No matter where you are or where you live: there's a good chance that you could use some extra cash. This is true for those who are living in a small town and don't have the same amount of job opportunities that larger cities offer.
Not every opportunity is found in the big city lights. Even in small towns, there are golden chances to earn and thrive. From the quiet streets to familiar faces, your hometown might just be your next business hotspot. Let's dive in and discover how to turn local charm into profit.
Ways to Make Money in a Small Town
Making money in a small town or a rural area is within reach. Even if you aren't living in a big city, it doesn't mean that you can't find ways to make extra money in a small town so you can reach your financial goals.
Be sure to bookmark this page as this side business ideas list will continue to grow! Without further delay gentlemen, let’s get started, here are the best small town business ideas to make money that requires little, if any, startup costs.
1. Real Estate Investor
Wouldn’t it be great if you could invest in commercial real estate and apartments without dealing with all the hassle of buying, improving, and re-selling real estate?
Fundrise is a great way to dip your toes into real estate investing without needing tons of cash upfront. For as little as $10, you can start building a real estate portfolio, and new users even get a $10 bonus to kick things off.
Whether you're new to investing or looking to diversify, Fundrise offers an easy and flexible way to grow your money while investing in properties nationwide.
- Earn passive income with real estate investing starting at just $10
- Easy-to-use app for seamless access to crowd-funded real estate deals
- Perfect for those who want their money to work for them
2. Find Online Jobs on FlexJobs
If you’re looking for legit small business ideas or side gigs, online jobs are one of the most popular ways people are earning extra income today.
FlexJobs reports that about three percent of the U.S. workforce now works remotely, and that number is growing.
Want to make an extra $1,000 a month? FlexJobs is a great place to find high-paying, remote-friendly online jobs that can help you get there.
- Get access to vetted remote job listings for just $2.95 for 14 days
- Enjoy partner discounts on products
- Extensive job search resources & support
3. Virtual Assistant
Do you know how to post on social media channels like Facebook? Do you think you could do it for a small business? There are a ton of smaller businesses in your area that may need help in order to gain an online presence. So if you can help them create social media profiles and a simple site, you can rack in some extra income.
You can try and find small businesses that need this by simple word of mouth, or you can walk to local businesses and offer your services. You can do the work from home and get paid for other duties as required, such as billing, shipping, and scheduling tasks. The opportunities for you to earn are endless, and you can do it all online.
4. Pet Care
If you love animals, Rover is a simple way to earn money in a small town. It connects you with pet owners who need dog walking, boarding, or drop-in visits.
You set your own rates and schedule, and Rover handles the marketing and payments. Many sitters earn $100 a week or more, and no experience is required.
It’s free to sign up and a great way to make money doing something you enjoy.
What can be more fun than walking dogs around your neighborhood and get paid? You can do it on your time and get paid today with Rover! According to Rover, dog walkers and sitters can earn up to $1,000 per month.
5. Search Engine User
In a small town with fewer job options, Swagbucks offers an easy way to earn a little extra just by using their search engine. Every time you search online, you can earn points that turn into gift cards or cash.
It’s completely free to join, and if you sign up through our $10 bonus link, you’ll start with a $10 head start. It’s one of the simplest ways to make money without leaving home.
- Earn points by taking surveys, playing games, and shopping online
- Redeem rewards like PayPal cash or gift cards to top brands
- Join millions who’ve earned over $800 million with Swagbucks and get a $10 welcome bonus
6. Get Paid to Play Games
Of course, you know it's possible to get paid to play games online, especially in 2025.
I already knew that professional video game testers are getting paid to play video games but I was surprised to learn that they made on average around $49,063/yearly!
If you are interested in getting paid to play games then you can sign up for InboxDollars which pays you, in cash, to play paid games, watch fun videos, and take surveys.
Plus, you can download the InboxDollars app to play games on the go. If you sign up before the end of this month, they also give you a $5 free bonus just to give it a try. By spending just 5-10 minutes per day on this (either on your lunch break or during TV commercial breaks) you can earn and earn an extra $50/month just by playing games. More people should be doing this!
- InboxDollars is a legitimate way to make extra money online
- Been around for 20 years
- Paid its members more than $59 million since 2000
- Free $5 welcome bonus
7. Music Reviewer
All you need to do is listen to music and you can make money. Given how easy it is to lose yourself in a never-ending cycle of Spotify or Pandora, this one couldn’t be easier. The catch here? You have to review the music. So you literally get paid to review music for record companies before the music is released to the public.
