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45 Great Jobs for Retirees

Published March 30, 2022•Updated November 13, 2024

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Closeup of senior woman's hands arranging magenta roses in a vase on her kitchen counter with blurred background of sink and items on kitchen counter — GrapeImages/istockphoto

After the pandemic stirred a wave of early retirements, many folks are deciding that maybe retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The proportion of retirees heading back into the workforce is at a two-year high, according to The Wall Street Journal, after bottoming out in 2020. And whether it’s loneliness, finances, or simply having too much time on your hands, there are plenty of reasons a job, especially part-time, flexible, and remote work, can start to look good to a retiree. Here are some ideal jobs seniors can pursue (with median hourly wages, where applicable, from ZipRecruiter).

Kris Scott also contributed to this report.

Accountant

Smiling mature woman sitting at a desk in her living room, calculating expenses with living room in the background — Dragon Images/shutterstock

Median Hourly Pay: $26.46 Accounting skills and experience don’t just go away at retirement. Payroll, tax advice, or as-needed consulting can be done part-time. What’s more, it can also be done remotely. Accountemps at Robert Half has guidance for taking on temporary or part-time accounting jobs.

Adjunct Professor

Senior male teacher with face mask teaching at an university, standing next to chalkboard with students and window in background — FG Trade/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $42.83 An adjunct professor is a part-time professor for a college or university, and they make up the majority of instructors in post-secondary higher education institutions. If you have a desire to inform and inspire minds, this could be a great gig for you. It normally requires a bachelor’s or master’s degree with relevant experience in certain areas. For more info, check out Indeed’s article on “How To Become an Adjunct Professor.”

Administrative Assistant

Businessman using online planner on laptop while writing notes with papers and notebooks on desk with a blurred background — Prostock-Studio/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $18.20 Retirees can work as administrative assistants or executive secretaries, whose work includes tasks such as organizing, maintaining an appointment schedule, coordinating meetings, filing, document preparation, bookkeeping, and more. While the median pay isn’t very high, experience and being good at the job can translate to a much higher salary in this field.

Antique Reseller

Closeup of a wooden antique desk in an antique shop with a blurred background of numerous antiques — JackF/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: N/A There’s money to be made buying and selling antique furniture, maybe doing some refurbishing along the way. Knowledge, experience, and contacts can make a difference in profits, and online sales channels such as Craigslist, eBay, and Etsy help move merchandise.

Artist

Median Hourly Pay: Varies Pottery, needlepoint, painting, sewing, and other arts and crafts shouldn’t be confined to gifts for friends and relatives. Consider selling at fairs (particularly around the holidays) and on websites such as Etsy, ArtFire, and others, while working from home or your private studio.

Author

Top view of a mature woman sitting on a grey carpet on the floor, writing into a notebook with light coming through the window — Anna Gorbacheva/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: N/A A long life can mean many interesting stories, and writing can be creatively rewarding. There many options for inexpensive self-publishing these days. Amazon is one of the most high-profile and has a simple how-to guide from its Kindle Direct Publishing group.

Bookkeeper

Median Hourly Pay: $19.43 If you’re a retiree who has always felt proud of your money management skills and has excellent attention to detail, you could be a bookkeeper. Note that computer skills are usually an important part of this job and, while some employers require a bachelor’s degree, others require little more than a high school diploma and demonstrated savviness when it comes to managing money.

Business or Management Consultant

Happy senior man having fun using headphones and laptop at home on a wooden table with a blurred backgrounf od the kitchen — Alessandro Biascioli/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $33.77 (business consultant); $42.19 (management consultant) Did you reluctantly retire and really miss what you used to do? Consider getting back in the game as a business or management consultant. Retirees can leverage a lifetime of experience by giving advice on business practices or how best to manage employees and resources. Many consultants only take on as many projects and/or clients as they feel they can handle.

Customer Service Rep

Senior woman sitting in a wheelchair, working on her laptop with a headset in her living room at home with a blurred background of living room — Motortion/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $17.03 Ideally, customer service should be more than just listening to complaints — it can be more like detective work to help resolve issues. Interested? FlexJobs has a list of companies that hire for remote customer service jobs.

