Many seniors want to continue working even when they have the option of retirement. Some need the money, and some simply feel they can still continue working and feel capable of contributing. The best jobs for seniors can meet both of these goals at the same time.
Luckily, there are various part-time and full-time jobs you can seek out as a senior over 60. Keeping a job is an excellent option for stretching out your savings, engaging in the community, finding new challenges, and staying active.
Best Jobs for Seniors Locally
If you want to keep your routine and do some work that will have a positive impact on your local community, here are some of the best jobs for seniors that you can look for locally.
1. Parking Attendant
This is a great option if you’re looking for a simple job that lets you sit most of the day while doing repetitive tasks. Parking attendants sit in a booth throughout the day and charge people for their parking fare. You can find a position on the beach, hotel, or public parking facilities.
💰 Annual pay: $20k – $35k
2. Event Planners
Event planning is all about being organized, understanding the key factors affecting your work, and solving problems on time. Most seniors have lots of experience, and they’ve organized many events in the past, including anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, and parties. Why not do this for someone else while making money in the process?
💰 Annual pay: $40k – $94k
3. Courier Drivers
Courier drivers deliver various goods to and from warehouses, stores, restaurants, private homes, markets, etc. The growth of services like GrubHub and Amazon Flex has opened up many positions for courier drivers. Drivers are responsible for delivering the goods safely within set time frames.
💰 Annual pay: $30k – $39k
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4. Retail Associates
Retail associates or retail sales associates help customers that walk into stores. Some of their main duties are greeting people, helping them find the merchandise they need, answering questions, showing how products work, and making returns.
💰 Annual pay: $21k – $44k
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5. Teaching
One of the ways seniors can use their accumulated knowledge and experience is to teach. Community centers and colleges need temporary teachers or instructors for general interest or professional development. Visit the local community center for seniors or college to see what they offer and create a class based on your knowledge and experience.
💰 Annual pay: $47k – $69k
6. Tour Guides
If you love the place where you live and want to share some exciting locations, sights, natural sights, restaurants, or historical monuments with others, you could consider becoming a tour guide. These positions require some basic geography, history, and economic knowledge. It’s also a good choice if you have good public speaking and communication skills.
💰 Annual pay: $28k – $40k
7. School Bus Driver
Seniors who love driving and spending time with kids can do both by becoming bus drivers. Driving a school bus requires exceptional driving skills, and you need to be able to enforce school rules and maintain order while driving adolescents to school. You must have a clean driving record and a commercial license.
💰 Annual pay: $30k – $65k
8. Secretary
There’s a wide range of secretarial positions in different sectors, including government offices, schools, companies, etc. You can find a job as an executive, medical, or legal secretary, which all require specific knowledge you can quickly acquire.
Secretaries handle tasks like talking with the public, vendors, or clients, managing schedules, organizing calendars, and scheduling meetings.
💰 Annual pay: $25k – $44k
9. Paralegal
Paralegals support lawyers by handling several tasks like maintaining files and documents, organizing paperwork, doing legal research, writing reports, etc. There’s a growing demand for paralegals, and the current workforce can’t keep up with the numbers, meaning seniors with the right skills can easily find an open position.
💰 Annual pay: $37k – $88k
10. Receptionist
Receptionists are the welcoming face of businesses, and they handle tasks like answering phone calls, taking notes, greeting visitors, and giving information. Most available receptionist positions are in social assistance and health care, but there are opportunities in many other sectors. Check the local nursing homes, hospitals, government institutions, and businesses for open positions.
💰 Annual pay: $30k – $47k
Best Jobs for Seniors Part-Time
Part-time jobs are a great option if you don’t want/cannot work full-time but want to make some additional money.
11. Nanny
Nannies take care of people’s children while they’re away. Sometimes, they live in the child’s home for a couple of days at a time or make visits. Nannies have to take care of the children, watch them play, keep up with their sleep schedules, feed them, help with light housework, and help them with school assignments.
💰 Annual pay: $30k – $75k
12. Consulting Work
Many seniors have a rich work history, a wealth of knowledge in their fields, and various accomplishments. This knowledge and skills are very valuable, and you can share them with companies that need guidance in specific scenarios or are going through transitions. Consultants can earn great money and usually have flexible work schedules and work part-time.