The payouts are great and for example, you will have to review a lot of music clips and make $200 fast this month by using it. Survey Junkie is one of the only survey companies that currently offer this. You can get a signup bonus through this link.
- Share your opinion to help brands deliver better products and services
- Fast payouts, legit, and our favorite survey site
- Has paid out more than $25 million to its members
8. Photographer
Do you like taking photos and think you can earn money as a photographer? It's pretty easy to start picking up freelance gigs even if you only know the basics of photography.
Once you get a camera, you can create an Instagram page and tell all your friends and family that you're a photographer and offer a free 30-minute shoot. This will get friends and family contacting you for free shots. If they go over the 30 minutes you can charge them for that time used.
Continue branding yourself as a photographer and the work will come in, even if you're in a small town. You can also post your services on sites like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.
9. Start Your Own Business
You are enthusiastic about starting your own business. That is a great step to change the quality of your life living in a small town.
Give real form to your dreams with the daring step of initiating your business. However, it is imperative to research before investing money. Equip yourself with the necessary knowledge to avoid the undesired consequences.
If you want to become a business owner, you can take look at 11 steps to starting your own business so you can see the specifics.
10. Become an Airbnb Host
Owning a home can be pricey—sharing your place with visitors on Airbnb can help pay your rent and other bills. If you have extra room in your house, you can make money hosting guests on Airbnb and earn up to $2,000 per month.
By becoming an Airbnb Host, you can start having your own weekend side hustle listing your home and open bedrooms to travelers looking to book through Airbnb.
With a little bit of traction, you can easily earn extra money that can go towards your rent or mortgage by hosting guests on Airbnb.
11. Win Money Playing Games
Playing games for money sounds too much like gambling for some folks, but if you like to play games on your phone, this side hustle is for you.
Once you know what to look for, you’ll find more game apps to win real money than you first thought. These apps include:
- Bingo Cash: This app offers pairs you in head-to-head bingo games against real people and whoever plays the fastest, wins real cash.
- Solitaire Cash: Earn cash by testing your solitaire skills in swift, 2-minute matchups against others from your mobile phone.
Playing these games consistently won’t make you as much money as other side hustles. But it can be fun to pass the time and earn cash.
- Win up to $83 per game just by playing bingo
- Play anytime and anywhere with no interruptions
- Cash out instantly with PayPal or Apple Pay
12. Ask a Company to Pay Off Your Debt
If you're trying to make extra money in a small town but feel stuck with debt, you're not alone. Credit cards, medical bills, and loans can pile up fast, making it hard to get ahead. The longer you wait, the harder it gets—but there’s a way out.
National Debt Relief has helped thousands of people lower their debt and simplify payments. If you owe $10,000 or more, they might be able to negotiate what you owe and help you become debt-free in 12-48 months—with no upfront fees.
It only takes 30 seconds to see if you qualify. If debt is holding you back, now is the time to take control!
- Pay up to 30% less than you owe
- Become debt-free in as little as 12-48 months
- Free consultation and zero up-front fees
13. Blogging
Starting a blog is actually pretty simple, the hardest part is just getting started. Once you take that first step, it can become a fun hobby and even a way to earn some extra money. You can have your blog up and running in under 20 minutes. First, you’ll need to buy hosting and register your domain, which costs around $3.95 a month through Bluehost and often includes a free domain.
Then, you can install WordPress with just one click and start writing your first post. To get people to read your blog, share it on social media and connect with other bloggers. As your traffic grows, you can add Google ads and start making money. Over time, your blog can turn into something you’re really passionate about and connect you to an entire community of like-minded people.
14. Freelancer
Fiverr is one of the best sites in the world. The basic premise is “what would you do for $5?” You’ll find everything from hilariously weird and useless gags to legitimate and genuinely helpful micro-business tasks.
Lately, I’ve been experimenting as a seller on Fiverr, and have found it a pretty successful avenue for selling website optimization services, article writing, and proofreading services.
Fiverr can work for you as both a seller and a buyer. It is a great way to make money and also you can find millions of services. The best $5 I’ve ever spent was using a Resume Revision service and now I receive way more employer call backs now after the revisions. If you want to know which service I used, leave a comment below.