Delivery Person

Senior delivery man checking his smartphone while sitting in a van with a home in the background — Dimensions/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $20.62 Driving packages and documents around can be less work than driving people around. One interesting option for part-time delivery is with Amazon, which promises flexible hours and pay rates from $18 to $25 an hour. With more people working and shopping from home, the need for delivery people has grown substantially.

Docent (or Tour Guide)

Classy mature woman exploring medieval exhibits in a museum through glass cases with stairs and another room in the background — jenoche/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $12-$13 (docent); $15.29 (tour guide) Docents and tour guides have many of the same skills and duties. Often employed at museums, a docent or tour guide’s job is to be familiar with exhibits, provide information to those interested in learning more, and assist with special events or programs. Jobs of this nature look for applicants with great interpersonal skills and a willingness to learn new things. While some docent positions are volunteer, many are paid.

Dog Walker

Median Hourly Pay: $14.38 Dog walking doesn’t just pay — it adds fresh air and exercise into the mix. Put up fliers in local coffee shops, community centers, pet stores, and animal shelters to bring in work, or sign up with Rover or Wag!.

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Editor

Glasses on top of a stack of newpapers on a laptop on a table, grey-tones with a blurred background of a coffee cup and window — BrianAJackson/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $25.36 Editing and rewriting other people’s work can come from Craigslist, Indeed, or a number of other sources and sites, and involve anything from real estate brochures to restaurant menus or small newspaper ads.

Expert

Senior businesswoman sitting on a couch with laptop, working from home with window in the background — Fly View Productions/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: N/A Ever wonder where websites that answer questions get their information? Many employ people part-time to find the answers. JustAnswer pays for expertise answering questions in specific areas and hires everyone from “divorce lawyers and dog vets to Maytag techs and Mercedes mechanics.”

Floral Arranger

Many floral arrangements in glass vases on rustic wooden table in a floral shop — RoBeDeRo/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $17.11 Florists work with beautiful products all day, make people happy — or at least feel better — and get to use their creativity. It helps if applicants walk in with some knowledge of plants and flowers, innate talent, and customer service and time management skills. For interested retirees, Masterclass offers a 30-day session.

Focus Group Member

Median Hourly Pay: N/A For as long as there has been market research, there have been focus groups. These days, many focus groups don’t meet physically; the work is done online, making some focus groups little different from online surveys. Focus group sites worth a look include Schlesinger Group, SIS International, and Storyline Strategies.

Garden Center Employee

Mature female employee attending to plants in garden center with a blurred background of plants — FG Trade/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $15.57 If tending plants and helping others learn about them is your idea of heaven, consider applying at your local nursery. Go even further and get a master gardener certification in your state and you’ll likely be able to make more than the median hourly pay.

Gig Economy Worker

One red car with a person getting inside, in a Lyft Las Vegas Hub with mountains in the background — jetcityimage/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: Varies Uber and Lyft. Rover. TaskRabbit. Shipt. Postmates. The list of gig economy opportunities is long these days. For retirees looking to make a little extra cash, there’s never been an easier path forward, often without any special skills or investment required.

Handyperson

Senior man painting a white picket fence with a suburban home and backyard in the background — Stuart Monk/shutterstock

Median Hourly Pay: $18.36 Are friends and relatives always coming around for help with odd jobs such as building fences or fixing furniture? Get the certifications, licenses, and insurance described by the Association of Certified Handyman Professionals and start making money off those skills.

Home Inspector

Median Hourly Pay: $29.37 Home inspection requires training, and can be tough. Done properly, it may displease the homebuyer, seller, or both. But it also can make a real difference in people’s lives at an important moment.

Home Stager

A staged kitchen and living room in a modern home in neutral light greys and beiges with navy blue accents, with the patio and a lake outside in the background — YinYang/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $23.33 This is a good job for someone with interior decorating skills who can handle tight deadlines and is good at working with others. Home staging typically involves partnering with real estate agents to help them inexpensively redecorate for-sale homes. The Staging Diva has tips for getting started.

