12 Online Jobs that Pay $30 an Hour or More

Looking for jobs that pay $30 an hour or more?

Five years ago, most people considered working from home a scam or entirely out of reach.

Due to today’s work landscape, that’s no longer the case.

There are many online jobs available, and some are incredibly high paying – especially if you have a marketable skill or specialized education. 

If you’re looking for a high-paying career, here are the best online jobs that pay $30 an hour or more.

The Two Main Types of Online Jobs

Before we get to high-paying online jobs, it’s important to distinguish between the two main types.

First, and the most profitable for beginners is freelance work. 

With freelance work, you’re offering a service (writing, design, marketing, editing, etc.) and are responsible for finding your own clients.

Getting started as a freelancer is relatively difficult – mainly because nobody wants to hire inexperienced contractors. However, once you nail down your first clients, you’ll quickly see that freelance work is FAR, FAR more profitable than other beginner online jobs.

The second kind of job involves working for a company. Even when you work online for one company, they often still hire you as a contractor. As a contractor, you’re responsible for paying self-employment taxes and securing your own benefits.

However, with the work-at-home landscape changing, especially due to recent events, you may now find a company to hire you as an employee with benefits. 

If benefits are important to you, you need to keep that in mind while online job hunting.

Online Jobs Paying $30 an Hour or More

1. Cyber Security Analyst
2. Mobile Developer
3. Virtual Recruiter
4. Freelance Video Editor
5. Web Developer
6. Telehealth Registered Nurse
7. Affiliate Marketing Manager
8. Facebook Ads Manager
9. Freelance Editor
10. Virtual Assistant
11. Online Therapist
12. Freelance Writer

1. Cyber Security Analyst

• Average Hourly Rate: $47.99
• Education Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in cyber security or related field

Cyber Security Analyst is a newer job title, but the BLS estimates it to grow by 33% over the next decade. Companies hire cyber Security Analysts to prevent cyber attacks.

As an analyst, you could work for one large company or several small to midsize companies. 

During the initial setup, you’ll likely need to visit the company you’re working for and install software on their computer. From there, it will be your job to identify weak spots in their systems, make changes to increase security, and have a plan for cyber attacks.

2. Mobile Developer

• Average Hourly Rate: $42.65
• Education Requirements: Varies- self-taught programming skills up to bachelor’s degree depending on  the company

Mobile developers work to create software for mobile devices. They often work alongside analysts and engineers. 

While there are no formal education requirements, mobile developers must have the ability to code, test, and debug software. They also need critical thinking and analytical skills.

Some companies will only hire formally-educated developers, but you can find one of these roles if you’re proficient in programming language.

3. Virtual Recruiter

• Average Hourly Rate: $40.79
• Education Requirements: Associates or bachelor’s degree in human resources or previous work experience

Virtual recruiters are responsible for finding and hiring employees for companies. Instead of regular face-to-face interviews, virtual recruiters host video interviews, virtual job fairs and find eligible candidates online.

Most virtual recruiter positions require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in human resources. However, sometimes work experience is enough to find one of these jobs.

You can look for virtual recruiter jobs on Indeed, Glassdoor, and other job search websites.

4. Freelance Video Editor

• Average Hourly Rate: $40
• Education Requirements: Varies – can be self-taught

Freelance video editors take raw video and edit for length, quality, and add graphics and sound. 

Freelance video editors can find their own clients and work on projects they’re interested in or work for one company. In addition, these editors may work on YouTube videos, documentaries, and other forms of media.

Although some editors have film-related education, you don’t necessarily need a degree to become a video editor. As long as you have the skills and software to edit, you can find clients.

5. Web Developer 

• Average Hourly Rate: $36.09
• Education Requirements: Vary – self-taught up to a bachelor’s of science

Web development is a super in-demand job. And what’s cool about this role is that you don’t necessarily need a college degree for it. You do, however, need to know how to code.

If you’re not familiar, web developers are involved in many projects related to website maintenance, computer programming, app creation, and more.

Every niche and type of company needs web developers, making it easy to find these jobs as long as you have in-depth programming knowledge.

You can use these job boards to find web developer jobs.

6. Telehealth Registered Nurse

• Average Hourly Rate: $34.71
• Education Requirements: Must be a registered nurse

Telehealth is a business that’s booming, and if you’re a registered nurse who’d like to work from home, this is a great match.

Telehealth nurses speak with patients via email, phone, or video chat. They help assist patients with minor symptoms, schedule or refer patients to specialists, assist doctors with their workload, and more.

One of the great things about these jobs is that they usually come with benefits. So if you’d like a high salary, benefits, and a work-from-home position, this is a great career path. 

