Handily enough, there are plenty of quick cash paying gigs out there, which anyone can do to generate an extra income.
After the financial crisis in 2009, something called the “gig economy” emerged. The gig economy, also known as the “sharing economy,” refers to companies, like Lyft, Uber, Task Rabbit, Airbnb and even short task sites, that employ workers on a temporary basis to offer a wide variety of services.
Services offered include things like delivery, rentals, ridesharing and odd jobs.
You could be one of these workers and earn a side income doing jobs in your local area. Some of these jobs near you may even pay cash the same day on the spot.
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In a recent study, it was found that almost a quarter of all Americans, 24% to be exact, earned some money through these digital platforms, like UberEats and TaskRabbit.
Many people work for these companies to earn a little extra spending money; others are on a low income and use these paying gigs out of necessity.
Whatever your financial situation, you can be part of that ¼ of the country, and use these platform to make a few extra hundred each month – or even a $1,000 plus in some cases.
And it’s not just these companies in the gig sharing economy that offer these paying side hustles.
There are paid research studies and focus groups you can participate in, and sperm, egg or plasma donation centers that pay you for donations.
Table of Contents
Side Jobs to Make More Money
So if you’re looking for paying gigs nearby, there are plenty of opportunities out there – and we cover 101 of them below.
Let’s take a look at some local side jobs that you can do to get some quick cash near you.
Deliver Food
- Pays: $10 to $25 an hour
Let’s start with a popular one; food delivery.
Whether it’s groceries, food from a local restaurant or fast food chain, you can get paid to deliver food to people’s homes and offices.
Basically, your job is to accept orders within an app, and then visit the restaurant, fast food place or grocery store to pick up the items that the customer ordered.
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Then, you’ll deliver them to the customer and get paid.
Pay varies. For example, UberEats pays around $10 an hour, according to figures reported on Glassdoor.
On-demand grocery delivery service Shipt, on the other hand, pays $25 an hour. EatStreet pays anywhere from $12 to $20 an hour.
Of course factors, like how many deliveries you pick up will also impact your earnings.
Here are a few places to find food delivery jobs:
We have a review of UberEATS, so check that out here.
Also, we have a review of Shipt, which you can read here.
Deliver Packages
- Pays: $8 to $71 per hour
Delivering packages is another easy local gig that pays.
Pay varies depending on the company you work for.
For example, if you drive for Amazon Flex, which involves delivering Amazon packages, you’ll earn from $18 to $25 an hour. With Postmates, you get paid up to $25 an hour.
Roadie, on the other hand, pays anywhere from $8 to $50 per job, and for long distance jobs, which include oversized items, you could earn as much as $650.
The company you deliver through, along with how many deliveries you make each month, will affect how much money you make.
As a delivery driver, you’ll be responsible for delivering a wide range of items, from furniture to office supplies.
Like with food delivery, delivering packages is a flexible job that you can easily fit in around your schedule.
Here are a few places where you can find work as a delivery driver:
- Amazon Flex (Learn more about Amazon Flex, and how you could earn $700 in one week by reading our Amazon Flex Pay)
- Postmates
- Roadie
- Deliv (No longer working!)
- GoShare (you’ll need a truck or a van to be a Driver for GoShare, but if you just have a car, then you can also sign up as a Helper.)
- Burro
- Favor
- Peership
- Doorman
- CitizenShipper
- Shyp
Babysit
- Pays: $7.72 to $15.47 an hour
If you love kids, then you might want to work as a babysitter. There are tons of companies out there that connect families looking for childcare, with babysitters who’re looking for work.
Pay varies from job to job. According to figures from PayScale, babysitters earn $10.20 an hour, on average. And they can earn anywhere from $7.72 to $15.47 an hour according to reports on the site.
Check out our post on babysitting jobs here to learn more about making money as a babysitter and for more babysitting job opportunities.
Drive People Around
- Pays: $14 to $30 an hour
If you have a car and you don’t mind driving people around, then consider providing a taxi service.