Housekeeper

Mature woman lifting a rug while vacuuming floor in the living room with the TV and other items along a brick wall — Rawpixel/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $14.93 Some find a zen-like peace in cleaning. Part-time house cleaning can be lucrative, with flexible hours, and work might be just as easily found independently as by visiting websites for housekeeper recruiting such as Care.com.

Housesitter

Two wooden rocking chairs on the wooden back porch of a lake house during summer with the lake and a small boat area in the background — flyzone/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $30.87 Offering to take care of people’s houses while they are away means often staying somewhere new, but not all placements pay — some people look at housesitting more as a way to travel and save money, since they’re not paying rent, rather than make money. Explore the possibilities on sites such as House Sitters America.

Job Coach

Senior woman working remotely on a laptop on her kitchen table at home with a blurred background of her kitchen — FG Trade/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $13.24 To stay close to a profession without the hassle of a full-time job, consider mentoring or career coaching someone just starting in the business. LinkedIn has advice on becoming a career coach.

Library Aide or Assistant

Looking down a row of books in a library with a blurred background of a clean, white floor, a white wall, and windows — Thi Soares/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $14.11 Love books, quiet spaces, and helping others? Training requirements for this job are generally minimal and job duties involve working the circulation desk to aide in lending and collecting books, periodicals, videotapes, and other materials.

Online Instructor

A Row of desktop computers with seats on a table in a public library with a blurred background of shelves of books — stevecoleimages/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $24.96 OnlineCollege.org has a guide to get people started teaching online, and the National Education Association has advice on teaching students online. Sites such as Udemy and Teachable allow instructors to create their own courses and earn money based on their success.

Park Ranger

Median Hourly Pay: $18.51 Fresh air, scenery, and wildlife — sound like an appealing workplace? Some park ranger jobs require a degree in a related field such as forestry, and often emergency training as well.

Parks Service Worker

Beautiful crystal clear pool with several large boulders on the Sabinal River with amazing very bright fall foliage at Lost Maples State Park, Texas — Richard McMillin/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $25.61 You don’t have to be a ranger to work in a national or state park. You can help oversee a visitors’ center, man a gift shop, and more. Many seasonal jobs are available in our nation’s parks, too. Find out more at NPS.gov.

Patient Advocate

Closeup of a senior husband and wife holding hands in a loving manner — stefanamer/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $18.40 Do you have a heart for helping? Patient advocates do just that — listening to patients’ problems and concerns and helping them navigate the hospital experience. Job duties include responding to complaints, explaining hospital policies and procedures, providing information on coverage, helping patients find community services, and mediating a concern between you and your medical team.

Personal Chef

Mature male chef preparing numerous vegetables on a table with a laptop in a kitchen at a home with the kitchen counter is in the background — South_agency/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $23.51 For people who enjoy cooking and are good at it, a gig as a part-time personal chef may be a good fit. Cooks must be able to accommodate personal needs and tastes and meet deadlines.

Pet Sitter

Closeup of a senior woman hugging her black dog while sitting in a chair outside with a blurred background of trees and plants — Lisa5201/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $12.11 Like house-sitting, a lot of pet-sitting opportunities offer a place to stay instead of money. But with so many owners who spoil their pets like children, there is money to be made by building up clientele and courting word-of-mouth referrals, especially.

Postsecondary Teacher

Entrance to a community college building during a sunny, spring day — crisserbug/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $16.07 It’s not only university professors with master’s degrees who can create and teach college classes. Community adult education centers and community colleges often use people with bachelor’s degrees and life experience.

Project Manager

Focus on a senior businesswoman looking through documents with a blurred background of an office — Portra/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $37.54 If most of your career has been spent managing projects, don’t leave that behind entirely. Stay connected in your industry and offer your services for contract project management work. The website Upwork can help find work.

Public Service

Closeup of a microphone and a seat in a conference room for a city council meeting with a blurred background of several other people sitting in the room — Semen Salivanchuk/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: Varies Give back with public service. The part-time compensation for serving on a school board or city council counts for more knowing you’re doing something worthwhile for the community.

