How much time do you spend commuting to a job each day? It’s not uncommon for Americans to spend 1-2 hours commuting every day, which adds up to about 250-500 hours per year!
A work-from-home job can free up a significant amount of time that can be used for other things, like more quality time with family and friends, or more time to pursue a hobby.
Not only will you be able to save time by working from home, but you’ll also be able to save money on gas, car maintenance, insurance, lunch, and clothes.
There are many significant reasons to work from home, and most people don’t need to be convinced about the perks of working from home. An online job from home is desirable to most employees who currently commute to an office.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work from home for almost 11 years now, and I hope that this list will help you to find an opportunity that may allow you to do the same.
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The Best Work From Home Jobs
We’ve taken a look at a wide variety of work from home jobs for moms (and dads), online jobs for teens and students, both part time and full time.
You can be assured that while not all of these are easy, they are in fact real work from home jobs, not crazy MLM scams. So let’s jump right in.
1. Sales
Some sales jobs offer a lot of flexibility. It really depends on the job, but you may be able to work out of a home office and avoid commuting every day.
Many sales reps are able to use the phone, email, and online conferencing to get the job done. Of course, some sales jobs do require travel, but that’s not always the case.
Another reason why sales is a great opportunity is that there are always sales jobs available. Even when the job market is tight, companies need salespeople.
How Much Can You Make?
According to PayScale, the average salary of an outside sales representative is $49,257.
How to Get Started
You can search Indeed (or any other job board) for remote sales jobs, or go to a company like NexRep that hires for phone-based sales jobs.
2. Bookkeeper
Working as a bookkeeper can be a great job, and it often comes with the flexibility to work from home.
You could get a job as a bookkeeper or start your own bookkeeping business. Starting your own business will give you the chance to work from home, and working for someone else may or may not allow you to work from home.
Working as a bookkeeper can also be a great option because it does not require you to have a college degree. Of course, the specific requirements can vary depending on the job, but many bookkeeping jobs do not require a degree.
How Much Can You Make?
PayScale lists the average salary for a bookkeeper at $49,929.
How to Get Started
If you’re looking for a job, you can search any job board for remote bookkeeping jobs. AccountantList is another great resource for finding jobs, especially remote jobs. Many companies will provide training for entry-level bookkeeping jobs.
3. Freelance Writer
If you enjoy writing, working as a freelance writer may be a perfect fit. As a freelancer, you can work from home or anywhere with an internet connection.
With countless websites and blogs producing new content every day, there is a strong demand for freelance writers. And one of the best things about writing for websites and blogs is that many of your clients will hire you for ongoing work. Once you land enough clients, you won’t need to constantly dedicate time to finding work.
Working as a freelance writer is an entry-level job that doesn’t require specific experience. You could put together a few writing samples and immediately start applying for jobs.
A nice perk of being a freelance writer is the fact that you can write on just about any topic, so it’s possible to use your existing experience and knowledge or write about a topic that you enjoy.
How Much Can You Make?
According to PayScale, the average freelance writer makes $40,299 per year.
How to Get Started
There are a number of job boards that are dedicated to freelance writing and blogging opportunities, including ProBlogger, Blogging Pro, and FreelanceWriting.com. You can set up your own blog and publish articles to serve as writing samples, and then apply to opportunities that you find at job boards.
While the job boards can be helpful, many of the opportunities on those job boards will be somewhat low-paying. Another option is to proactively contact websites and blogs that publish articles from freelance writers. It takes a little more effort, but you can often find better jobs with this approach.
30 Days Or Less To Freelance Writing Success
4. Pet Sitter
While it’s not a typical online job, and the work that you’ll be doing is offline, the internet offers great opportunities for finding clients for pet sitting and dog walking services. Websites like Rover make it easy to create a profile and allow clients to find you.
In my opinion, this is one of the more underrated ways to make money. You don’t need any specific experience and the pay can be quite good. Starting a home-based doggy daycare is something that you may want to consider if you’re an animal lover.
How Much Can You Make?
PayScale lists the average salary of a pet sitter at $30,000.
How to Get Started
Rover is the best platform for promoting your pet sitting and dog walking services. If you want to learn from someone who is making $40,000+ per year with a simple home-based doggy daycare, read How to Become a Pet Sitter.
5. Web Developer
If you have some coding skills, working as a web developer is a natural fit. You could freelance and find your own clients, or land one of the many remote jobs for developers.
If you don’t already have the coding skills or experience, it’s something that you can learn without the need to attend a traditional college. Flatiron School offers online courses (as well as classroom training in some cities) that are intended to teach you everything you need to land a job in just a few months.
And while coding is a perfect opportunity for some people, another option is work as a web designer. Designers typically handle the visual aspect and sometimes the HTML and CSS coding, whereas developers deal with the more complex coding.
How Much Can You Make
The average salary for a web developer is $59,029, according to PayScale, making it the highest-paying opportunity on this list.
How to Get Started
If you have already have some coding ability, there are plenty of job boards that showcase positions for web design and development. See this list of web design/development job boards. On these job boards, you’ll be able to find both freelance and employment opportunities.