You’ll give rides to people in your local area and get paid in return.
How much you’ll make varies, depending on factors like the company you work for, how many lifts you give and where you live.
According to figures reported on Glassdoor, driving for Uber pays $14 an hour, on average. But pay can range anywhere from $5 an hour to $30 an hour.
Drivers for Lyft, another transportation company, earn around $15 an hour. But pay can range anywhere from $5 an hour to $30 an hour. Also, there’s an earnings calculator on the Lyft website that you can use to determine how much money you could make driving in your area.
HopSkipDrive pays up to $30 an hour.
What’s great about this job is that it’s super flexible and you can take on as many lifts or as few as you want to.
Plus you don’t, generally, need any experience or qualifications, other than a clean driving record to work for these companies either.
Here’s where you can find jobs driving people around:
Rent Out Your Car
- Pays: $500 to $800 a month
Does your car often just sit in the driveway or garage?
If so, then why not rent it out?
By renting out your vehicle, you can make hundreds of dollars each month.
One of the companies below, Getaround says that the average car owner makes $6,000 a year!
Turo, another company, says that if you rent out a car, which has a $20,000 market value, for 15 days a month, you’d make around $6,500 a year.
Car rental company Hyre Car says drivers can earn $35 a day, $230 a week or $800 a month renting out their car.
So make some money from your car and rent it out with one of the companies below:
Do Handyman Work, Running Errands and Other Odd Jobs
- Pays: $10 to $44 an hour
From cleaning to furniture assembly, to running errands, there are plenty of handyman jobs and other odd jobs that pay locally.
So if you’re wondering “where can I find labor gigs near me?” or “can I get paid to run errands and do odd jobs?”, then check out the companies below.
With these companies you can get paid to do a plethora of side gigs, like:
- Handyman work
- Running errands
- Helping people to move
- Cleaning
- Furniture assembly
- Other odd jobs
How much you’ll earn varies a lot, depending on factors like the company you work for, what jobs you do, and how many jobs you take.
For example, if you pick up handyman work, then, according to figures reported on PayScale, you’ll earn around $20 an hour, on average. But, according to the website, you can earn anywhere from $12 to $44 an hour as a handyman.
On the other hand, if you’re a Tasker on TaskRabbit, and complete tasks, like helping people to move, cleaning and furniture assembly (there’s handyman work available too), then you’ll earn $10 an hour, according to figures reported on Glassdoor.
Bellhops, which is a service that helps people to move, pays its movers around $21 an hour.
Here are a few places where you can find work as a handyman, running errands or doing other odd jobs and labor tasks:
Rent Out Your Home or Spare Bedroom
- Pays: $200 to $10,000+ a month
If you travel a lot for work, have a spare bedroom, or just travel a lot in general, then consider renting out your room or entire property. You could earn $100s or even $1000s a month!
How much you earn depends on the company you use to rent out your property, how much you charge for rent, the type of property you rent out and how often you rent your place out.
The most well-known company is, arguably, Airbnb where you can easily rent out your property on the platform.
It’s a super popular website for travelers looking to rent a place, so finding interested renters isn’t that hard.
You can use the Airbnb calculator here to estimate your earnings.
According to reports, almost 50 percent of all Airbnb hosts make more than $500 a month. And many make more than $10,000 a month.
Here are a few places to rent out your property or a spare room:
Participate in Focus Groups
- Pays: $20 to $400+ per study
Next on our list is focus groups.
These are something that almost anyone can participate in and earn money from. Basically, participating in a focus group involves discussing a product or service with a group of people.
Companies use this feedback to improve or to develop products and services.
In return for participating in the focus group, you get paid in cash or gift cards. Unlike online surveys, focus groups tend to take place in a physical location. This means that they’re ideal if you’re looking for quick paying cash gigs nearby.
Pay can range anywhere from $30 to $400 or more, in some cases.