Public School Teacher

Mature female teacher with a face mask and laptop on a teacher desk looking at viewer with a blurred background of a classroom of children sitting at individual desks — FG Trade/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $20.06 Perhaps you’ve heard — the U.S. is facing an ever-looming teacher shortage. If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at teaching public school, now might be the time to get involved.

Recruiter

Median Hourly Pay: $22.31 Sites such as LinkedIn and Monster advertise jobs and find applicants, but there is no substitute for experienced people who know what a company needs. Recent retirees may be in the perfect position to help recruiters and headhunters. PayScale has insight into what it’s like to work in recruiting.

Repair Person

Median Hourly Pay: $15.69 For those who understand how things tick, literally as well as figuratively, there’s money to be made fixing everything from watches and clocks to lawnmowers and sewing machines. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sees modest growth in the sector through 2024.

Research Assistant

Senior male scientific researcher closely looking at a vial of liquid while holding it and sitting at a bench with items in the lab and windows — l i g h t p o e t/shutterstock

Median Hourly Pay: $20.58 Research assistant is a good job for people who love finding and evaluating information. LinkedIn lists thousands of open research assistant positions in towns and cities nationwide in academic and corporate settings. Pay can depend a great deal on qualifications, experience, and sector.

School Bus Driver

Closeup of a yellow school bus parked in front of a school playground with the school in the background — DavidPrahl/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $16.29 Many school districts across the country are also having a tough time filling school bus driver positions. If you’ve got the temperment to deal with noise and children, check out the school bus driver positions currently available on ZipRecruiter.

Tax Preparer

Median Hourly Pay: $19.07 If you’ve spent another tax season being asked by friends and relatives for help, you probably have the skills and experience to be paid for it. Anyone can be a tax preparer, so long as they have a preparer tax identification number from the Internal Revenue Service.

Translator

Median Hourly Pay: $28.90 Writing or speaking another language is a huge asset in many sectors, including tourism, government services, and business services. The BLS shows strong growth for translation through 2024.

Tutor

Smiling senior businessman with glasses sitting at desk, looking directly into webcam with bookcases in the background — fizkes/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $22.08 There are lots of tutoring services in need of people, including Kaplan, Golden Voice English, and Chegg, with online tutoring being especially in demand now.

Usher

Median Hourly Pay: $10.34

Retirees who love the performing arts or sporting events might find that they’d love an ushering job. ZipRecruiter currently has more than 4,500 open usher positions.

Voiceover Talent

Closeup of a microphone while a mature woman speaking into it in a studio with a bright light with a blurred background of audio equipment — Nicola Katie/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: $31.65 If you believe you have the pipes to do voiceover work, such as for audiobooks or training videos, VoiceBunny has advice.

Youth Sports Officiant

Referee whistle hanging in front of a blurred soccer ball on field — snowflock/istockphoto

Median Hourly Pay: Varies Have a love of sports, know the rules, and want to encourage young athletes to follow those rules in a sportsmanlike manner? Lots of school districts across the nation are also having a tough time finding youth sports officiants to monitor games. Call your local district to find out if there are any positions open.

More Resources …

Mature woman using a laptop while sitting on a sofa in the living room of her home with plants and home furnishings in the background — Inside Creative House/istockphoto

Whether you found a job on this list you’d like to look into or not, it can help to have more resources to get started. Here are a number of websites that cater to retired job seekers.

Retirees should also consider signing up at FlexJobs, which offers a number of opportunities for those who need more flexibility in their schedule or want to work from home.

Need more career tips? We have a lot more stories right here.

Meet the Writer

Geof Wheelwright

Geof Wheelwright is a former Senior Editor at MSN Travel, as well as being a longtime journalist who has contributed to the Financial Times, Newsweek, The Guardian and a host of other newspapers and magazines. But most of all, Geof is a dad who has spent many years finding the best answer to the one question facing all parents on a family trip: Are we there yet”? The answer is always one word: “Almost.”

“