000 per year! That is life-changing money. Side hustles can help you save up for a down payment on a house, get out of credit card debt, save for an international vacation, and make all your financial dreams come true.
As you get better at finding projects, getting repeat clients and referrals, and building up your reputation as a reliable, professional side hustle contractor, you could easily raise your rates beyond $50 per hour. Side hustles can help you double your income — and beyond.
Bottom line
The best-paying side hustles can help you earn $50 per hour, or more. Whether you have high-tech career skills, creative talents, or a knack for helping people with home improvement projects or dog walking, well-paying side hustles can help you generate big increases in your bank account balance.