6. Graphic Designer
Graphic designers can offer a wide variety of services including logo design, brochure design, illustration, packaging design, social media images, and much more. You can specialize in a certain area or offer a broad range of services.
This is another one that could be done on a freelance basis or as a remote employee. Many companies are hiring remote workers for graphic design positions.
How Much Can You Make?
PayScale lists the average salary for a graphic designer at $44,084.
How to Get Started
Create a portfolio website if you don’t already have one, and you can find graphic design jobs at most of the job boards from the link above for web design jobs.
7. Social Media Manager
If you spend hours on sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest, you probably already have some experience that would allow you to help business owners who don’t have time to manage their own social media profiles.
As a social media manager, you could offer clients a service of managing their profiles for them. Many social media managers will also manage advertising accounts for clients. If you don’t have experience with Facebook Ads or ads on other platforms, there are plenty of online courses that will teach you the ins-and-outs.
There is a lot of demand for social media managers because many businesses recognize the impact that social media can have, but small business owners usually don’t have the time to do the work themselves.
How Much Can You Make?
According to PayScale, the average social media manager makes $49,841.
How to Get Started
To get started, define your services and the social networks that you will use. Many social media managers offer packages with set monthly fees. For example, you might offer a certain number of posts on Pinterest and Facebook for $X00 per month.
The best way to find clients is to start with your personal network. Gain a little bit of experience working for a client or two, and then get more aggressive with promoting your services. You can use a blog and social media to get more exposure for your services.
The Facebook Side Hustle course from Bobby Hoyt teaches you how to run Facebook Ads, which can be a very lucrative service to offer.
8. Virtual Assistant
A virtual assistant (VA) can offer a wide variety of services including some of the other services already mentioned here, like writing and social media management. Many VAs also offer services like blog editing, design of images for social media and blog posts, Facebook group moderation, customer service, and other admin tasks.
While there are a lot of different services that can full under the umbrella of a VA, most VAs specialize and offer a few specific services. For example, some VAs specialize exclusively on managing Pinterest profiles for their clients.
There is a strong demand for quality virtual assistants with so many entrepreneurs looking to outsource tasks to improve their own time management.
How Much Can You Make?
PayScale lists the salary for the average virtual assistant at $37,984. Although that’s on the lower side compared to some of the other options listed here, there’s actually plenty of potential to make very good money as a VA. Some VAs (usually the ones who specialize) are able to charge more than $100 per hour.
How to Get Started
The best way to get started is to define the specific services that you want to offer, and then approach potential clients that you think would benefit from your services.
There are also some great learning resources that will teach you everything you need to know about running a successful business as a VA, like 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success.
9. Transcriptionist
If you’re able to type quickly and accurately, working as a transcriptionist may be a good choice. There is plenty of work available, you can work from home, and the hours are extremely flexible.
Most transcription jobs allow you to work as much or as little as you want, and whatever hours fit your schedule.
Transcriptionists can work in several different fields, like legal, medical, or general transcription. General transcription may involve transcribing from recordings of business meetings or transcribing podcasts or other audio files.
How Much Can You Make?
PayScale only provides data for medical transcriptionists, which have a listed average salary of $32,803.
How to Get Started
Transcribe Anywhere offers courses for general transcription and legal transcription that will teach you everything you need to know to start making money.
10. Teacher/Tutor
Teaching/tutoring has been a way to make money for a long time, but technology now makes it possible to do from home. There are many companies that hire tutors to provide video-based training to students locally or around the world.
Another option is to work as a teacher for a cyber school or virtual school. Some teachers are able to work from home instead of commuting to a school building each day.
The requirements will vary depending on the job. Many of the online tutoring jobs will require a college degree but no teaching experience, but there are some that do not require a degree. Of course, most teaching jobs will require a degree and certification.
How Much Can You Make?
PayScale doesn’t have a separate classification for the online version of these jobs, but it lists the average tutor’s salary at $36,721 (source) and the average teacher’s salary at $48,210 (source).
How to Get Started
There are several different websites where you can apply to work as an online tutor. VIPKid allows you to pick your own hours and pays up to $22 per hour.
11. Flipper
Another very flexible way to make money without a traditional job is to buy and resell items (also known as flipping). Many flippers will shop at yard sales, thrift stores, or on websites like Craigslist, Ebay, and the Facebook Marketplace.
It’s not that hard to find items that are underpriced that you could resell for a profit. Many flippers make most of their money by selling on Ebay or the Facebook Marketplace. There are also other sites and apps like Poshmark that are great for selling certain types of items.
How Much Can You Make?
PayScale doesn’t list any data on income for flippers, but there are people making small amounts of extra money all the way up to six figures.
How to Get Started
If you want to learn from successful six-figure flippers, this free 75-minute workshop is the perfect place to start.
12. Grant Writer
Many non-profit organizations rely on grant money to fund their programs. In order to get that grant money, the organizations must complete proposals that provide details about the organization and the specific ways they will use the money. Some organizations will complete the grant proposals in-house and others will hire a professional grant writer.