💰 Annual pay: $75k – $130k
13. Bookkeeping
Accounting and bookkeeping are among some of the best jobs for seniors. Many small companies need part-time bookkeepers. What’s even more convenient for seniors is that they can get a flexible schedule while getting a great hourly rate.
These jobs also let seniors move around and meet new people. You can keep the work volume to the number of clients you feel able to handle, making it an ideal part-time job for people with less energy.
💰 Annual pay: $32k – $57k
14. Housekeeping
Housekeepers maintain various facilities, including private homes, residential facilities, hotels, motels, etc. Their main futures include sweeping, vacuuming, mopping floors, removing garbage, changing the sheets, dusting, and restocking amenities if there are any.
Housekeeping can be part-time or full-time, but seniors should only focus on part-time endeavors as these jobs can be physically challenging.
💰 Annual pay: $9k – $21k
15. Back-Up Driver
Transportation services like Lyft and Uber often seek new independent drivers and want to expand into different markets. These services let you set your work hours and have absolute flexibility. Simply put, you earn how much you drive, and that’s why so many people over 50 are driving Ubers.
💰 Annual pay: $25k – $54k
16. Pet Sitters
Pet sitters are similar to nannies or babysitters, but they watch people’s pets while they’re not home. Like nannies, they sometimes watch people’s pets for multiple days while on holiday or make daily visits. Their duties are feeding, walking, cleaning, and playing with pets. This work is ideal for animal lovers.
💰 Annual pay: $27k – $72k
17. Handyman/Handyperson Services
Physically fit 60-year-olds with handyman skills can help people with various repairs and home jobs. Many companies are looking for handy people, or you can become an independent contractor or find work on platforms like TaskRabbit that operate like Uber but offer repair services.
💰 Annual pay: $32k – $62k
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18. Dental Assistant
In some states, you don’t need any experience or education to become a dental assistant. However, some states require you to go through an accredited training program to qualify for the position. Dental assistants perform various tasks like maintaining patient records, sterilizing equipment, and getting dental supplies.
💰 Annual pay: $31k – $54k
19. Registered Nurse
Healthcare employees are in high demand, and this includes registered nurses. The expected growth of registered nurse positions in the US is estimated at 12%, which is way higher than the average projected growth across all jobs[1]. However, these positions require the latest training, education, and a nursing license.
💰 Annual pay: $61k – $98k
20. Orderly
Orderlies are in demand in hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare institutions. Their responsibility is to maintain and clean the environment and help transport or move patients. It’s important to mention that orderlies spend their work hours on their feet and must be physically ready.
💰 Annual pay: $27k – $110k
Best Jobs for Seniors Who Want to Work From Home
Work-from-home jobs are an excellent option for seniors that can’t go outside or have difficulty engaging in physical activities. There are many ways you can make money online if you have basic computer skills.
21. Blogging/Writing
If you’re passionate about writing, you can write books, blogs, poems, songs, or anything else from the comforts of your home. Take your free time to be creative and use your life experience as inspiration to come up with amazing stories. You can start your own blog or work for someone else. You can write articles and other web content. If you’re writing a book, you can publish it online or look for a publishing deal.
💰 Annual pay: $30k – $70k
👉 Learn more: Explore a curated list of part-time jobs that fit seamlessly into your home environment.
22. Administrative Assistant/Virtual Assistant Roles
Administrative assistants give clerical support to organizations. Many administrative assistant positions allow you to work from home. The main duties include taking calls, managing calendars, scheduling meetings, contacting partners, organizing documents, tracking inventory, and taking notes.
💰 Annual pay: $35k – $70k
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23. Customer Service/Support
Many companies need customer service agents that work from home. The job requires you to take phone calls, receive emails, or talk to people on video calls and help them with their issues. You will need basic computer skills, exceptional communication skills, patience, and problem-solving abilities to do this job effectively.
💰 Annual pay: $35k – $100k
24. Finance and Accounting
You can easily find a finance or accounting job that you can do from home if you’re good with numbers and have experience in this area. Work in this industry includes various tasks like paying bills for people, organizing financial records, handling accounts payable, preparing taxes, etc. You can work for individuals or larger companies.
