29 Best Cash Jobs for 2024 (Make Extra Cash ASAP)

When you need to make money fast, there is nothing better than cash. And despite the fact that so much work is done online these days, there are still dozens of cash jobs that can help you meet your immediate financial needs.

Most quick jobs for cash do not require any specialized skills or experience. Many of the ideas on this list are side hustles with a very low barrier to entry, so you can start today! Let’s not waste any more time. Here are over two dozen of the best cash jobs available now:

1. Selling Stuff Online

Selling stuff online is a great way to make extra money quickly for a few reasons: it’s super flexible, you probably already have stuff at home you can sell, and there are a bunch of platforms for selling your stuff locally.

You can sell everything from clothes, kids’ toys, furniture, used appliances, and more. This is one of the cash jobs that has multiple benefits. Besides making quick cash, you can also declutter your house.

Here are some of the best places to sell stuff online:

• Facebook Marketplace: Because Facebook has so many users, you have a really wide reach when you sell on Marketplace. You can choose to sell locally online, or you can agree to ship things out, but you’ll need to have PayPal, Venmo, or something similar.
• Craigslist: You can sell almost anything on Craigslist!
• NextDoor: This hyper-local app is a good place to find buyers in your area.
• OfferUp: This selling app is specifically for selling things near you.

Remember, be safe whenever you meet people in person, and never take checks or money orders.

2. Delivery Driver

While technically not a cash job, DoorDash drivers get paid weekly and have an instant cash out option.

DoorDash drivers set their own schedules and deliver food from local and chain restaurants, and there are some serious perks that make this job worth considering:

• You can work as many or as few hours a week as you want.
• You can bring someone with you while you deliver — this keeps the job interesting and fun.
• Drivers keep 100% of their tips.

If you want to learn more about what driving for DoorDash is like, read our DoorDash Driver Review.

3. Pet Sitting

Here’s one of the best cash jobs for pet lovers. Pet sitters can make $25-$50/day to stay in someone’s house and take care of their pets while they’re out of town. Besides feeding the pets and letting them out, you may also need to administer medicine, take the pets on a walk, groom them, etc.

This is one of the best cash jobs for college students, because it’s fairly low stress and won’t interfere with your class schedule. It’s also a great job for college students to do over breaks because that’s when most people are going out of town.

You can start finding potential clients by letting your friends and families know you’re starting a pet sitting side hustle. But if you’re okay with getting paid more than just cash, Rover is a platform that connects pet owners with caregivers near them. You can list services like pet sitting, boarding, and dog walking.

4. Dog Walking

Dog walkers can make anywhere from $10 to $35 for a 30-minute walk. That sounds pretty awesome — take a dog on a short walk, get some exercise, and end up with cash in hand.

The highest-paid dog walkers are located in busy urban areas where they can walk multiple dogs at a time. You can also make good money in suburbs with a high living cost because the owners are often too busy working to regularly walk their dogs.

You can share your services on social media, post in Craigslist or Nextdoor, or find pet owners on Rover.

5. Personal Assistant

Personal assistants get paid to schedule appointments, pick up dry cleaning, shop, and so on. Really, they get paid to do any kind of task that doesn’t have to be done specifically by their client. You run errands for them and get paid cash, Venmo, or some other arrangement.

You can reach out to busy professionals you know and see if they need help, or ask them to pass along your contact info to others. Another idea is to list your services on TaskRabbit. There’s a one-time $25 fee to set up an account, and you can connect with people in your area who are looking for help.

M$M tip: If you’re interested in working remotely, working as a virtual assistant is a flexible job that pays around $500/month per client. It’s similar to a personal assistant, but you’re handling online tasks. Learn more in How to Become a Virtual Assistant in 2024.

6. Cleaning Houses

It may not be the most exciting option, but cleaning houses can be one of the more lucrative cash jobs on this list. The reality is that many people find it easier to pay someone to clean their house than do it themselves.

Someone on my team here at M$M ran a small cleaning service, and she made anywhere from $40-$100/hour. All of her business was word-of-mouth, and she got paid by cash or check on the day she cleaned.

Cleaning someone’s entire house can be pretty physical work, and you might have to deal with some disgusting stuff. But for the most part, this is a straightforward way to get paid cash. You dust, sweep, mop, clean bathrooms, wipe off surfaces, etc.

7. House Sitting

House sitting was one of my favorite cash jobs when I was in college because it was almost like taking a paid vacation to someone else’s house, and the average pay for house sitters is $25-$50/day. House sitters are responsible for things like collecting the mail, watering plants, taking out the trash, etc.