(This work will require a set schedule and not be flexible like other types of freelance jobs.)

7. Affiliate Marketing Manager

• Average Hourly Rate: $34.35
• Education Requirements: Varies – degree in business or marketing or several years experience running affiliate campaigns

If you follow me on YouTube, you know that affiliate marketing is how I’ve been able to build a multiple six-figure per year business. 

(P.S. if you’re into starting an online business, check this out.)

I run my business as an affiliate who makes sales. On the other side of that equation is an affiliate manager. Affiliate managers work with affiliates to help boost sales for their company. 

This role usually entails recruiting, planning promotions, and contacting affiliates if issues arise.

While these jobs aren’t always work from home, some are. You’ll have the greatest chance of securing a work-from-home affiliate manager job if you’re already known in your industry and have connections.

8. Facebook Ads Manager

• Average Hourly Rate: $34.28
• Education Requirements: Varies – you just need to be good at running Facebook ads

Many companies rely on Facebook ads to bring them business. If you have experience running successful ads, you can turn that into a service and run ads for other companies.

The average salary reported on Indeed.com is around $34/hour. However, if you’re able to consistently run profitable campaigns, you can make far more money. You could probably negotiate pay based on the profit you bring in.

9. Freelance Editor

• Average Hourly Rate: $33.46
• Education Requirements: Typically bachelor’s degree, journalism degree, or previous working experience

Freelance editors typically work on a contract basis for many clients. Editors are responsible for preparing stories, marketing material, and blog posts before they’re published. An editor may also create content calendars and receive pitches from writers.

Editors need to have impeccable grammar and proofreading skills and the ability to polish a writer’s work.

Generally speaking, to become a freelance editor, you’ll need a bachelor’s or journalism degree. Alternatively, if you have work experience, that may be enough to land your first few gigs.

10. Virtual Assistant

• Average Hourly Rate: $32.27
• Education Requirements: None

Virtual Assistant is a very broad title for someone who helps a business owner virtually. Since this job has so many variations, the pay and skills needed are hard to pin down.

For instance, as a virtual assistant to an online business owner,  the required skills may include familiarity with WordPress, basic graphic design knowledge, basic social media knowledge, and familiarity with email marketing software.

For a realtor or accountant, the necessary skills may be completely different.

Virtual assistants make, on average, $32 per hour. This rate can go up for specialized services and down for more basic services.

If you’re interested in becoming a virtual assistant, read our guide on companies that hire, the skills needed, and how to find freelance clients.

11. Online Therapist

• Average Hourly Rate: $30.98
• Education Requirements: Master’s Degree

With more and more virtual therapy companies popping up, it’s no surprise to see online therapists make the list. 

Becoming an online therapist requires a lot of education. You’ll need a bachelor’s degree at the bare minimum, but most states require you to complete a related master’s program.

If you have the education to be an online therapist, you can obtain a work-from-home job with BetterHelp or TalkSpace. These companies start out at $20-$30/ hour.

The more profitable path will be finding your own clients to work with.

12. Freelance Writer

• Average Hourly Rate: $30.39
• Education Requirements: No formal requirements, dependent on the job

Freelance writers are responsible for writing blog posts, social media posts, online newspaper articles, ebooks, ad campaigns, and more.

According to Zip Recruiter, freelancer writers average just above $30 per hour. But, of course, the level of experience, type of content, and type of clients can move that number in either direction.

For instance, writers that work with corporate clients can easily earn $75+ per hour, while writers who write for content mills may struggle to earn minimum wage.

If you’re interested in becoming a freelance writer, you can read our step-by-step guide on finding jobs.

Related: High Paying Business Ideas

If you can’t find a high-paying online job that suits your skills or interests, you always have the option of starting your own home-based business.

Since business ideas can take a while to get off the ground, it’s a good idea to start on the side of your regular job.

Here are some ideas you can check out:

Start a drone business – If you have a drone, there are many ways to use it to make money. 

Flip thrift store finds – Arbitrage will always be one of the best ways to earn money. In this article, we cover the best items to find at thrift stores to flip for cash.

How to make a living blogging – Yes, you can make a living blogging, but it isn’t as easy as most people make it sound. In this article, we cover what it takes.

Final Thoughts

If you want to work from home, there’s more opportunity than ever. And no, you’re not stuck with low-paying typing or data entry jobs.

As long as you have marketable skills or a college education, you can find a decent-paying job that allows you to work from home and provides a liveable wage.

All the positions listed above pay at least $30+ per hour, and you can find several more that start in the high $20s.

You can check out our list of 97 side hustles if you’d rather have a side gig than a full-time job.

You can also watch the video below and see some weird online businesses that actually work: