Side Hustles for Teachers: 9 Ways to Earn Extra Using What You Know

The best side hustles for teachers reuse the skills you already have: tutoring, summer school, selling lesson plans, teaching online classes, writing curriculum, and explaining topics on YouTube. Below are nine options, with the fees each platform takes and pay data where a reliable source exists. Where no source exists, we give no number.

You wouldn't be alone. In the 2015-16 school year, 18% of U.S. teachers had a second job during the school year, according to Pew Research Center's analysis of NCES data. Another 16% worked a non-school job over the summer. For context on the base salary, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median for high school teachers at $72,040 a year as of May 2025, and $63,820 for kindergarten and elementary teachers.

Quick comparison

The fastest money: extra work inside your district

1. Coaching, clubs, and extra duties. The BLS notes that some teachers coach sports or advise clubs before or after school. Ask your district what each role pays. You already work there, so there's no client to find and no platform fee.

2. Summer school. The same BLS page says some teachers work in summer school programs for which they are paid. It's the closest thing to more of your regular job. If you'd rather not teach in July, the options below run on your own schedule.

Tutoring: how to make extra money as a teacher one student at a time

3. Private tutoring. Parents trust a certified teacher, and tutoring is the teaching side hustle with the least setup. You can find clients through word of mouth, local parent groups, or community boards, and you keep everything you charge. Check your district policy first, since tutoring your own current students for pay can be a conflict of interest.

4. Tutoring platforms. If you don't want to find clients yourself, a marketplace does it for a cut. On Wyzant, tutors keep 75% of their posted hourly rate and Wyzant keeps a 25% platform fee. Tutors who refer their own new students get 100% of their rate on those lessons. You set your own price, so look at what other tutors in your subject charge before picking a number.

5. Online classes on Outschool. Outschool lets you design small live classes for kids on almost any topic, from fractions to Minecraft architecture. Its earnings policy says the teacher receives 70% of the class price, and Outschool keeps 30%. Payouts go through PayPal. A class can run again and again once it's built, which makes it a better use of your prep time than one-off lessons.

Selling what you've already made

6. Lesson plans and teaching resources. Every worksheet, unit plan, and slide deck you've made can be a product. Teachers Pay Teachers is a marketplace built for this. Per its become a seller page, checked today:

• Basic Seller: 55% payout, a $0.30 transaction fee per resource, and a $29 one-time fee.
• Exclusive Seller: $59.95 a year, 77.5% payout (80% as an introductory offer until January 1), and a $0.15 fee per resource only on orders under $3.

The catch with Exclusive: according to TPT's seller blog, you must sell your TPT-eligible digital education resources only on TPT. You can still sell physical products, courses, and non-education items like clip art elsewhere. Fees on marketplaces change, so read the current terms before you pick a tier.

Store income builds slowly, so don't count on it for this month's bills. One rule to check: some districts claim ownership of materials you made on school time or with school resources, so read your contract before uploading anything.

If you'd rather make videos than read about it, VidPuff turns a title into a faceless video. No waitlist, cancel anytime.

7. Curriculum writing. Districts, publishers, and edtech companies hire teachers to write units, assessments, and course content, often over the summer. The BLS lists the median for instructional coordinators, the full-time version of this work, at $77,440 a year ($37.23 an hour) in May 2025. Contract curriculum writing pays per project, and rates vary, so ask before you commit.

8. Freelance writing and editing. Teachers write clearly and grade other people's writing all day. That carries over to education blogs, test prep content, and editing. Our freelance writing side hustle guide covers how to land the first client.

The teaching side hustle that pays later: educational YouTube

9. An educational YouTube channel. You already explain the same topics every year. Recording those explanations as videos means they keep working after the school day ends. It's the slowest option on this list, but the niche pays well. In the dataset we use for our YouTube RPM breakdown, Education & Science channels earned a median of $10.22 per 1,000 views, the highest of any category.

Two limits. First, YouTube pays nothing from ads until you join the Partner Program, which needs 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 public watch hours in the past 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the past 90 days, per YouTube Help. Once you're in, you keep 55% of ad revenue on long-form videos, per YouTube's partner earnings overview. Second, if your videos are aimed at young kids, YouTube requires you to mark them as made for kids, and says it's your legal responsibility to comply with COPPA. Content for high schoolers, college students, or adult learners avoids that issue, and kids' content earns far less per view in the same dataset.

You also don't have to be on camera. You can use narration over slides, diagrams, or illustrations. If editing is what stops you, VidPuff takes a video title and drafts the script, narration, scene visuals, music, and captions, then renders a long-form video you review and edit at each stage. Plans start at $25 a month (or pay once from $5, no plan needed), so treat it as a cost you need to earn back. Fact-check every script yourself; your name is on it. For more on channel setup, see how to make money on YouTube.

Check these before you start

1. Your district's outside-employment policy. Some require you to disclose second jobs or bar tutoring your own students.
2. Who owns your materials. Read your contract before selling lesson plans you made for school.
3. Student privacy. Never use student names, photos, or work in products or videos without permission.
4. Your energy in October. Grading and prep already spill into evenings. Pick one side hustle and see if it fits before adding a second. Our guide to making extra money with a full-time job has plans for 5, 10, and 20 hours a week.

Scams aimed at teachers

Teachers get the same job scams as everyone else. The FTC's job scam guide lists the main warning signs: being asked to pay for training, starter kits, or certifications; getting a check and being told to send part of it back or buy gift cards; and unsolicited job offers from strangers. A real tutoring platform never asks you to pay to get students.

Side income is taxable. If your net self-employment earnings are $400 or more in a year, you usually owe self-employment tax on top of income tax. For your own situation, talk to a tax professional.

FAQ

What are the best side hustles for teachers in the summer?

Summer school, curriculum writing, and tutoring are the most common. Summer is also a good time to build TPT resources or record a batch of YouTube videos you can release during the school year.

How can I make extra money as a teacher from home?

Online tutoring on Wyzant, live classes on Outschool, selling lesson plans on Teachers Pay Teachers, freelance writing, and an educational YouTube channel can all be done from home.

Is selling on Teachers Pay Teachers worth it?

It can be if you already have good materials. Basic Sellers keep 55% minus a $0.30 fee per resource. Exclusive Sellers pay $59.95 a year and keep 77.5%, but must sell their eligible digital resources only on TPT.

Can teachers make money on YouTube?

Yes, and education is the best-paying niche in the data we track. It's slow, though. You need to reach YouTube's Partner Program thresholds before ads pay anything.