So I know this doesn’t fall under jobs for cash, but if you’re willing to travel and up for a trade, Trusted Housesitters is worth checking out. It’s a platform where you can find homeowners in beautiful areas — think Napa Valley, Santa Cruz, or Breckenridge — where you swap house sitting services for a stay in different parts of the country.

8. Babysitting

Babysitting is one of the first cash jobs that people ever get. It can be a great gig if you’re a teenager, college student, retiree, or side hustlers because you can easily make $20-$60 cash in an evening.

Babysitters are typically paid per hour ranging from $12-$20/hour. Rates vary based on location, but you should also charge based on how many kids you’re watching. Where I’m at in Houston, babysitters average $15/hour watching one kid. But babysitters in Chicago average $17/hour, and ones in Seattle make about $20/hour.

To find babysitting jobs that pay in cash, ask your friends and family to share your contact information. You can also find babysitting gigs on Care.com.

9. Street Musician

Busking is one of the oldest cash-paying jobs out there. If you have an instrument and a little time, you can make some extra cash playing on the street. My friends and I used to go out on St. Patrick’s Day and play outside the bars in Galveston, TX to make extra cash. Maybe it was the kilts or maybe we were really good, but we always made decent money. That’s me below with the drum. 

10. Tutoring

Parents are willing to pay good money to have their kids get the academic support they need. I know this from experience because I used to be a high school teacher. Tutors can make $20-$50/hour tutoring subjects like math, English, science, history, or foreign languages. Test prep tutors, like ACT or SAT tutors, can make upwards of $60/hour or more.

This is one of the best jobs that pay in cash if you’re a teacher, but you don’t have to be a teacher to work as a tutor. The best tutors know their subjects, but more importantly, they know how to explain them. List your services on NextDoor or contact local schools for tutoring jobs that pay cash.

11. Handyman

If you’re good at fixing things around the house, you could make decent money as a handyman. You’ll want to avoid electrical, plumbing, or HVAC work unless you have professional certifications, but this varies state-by-state.

You can make money patching drywall, installing light fixtures, mounting TVs, building furniture, building decks, etc. The point is: find out what is and isn’t legal to do in your state without a license before you get started.

12. Mowing Lawns

This is another classic cash job, and you can make $15-$20/hour mowing lawns.

Getting into a regular routine with your customers is the ideal situation, and you can charge a weekly or monthly fee to care for their lawn. To make even more money, you could add additional services like weeding, edging, etc.

13. Yardwork

When people want their yard to look nice, I mean nice, you’ve got to go the extra mile with weeding, trimming, edging, and raking. The problem is that a lot of people don’t have the time or energy to do it on their own. That’s why this is one of the best jobs that pay in cash.

You can make $20/hour or more. Most people who get paid to do yard work are able to bring their equipment, so keep that in mind when you get started.

14. Snow Removal

To bring in extra cash all year long, you can rotate mowing lawns and yard maintenance with snow removal. Walking door-to-door in your neighborhood and seeing if people want their sidewalks or driveways shoveled is a good way to make some cash. Salting after you’ve shoveled is a nice add-on, and you can charge a little more for that extra service.

15. Craigslist Gigs

Craigslist has had a bad rep, but you can still find cash paying jobs that aren’t scams. The “gigs” section on Craigslist is organized by computer, creative, domestic, crew, event, labor, talent, and writing. These are often one-time cash jobs near you.

To avoid scams, make sure you are getting a full scope of the job before you agree, not accepting checks, and never giving out your personal information.

16. Paint Houses

Professional interior painters charge between $1.50 to $3.50 per square foot, and adding ceiling or trim painting adds an extra $1-$2 per square foot to the job. This is a great cash job if you have an eye for detail and don’t mind painting.

17. Sell Electronics

Selling gently used electronics — think video game consoles, computers, tablets, etc. — can be a good way to make extra cash. You can start by selling things from around your house, but you can branch out and find things at Goodwill or thrift stores to refurbish and sell for even more money online.

18. Sell Food From Your Garden

Selling vegetables, herbs, or cut flowers from your garden is one of the best cash jobs for the summer time, especially if you have the space and enjoy gardening. The concept of urban farming has grown considerably in recent years, so there are now a lot of resources online if you live in an urban area and don’t feel like you have space to make this work.

19. Home Bakery

Home bakeries are having a moment because it’s a way to support micro-businesses while also getting your hands on some delicious treats. You can sell everything from muffins, pies, cookies, and cakes out of your house.

There’s a lot of seasonality to baking too, and you can leverage your social media accounts and share pictures of types of treats you’re making throughout the year.

