We have passive income ideas for 18 to 20 year olds but here are many ways to make passive income as a teen. Keep in mind that but most of them require you to be over 18 years old or to have the authorization of a legal guardian.

Can you earn passive income as a teenager? You can earn passive income as a teenager. Some passive income ideas that teens can try include blogging, gaming, YouTubing, creating niche sites, and selling digital products online. Most ideas require you to be 18 and above, but you can start some of them by earning passive income with the help of a trusted adult (parent, guardian, relative or friend).

In this article, we highlight six legit ways you can make passive income as a teenager. Most ideas require you to seek help from a trusted adult to help you sign up so make sure to comply to their policies before signing up. However, with the right strategies, these ideas can earn you passive income past through young adulthood and beyond! Let’s jump in.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for eighteen and nineteen year olds. We are not lawyers and we are not your lawyers. The following is provided for informational purposes only. Be sure to talk to your parent or legal guardian before signing up on any platform if you do not meet the minimum age requirements.

1. Blogging

Blogging has become a popular way of earning passive income. Although most successful bloggers are adults, the blogging scene has seen its fair share of successful teenage bloggers,  With the right niche and excellent content, you can grow your audience, monetize your blog, and start earning passive income. One of the most resourceful courses, Project 24 by Rick and Jim teaches you ways you can earn a full-time income with a monetized blog within 24 months.

Transform your active income into passive income in 24 months using Project 24!
53.66% of Project 24 members are making $500 to +$7,500/month! Learn more here

To run a successful blog, you need to choose a niche or target market (your blog has to resonate with a specific audience), create high-quality content (things you are passionate or highly knowledgeable about), and have a growing audience. With these, you can monetize it and earn passive income from ads, affiliate marketing, selling digital and physical products, and more.

You can earn hundreds or thousands of dollars every month with a monetized blog, but this will not happen overnight. In the beginning, you have to be willing to put in a lot of work (like creating, editing, and posting content, building your site, etc.) and a small financial initial investment is required (to build, run, and promote your site). With hard work, dedication, skill, and time, your blog can start earning passive income. Here is our detailed guide on blogging.


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2. Gaming

Although almost nonexistent two decades ago, gaming has become a popular and lucrative way of earning passive income today. Successful teenage gamers like Griffin Spikoski earned $200,000 in 2013 at the age of 14 (source). You earn passive income from game tournaments or more passive ideas like running a monetized blog, offering gaming courses, ads, donations, memberships, and more.

One of the most effective ways of making passive income from gaming is by live streaming your gaming skills of sites like YouTube and Twitch. This helps you build an audience fast and monetize your channel, which makes it a passive income stream.

Although it sounds easy and lucrative, gaming as a passive income source requires passion and dedication. You need to grow your audience, which requires you to create and post numerous videos playing games, long live streaming hours, and experience in the games you choose to play. With time, gaming can become a lucrative passive income stream. For more details about gaming and how you can earn $1,000/month from it, check out our guide.


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3. Charging Scooters

Electric micro-mobility vehicles (like scooters and bikes) have become popular transport solutions in megacities across the world (source) and charging them is an excellent way you can make passive income. For example, companies like Lime and Bird pay between $3 and $20 for every scooter you charge. The best part? It is a fairly passive idea. All you need to do is pick a couple of scooters at night, charge them, deliver them back, and get paid.

To start earning income from charging scooters, you need to choose and sign-up on a scooter charging service, ace the scooter training program and start charging scooters in your area. The amount of money you make depends on the number of scooters you charge, your location, and popularity amongst scooter owners, among other factors. Imagine you get $5 per scooter and charge 10 of them every night. You can make $50 per night or $1,500 per month without doing much. Learn more about charging scooters in our detailed guide.


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4. YouTube

One of the easiest ways to earn passive income is through a monetized YouTube channel. Many successful YouTube channels owned by kids and teenagers earn thousands of dollars every month. For example, RyanToyReviews by Ryan Kaji (an 8-year old You Tuber) earn millions of dollars every year by reviewing kid’s toys on his channel (source).

Your content and audience are key to the success of your channel. With excellent content and a growing audience, you can monetize your channel (by placing ads, affiliate marketing, selling digital and physical products, royalties, endorsements, etc.) and earn a passive income within a short period. Currently, you must have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4k hours of watch time in the last 365 for your channel be put under review for monetization.

To grow your audience, ensure you create a niche site that attracts a specific group of people, provide excellent content that keeps them subscribed and active, and post consistently. Your content can be something you are knowledgeable or passionate about and would like to share with others. Hence, it is not an easy task and you have to be willing to put in the work at the beginning to build up your channel. With an active, subscribed audience and excellent content, YouTube can be a lucrative passive income source for teenagers. If you want to learn more about making passive income with a monetized YouTube channel, check out our guide.


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5. Creating Niche Sites

Creating and running a niche site has proven to be a lucrative passive income source. A niche site is a blog or site that addresses a specific topic that resonates with a specific audience or niche. Content on a niche site targets an audience that shares specific interests. For example, instead of a blog about outdoor photography, your niche site can address outdoor photography with DSLR cameras specifically. Your niche and content are key to the success of your site. Audiences visit niche sites to search for information, resources, and recommendations about a specific topic so your content must appeal to them. You can create a niche by offering content on popular topics you are passionate, experienced, and knowledgeable about.

Income school’s Project 24 teaches ways to earn passive income with a niche site within 24 months, but you have to be willing to put in the hard work at the beginning. With your niche site set up right and created following their tested and proven strategies, you can earn well over $1,000/month by running a niche site. With a growing audience, you can monetize your site and earn passive income through ads, affiliate marketing, selling merch, offering courses, email marketing, etc. With time, and with a couple of successful niche sites under your belt, you can earn thousands of dollars monthly as passive income. For more details about niche sites and making passive income from them, check out our guide.


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6. Food Delivery Apps

As a teen, you can earn a decent passive income through food delivery apps like UberEats, Deliveroo, and DoorDash. Depending on the number of deliveries you make, your customer’s location, and other factors like tips, food delivery services can help you earn $500/week or more (source).

Most food delivery services hire 18 and 19-year-old teens since you need to own a vehicle (car, motorbike, or bicycle) amongst other strict requirements. All you need is to identify the service in your area, sign up, ace the test, make deliveries, and make money. Customer service is key to the success of your food delivery service as a side hustle.

Food delivery apps are active income ideas because you are involved in the delivery process. However, it is a highly flexible side hustle you can do during your free time or over the weekend. The best part? You can sign up on different apps (so long as they are available in your area) and earn more income in the process. For more about food delivery apps, check out our guide.


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Related Questions

Is it legal to make passive income as a teenager? You can make money as a teen, but you need to respect the privacy policies of the platforms you sign up on. If they state that you have to be over 18 to join, you must be over that age. Talk to your legal guardian, parent, or an adult if you have any questions.

How can I earn more passive income as a teenager? You can earn more income by combining two or more ideas. For example, let’s say you are passionate about gaming. You can earn passive income from gaming and running a monetized blog or YouTube channel about gaming. It all depends on what you are passionate about and able to do.

Do I need to invest money to earn passive income? You do not always need to invest money to make money. There are minimum requirements to get started (for example to make a YouTube channel you at least need a good internet connexion and a computer). Make sure you set aside enough money to get started with the passive income idea you choose.


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