The two main types of focus group are:
- In-person: You’ll visit a local facility where you and a group of people, which, on average, can range anywhere from 7 to 20 people, will give your feedback. The study can last anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours. Generally though, most focus groups last around 40 minutes.
- Shop Along:You and a researcher will go shopping. You do your shopping as you normally would and the researcher observes your shopping behavior and habits. If you have to buy a specific item or shop at a particular store, then the researchers may also pay for the product and, in some cases, allow you to keep it.
Here are a few places that hire people to participate in focus groups:
Donate Eggs
- Pays: $3,000 to $15,000+ per donation
If you’re looking for paying gigs near you, then consider donating eggs.
Donating eggs isn’t the quickest way to make money, but it can be quite lucrative. You can earn from $3,000 to $15,000 or more per donation.
It’s also one of the more fulfilling ways to make a side income since you help people who are struggling with fertility issues or are unable to have children without an egg donor.
To donate eggs, you will need to meet certain requirements, which vary from place to place.
Generally, donors need to be 21 to 30 years old. Some companies, however, will accept eggs from donors aged 18 to 35.
There are other criteria you’ll have to meet, such as having a healthy BMI and having regular monthly periods.
Since, as we mentioned above, the requirements vary from company to company, make sure you check the criteria for the particular place you plan to donate through before you submit an application.
You can donate eggs up to six times.
What’s great about donating eggs is that there are so many places that do it, so you’re likely to be able to find a center, bank or company near you that pays for egg donations.
Here are a few centers, egg banks and other companies that pay for egg donations:
Check out our post on donating eggs for money here. In this post, we cover places where you can donate eggs, and tell you exactly how the whole process works, including how long egg donation takes and how the process of actually donating the eggs works.
Donate Sperm
- Pays: $280 to $1,500 a month
Donating sperm can be very lucrative. There are, however, requirements that donors have to meet.
For example, you’ll generally need to be between the ages of 18 and 39 years old. Also, donors need be at least 5’7” to 5’8” tall, and some banks require donors to be taller than that – although some banks may allow shorter donors if the donor fits the other criteria.
There are other requirements too, which vary from place to place.
So make sure that you check the requirements for the place you plan to donate to.
Check out our post on donating sperm for money to learn more about the process.
How much you can make varies depending on which center you donate to, and a few other factors, such as your age.
California Cryobank, for example, says you can make up to $1,500 a month donating sperm.
The Phoenix Sperm Bank pays $70 per donation.
The Sperm Bank of California pays donors $125 for each acceptable sperm sample, and the bank says that most donors earn from $400 to $600 a month.
Here are a few sperm banks that accept donations:
- Sperm Bank Directory
- Fairfax Cryobank
- Phoenix Sperm Bank
- California Cryobank
- Xytex
- The Sperm Bank of California
Donate Plasma
- Pays:$280 to $400 a month
Plasma is the yellow liquid component of blood, and it makes up 55% of the total blood volume.
Plasma is in high demand, so you can easily get paid for donating it.
While donating plasma doesn’t yield quite as much money as donating sperm or eggs, it’s still a good way to make money on the side.
As with donating sperm or eggs, to donate plasma, you need to meet certain requirements.
For example, you generally need to be at least 18 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds. There are other requirements too, which vary depending on the center that you donate through.
Another thing that varies is how much you earn.
For example, with BioLife Plasma Services you earn $70 or more per week.
CSL Plasma says that donors can earn $400 a month.
To learn more, read our post on donating plasma for money.
Become a Pet Sitter
- Pays: $8 to $25 or more per hour
Do you love animals?
Well, you could get paid to look after them!
Looking after friendly dogs, cute cats, and other animals is a great way to make money.
You could earn anywhere from $8 to $25 or more per hour.
On PetSitter.com, for example, it’s common to see job posts that pay $8 to $20 an hour and for some jobs pay is negotiable.
Rover claims that dog sitters can earn up to $1,000 a month.
On Care.com, you can earn from $10 to $25 an hour.