A grant writer’s responsibility is to compile all of the data into a format that meets the guidelines of the foundation or entity that will be reviewing the proposals. Some will involve a lot of writing, and others are shorter. (On a side note, my first job after college was working as a grant writer.)
If you want to work as a grant writer from home, the best option is to freelance.
How Much Can You Make?
The average salary for a grant writer is $48,048, according to PayScale.
How to Get Started
Get some experience (you may need to offer your services for free or at a deep discount if you have no experience) and then reach out to non-profit organizations that may be able to benefit from your services.
13. Recruiter
Recruiters help companies to find ideal candidates for job openings, and they are paid by the hiring company. Your options would be to work for a recruiting agency that allows you to work at home (which is not uncommon) or to freelance and start your own business. Freelancing in this industry can be difficult if you don’t have experience.
Recruiters are typically paid on commission, so if you’re able to get results for your clients, you can do very well financially, but it’s not the most consistent income.
How Much Can You Make?
PayScale reports the average salary for a recruiter at $49,421.
How to Get Started
You can check a job board like Indeed for openings. Since recruiters are paid on commission, some companies may be more willing to take a chance on working with you as a freelancer or contractor. You could try reaching out to recruiting agencies and pitch your services.
14. Voice Actor
If you enjoy acting, working as a voice actor or doing voiceovers could be a good fit. There is a lot of work available involving sales videos, commercials, and audiobooks.
How Much Can You Make?
PayScale shows the average salary for voice-over talent as $49,132.
How to Get Started
Most of the work in this field goes to freelancers. You could set up a profile on a site like Fiverr or Upwork to get started quickly, although you’ll need to put in some time and effort to build up your profile and land work consistently.
15. Medical Coder
Medical coders review patient records and insurance records to code the services that have been provided, to handle billing paperwork, and to ensure that records are accurate. There are thousands of different medical services that have codes used for records and paperwork, so medical coders have important roles.
Not all medical coding jobs can be done from home, but home-based opportunities are available from some employers since the work can all be done digitally.
How Much Can You Make?
The average salary of a medical coder is $41,244, according to PayScale.
How to Get Started
See this article, How to Become a Medical Coder, for all of the details about the requirements of the job and how to find work.
16. Customer Service Representative
A lot of companies these days have outsourced their customer service to a remote workforce.
Many of them will offer training on the company and their products or services, and then you can start working full time helping their customers.
How Much Can You Make?
The average salary of a customer service rep is $38,037, according to PayScale.
How to Get Started
For most of these types of positions you’ll need a high school diploma or previous customer service experience.
Check out job boards like Indeed, FlexJobs, and Upwork for remote customer service positions.
17. Blogger – Online Publisher
More and more people are becoming bloggers, and turning it into a full time income instead of just a fun hobby.
This site is just one example of a side income that has been turned into a full time work from home job.
While it won’t probably make a ton right away, if you work hard you can build it into a profitable occupation.
How Much Can You Make?
The average salary of a blogger is $39,344, according to PayScale.
How to Get Started
Check out our article about how to make money with blogging as a side hustle. It can give you a good idea of where to start, what your expectations should be and some ways that you can make money.
Also check out the ebook course, “Blueprint For How To Make Money With A Blog“.
Conclusion
The options covered in this article are only some of the possibilities, of course, but hopefully these 17 jobs have given you some ideas that you can pursue if you’re looking for online jobs at home.
Whether you want to work from home part-time, full-time, or as an occasional side hustle, there are plenty of possibilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are jobs you can do from home?
These days in the digital economy there are a lot of jobs that you can do remotely, part time or full time. Some of our favorites include sales jobs, bookkeeping, freelance writing, pet sitting, web developer, graphic design, social media manager, virtual assistant, transcriptionist, tutoring, voice acting, customer service rep and blogging.
What are the highest paying work from home jobs?
Some of the highest paying work from home jobs can pay six figures. Some high paying careers that allow working from home include medical writers, audit managers, research biologists, directors of business development, directors of quality improvement, environmental engineers, document review attorneys, clinical regulatory affairs directors, online publishers.
What is the best legit work at home job?
Some of the best work from home jobs that aren’t multi level marketing or scams include virtual call centers, freelance writing, transcription, online data entry, insurance jobs, medical jobs, online education and tutoring, search engine evaluators, translators, financial and accounting jobs, art and design careers and social media.
Is work from home legit?
Working from home can be a godsend, but you have to be wary of work at home rip-offs and scams. Not all online jobs are legitimate. Beware of companies that offer to find you an online job for a hefty up front fee. Instead use companies like FlexJobs, UpWork and others to find legitimate work from home jobs.
I am interested in getting a grant. My wife & I are both disabled and living off my disability check.The IRS wont give her a check until my disability ends I am 63 yrs, young and my wife is 58.
I am a single parent. I just found a job that is almost like working from home. I am a package delivery person (very physical, built in workout), and my vehicle is in my driveway. (no commute) I have a uniform (no more work clothes to buy), my workhours vary from day to day, but I am home every day and have time for my kid and hobby. I make extra money from my hobby, but the job pays so good, I really don’t need to anymore. Best job I ever had.