20. Make-up Artist

One of my readers started a side hustle of doing make-up for weddings and big events. She makes $300-$600/day plus tips. She’s even been flown out to Aruba to do make-up for a destination wedding.

21. Fix Cars

One of the best cash jobs if you’re mechanically inclined is to do small repairs or maintenance on cars. You can make extra money doing basic things like oil and fluid changes. Opening your own garage or becoming a certified mechanic could start to bring in some serious cash.

22. Small Engine Repair

Here’s another cash job if you’re familiar with how engines work. You can get paid cash to fix things like lawn mowers, generators, mopeds, and other types of motorized power equipment. Listing your services on NextDoor would be a good way to get started because your clients will be near you, which could make it easier to do repairs.

23. Bartend

Know how to make an old fashioned? What about a Negroni or whisky sour? Bartenders often make cash tips at the end of the night, or you can work at catered events, like fundraisers, weddings, big parties, etc.

24. Flip Cars

Flipping cars can be a profitable side hustle because the used car market is so hot right now. You’ll need to know how to do some basic repairs and spot a deal, and depending on where you live, there are limitations to the number of cars you can sell in a single year. So you should do your research before getting too involved.

25. Bike Repair

Bike repair would be a great cash job if you live in an area with a lot of cyclists. Actually, since the start of the pandemic, there’s been an uptick in bike riders because it’s an easy and fun way to exercise. All those new bike riders mean there could be a lot of demand in your area to do things like fix flat tires, repair chains, replace brake pads and cables, and so on.

26. Scrapper

This is not an easy job, but you can supplement your income scrapping metal if you know what to look for. To make the most cash, you’ll need to be able to spot the difference between ferrous and nonferrous metals.

Common nonferrous metals are aluminum, brass, copper, lead, and stainless steel. These typically pay more per pound. The most common ferrous metals are iron and steel, which are the least profitable.

27. Sewing

This is one of the best cash jobs if you have intermediate to advanced sewing skills, and you can get paid to tailor or alter clothing. Another option is getting paid to finish quilts or make custom garments.

28. Buy and Sell Sneakers

Have you heard of the SNKRS app? I just learned about it — it’s a Nike app where you get updates of highly coveted new sneakers. People are making crazy amounts of money selling shoes they buy through the SNKRS app. To get started, check out the website Hypebeast to see what’s hot.

29. Sell Firewood

Firewood is measured in cords, which is defined as 128 cubic feet of wood, and a cord of wood ranges from $120-$660 based on the type of firewood, according to HomeAdvisor. Selling firewood is a great way to make extra money if you have trees on your property or have access to recently cut-down trees.

Where Do I Find Jobs That Pay Cash Near Me?

If any of these jobs sound appealing and you want to get paid in cash, here are a few ways to find work:

• Word-of-mouth: Let your friends and family know that you’re starting your side gig and ask them to share your information with people they know. Referrals go a long way!
• Social media: Share your new business idea on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. — social media is a valuable tool to get your name out there.
• Craigslist: You can find legit Craigslist gigs that pay cash. Just go to the “gigs” section and start searching.
• NextDoor: This hyper-local platform connects you with your neighbors, and it’s a great way to advertise your services for free.
• Hand out flyers: You can post flyers around the park, in local community centers, or go door-to-door. Going door-to-door helps people put a face with a name and begins to build trust.

Are Cash-Paying Jobs Illegal?

It’s not illegal to be paid in cash, and cash is a really common way for contractors, mechanics, lawn care people, etc. to be paid. However, you’re still legally responsible for reporting and paying taxes on any cash income.

Not reporting cash wages is a type of tax non-compliance, and it’s a serious issue in the eyes of the IRS that can result in financial repercussions down the road.

The Final Word on Cash Jobs

If you’re looking for quick jobs for cash, the best options are selling stuff from around your house or yard work. Those are things you can probably start ASAP. Just make sure you report any cash as income so you’re penalized at tax time.

If you’re looking for even more ideas, like side hustles that pay $1,000+ a month, check out my list of best side hustle ideas for 2024.

DoorDash Disclaimer: 

• Earning more on certain types of orders (ex. alcohol): Earn more per order as compared to restaurant orders. Actual earnings may differ and depend on factors like number of deliveries you accept and complete, time of day, location, and any costs. Hourly pay is calculated using average Dasher payouts while on a delivery (from the time you accept an order until the time you drop it off) over a 90-day period and includes compensation from tips, peak pay, and other incentives.
• Get paid instantly (DasherDirect): Subject to approval
• Cash out daily (Fast Pay): Fees apply
• Start dashing today: Subject to background check and availability
• Dash anytime: Subject to availability