💰 Annual pay: $42k – $100k
25. Editing & Proofreading
If you have a thing for spelling, grammar, and literature, finding an editing job might be the right way to go. Editors spend time in front of their computers editing, proofreading, and reviewing various types of texts and approving them before they’re published. You can find full-time positions or work as a freelancer and organize your own work schedule.
💰 Annual pay: $46k – $95k
26. Translation Work
Translators and interpreters write, read, and speak fluently in (at least) two languages. Their job is to convert the information they’ve received in one language into another. Finding translation work shouldn’t be difficult if you speak multiple languages fluently. The job comes in different formats; some people translate documentation, others translate blogs, and some translate in real-time.
💰 Annual pay: $36k – $100k
27. Online Music Teacher
Whether you’re a guitar, saxophone, piano, bass, ukelele, or violin player, you can turn your knowledge into money online by giving private lessons. The best thing about it is that you don’t need a music degree to teach people. Of course, if you have one, you could get paid even more and work as a part-time teacher at music schools.
💰 Annual pay: $44k – $60k
👩🏫 Learn more: From harnessing your musical talents on Outschool to embracing the ease of teaching English with VIPKid, there are diverse ways to turn skills into income from the comfort of home.
Best Jobs for Seniors Volunteering
You can easily find meaningful volunteer work if you want to work as a senior and help your community. Here are the best jobs for seniors who want to start volunteering.
28. Community Gardening
Many cities have local community gardens where you can spend your spare time making the most of your green thumb and love nature. Activities include seed packing, making plant cages, maintaining gardens and plants, event planning, logistics, and educating people on gardening. You can work on your passion and relax while giving something back to the community.
29. Animal Shelters
Thousands of shelters offer volunteer opportunities, including caring for animals, offering companionship to animals, creating policies, getting out in the field to help people, offering support over the phone, etc. This kind of volunteer work is an excellent option for senior animal lovers and doesn’t require specific skills.
30. National and Local Charities
You can volunteer with a wide range of charities that help feed people, assist veterans, build homes, help sick people, raise money for the poor, etc. If you’re looking to give back to people, you can easily find a local charity that will quickly assign you to a position you can do. Anyone can pitch in and help others in need!
31. Foster Programs
As a senior foster parent, you can give back to the community in a meaningful and rewarding way. Foster parents take children in their homes, raise them, care for their needs, educate, and mentor them. There are large nationwide foster parenting networks you can join. Some are part of the military, some are non-government organizations, and some are within religious communities.
32. Park Volunteering
Parks often seek volunteers to help them maintain and improve their environment. Some positions require specific skills and experience, while others don’t require any knowledge. You can expect some part-time work and long-term commitments that include garbage removal, plant maintenance, gardening, or working as a tour guide.
Best Jobs for Seniors in the Military
If you’re a veteran or simply want to help the troops, here are some of the best jobs for seniors you can find.
33. Management and Administration in the Military
The majority of the civilians that work full-time in the military have desk jobs. There are all kinds of positions you can find in the military to help our soldiers and enable them to do their jobs even better. These positions include organizing events, creating schedules, planning, managing documents, communicating with departments, etc.
💰 Annual pay: $50k – $100k
34. Contracting Work for the Military
The military often needs civilian or ex-military contractors that can help them with part-time projects. The type of contracting work required can differ depending on the needs. You will need specific skills and qualifications to get a military contract, including college degrees, military experience, driving skills, electrical knowledge, etc.
💰 Annual pay: $45k – $150k
35. Medical and Dental Work for the Military
Various organizations like Military Medical Personnel help civilians find medical and dental work in the military. If you have the necessary degree and experience, you can apply for these positions and continue working for the military while getting a pay bump. The military requires licensed professionals that have to go through some additional background checks.
💰 Annual pay: $40k – $290k
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Conclusion on the Best Jobs for Seniors
There are plenty of great jobs for seniors, and you can find an option that fits your financial needs, lifestyle, and goals. Take the time to send out your resume and, if possible, visit employers and talk with them about your abilities and possible contributions. Good luck!