According to figures on PayScale, dog sitters earn an average of $13.36 an hour, but can earn anywhere from $8.26 to $24.47 an hour.
Here are a few places you can find pet sitting jobs:
Become a Mystery Shopper
- Pays: $8 to $25 an hour
As a mystery shopper, you visit local businesses and retailers and then give feedback on your experiences.
According to figures from JobMonkey, mystery shoppers earn anywhere from $8 to $25 an hour or more.
Here are a few places where you can find work as a mystery shopper.
- IntelliShop
- BestMark
- Sinclair Customer Metrics
- Market Force
- Experience Exchange
- SurveyMini
- Mobee
- EasyShift
- iSecretShop
- Field Agent
Check out our post on 200 Mystery Shopping Jobs: The Ultimate List of Legit Companies That Pay You to Shop and Dine.
It’s a great resource for mystery shopping jobs and it also tells you more about what the job entails.
Offer House Cleaning
- Pays: $8 to $24 an hour
House cleaning is another local gig that almost anyone can do.
According to figures from PayScale, the average pay for house cleaning is $11.04 an hour but can range anywhere from $8.17 to $24.27.
Here are a couple of places where you can find work as a housekeeper:
Also, consider using social media platforms, like Facebook to find groups and to advertise cleaning services in your area.
Become a Research Study Participant
- Pays: $8 to $45 an hour or more
Many universities pay students and members of the general public to participate in research studies and surveys.
So you could help researchers to make important discoveries, all while earning money.
You’ll need to check the eligibility requirements for each university before you apply for a study.
Pay ranges from $8 an hour to $45 an hour, depending on the university you work with and the study you participate in. Some universities pay per study.
For example, The Center for Behavioral and Decision Research at Carnegie Mellon University pays people $10 an hour, on average, for in person studies.
On the other hand, the Stanford Graduate School of Business pays $25 an hour, on average.
And the Boston University Behavioral Lab pays between $10 and $20 an hour.
Here are a few places where you can get paid to participate in research studies:
- Center for Decision Sciences Columbia Business School
- Northwestern University Department of Psychology
- UCLA Anderson School of Management
- Harvard University Psychology Study Pool
- Stanford Graduate School of Business
- Harvard Business School
- Georgetown University
- Vanderbilt University
- Columbia Business School
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- The Department of Psychology at Chicago University
- American University Psychology Department
- University of Colorado Boulder
- Boston University Behavioral Lab
- The University of Texas at Austin Department of Psychology
Check out our post on paid research studies here for more opportunities.
Be a Medical Trial Subject
- Pay: Varies
Researchers require medical guinea pigs to participate in medical studies.
Pay varies, but it can be as much as $100 to $200 a day!
Here are a few places where you find opportunities to participate in medical research:
Rent Out Your Stuff & Empty Space for Storage
- Pay: Varies
We mentioned renting out your car or home, but those aren’t the only things that you can get paid for. You can also get paid for renting out items like household tools, party supplies, electronics, and musical instruments, basically anything!
Consider renting out your stuff on one of these platforms:
- Zilok
- Rentah
- Neighbor.com (Rent your garage, parking space, and other rooms to store people’s cars, boats, RVs and otehr stuff.)
Find Local Gigs on Craigslist
And finally, our bonus tip, if you’re wondering where to find quick paying side cash gigs in your area, is to check out Craigslist.
It can be a great place to find jobs near you, like:
- Housecleaning jobs
- Handyman work
- Helping people to move
- Furniture assembly
- Pet sitting
And it’s so easy to find work in your area.
Just check out the “jobs” section on the page for your city or nearest city.
Closing Thoughts
Hopefully, this list will help you find local side jobs easier and faster.
There are so many ways to make quick cash in your local area; you just need to know where to look for paying gigs.Some of these side jobs pay you on the same day on the spot.
Bookmark this post so you can use it as a reference next time you’re looking for quick cash paying gigs near you.