15. Podcasting
If you can build an audience for your podcast, then you can make some money through sponsorships, affiliate advertising, and other offerings. Companies regularly pay $250 to $500 for a 30-second advertisement on podcasts. If you need help getting started, you can refer to this podcasting guide. There is money to be made with this side hustle.
16. Write eBooks
Are you a good writer? You could write an eBook on your topic of choice and sell it on Amazon, Payhip, Lulu, Smashwords, Kobo Writing Life, PubIt! and many other websites that start you out in your side hustle as a published eBook author. This is a greaty way to make money in a small town since you could do it online.
17. Advertise on Your Car
This is some seriously passive income. Companies such as Carvertise will pay to put a wrap on your car, and then pay you to simply drive you regular routes with the advertisements on your car. You can get the right to say “no” to a particular ad you’re uncomfortable with the content of the ad. Most companies pay you between $100-$400 a month to advertise on your car. Not too bad.
18. Invest in Websites
We had an interview with a man who makes his money by investing in websites. Here’s a snippet from the interview when we asked him “How can you make money investing in websites rather than build your own?”
“Why not save the initial capital investment, and just build your own from scratch? One word: Time. Our most valuable resource, which many of us seemingly don’t show it the respect it deserves.
Skip the dull process of waiting months to earn your first dollar building up a website from scratch. Throw yourself in the deep end, lay down an initial investment, show your commitment to the journey, and watch the learning curve reduce exponentially.”
19. Sell Your Parking Space
Many houses, rentals, or other accommodations include a garage, driveway, or some form of a parking space. If you’re not making use of it at the moment, chances are there’s someone who could.
Better still, they’ll pay you for the privilege.
Just Park lets you ‘let’ your parking space to busy people who are tired of paying through the nose for daily parking. The busier your area, the more you’re likely to make.
20. Open Class Action Lawsuits
If you use a product that’s involved in a class-action lawsuit, a little online legwork could get you a cash payout. The rules of each settlement are different, but in most cases, you’ll have to provide proof of purchase or product use, like a serial number or a receipt. Once you fill out your online claim form, you may have to wait a few weeks or months before receiving your payment.
Psst — I regularly post new class-action settlement information, so check in often to make sure you’re not missing a chance to get paid!
21. Investing
Living in a small town does not mean you can’t build wealth. Acorns makes it easy by automatically investing your spare change from everyday purchases.
You do not need a lot of money to get started, and Acorns helps you grow your savings over time with no experience required. It is a simple way to start investing in the background while you focus on other ways to earn.
Plus, if you sign up through our bonus link, you can get a free $20 to start investing today.
- Acorns rounds up spare change from purchases and invests it for you
- Get a $20 bonus when you invest just $5 and start a recurring deposit
- Start building long-term wealth with just $3/month—free if you're under 24 and in school
22. Earn Rewards for Playing Games
If you enjoy mobile games, Mistplay lets you turn that time into gift cards. The app rewards you for downloading and playing new games on your phone.
It’s a fun and easy way to earn a little extra money, especially if you live in a small town with limited job opportunities. The more you play, the more points you earn, and those points can be redeemed for gift cards to popular stores.
It’s free to join and a simple way to get rewarded for something you already do.
- Earn free gift cards just for playing new mobile games
- 100% free to use—no deposits or hidden fees required
- Discover and play games while earning rewards effortlessly
23. eBay Seller
Sell your unwanted items around your household on eBay is a good way to declutter and earn side income.
I’ve been using eBay for about 7 years now and it is very easy to sell things around your home that you no longer use or find items that you can purchase for cheap and then flip them on eBay for a profit.
I personally made $1,1379.79 one month by flipping iPhones. Just make sure that you keep the fees in consideration.
24. Coaching & Consulting
One of the best small business ideas for men is becoming an online coach or consultant for others as it is becoming more valuable in the information age. If you are very savvy at social media or are a fitness expert then selling your time and hopping on a Skype call or Google hangouts is a great hustle. You don’t even have to start your own website at first, you can list your services on Fiverr.
How to Make Money in a Small Town Ideas List
Small communities need a bunch of other businesses such as hair salons, barbershops, flower shops, gyms, and car washing services. But you locals probably already know this.
For all my readers who are small town residents, if you wanted more ways to make money online besides these methods of small business ideas for women and men, here’s my list of the best ways to make money online:
- Best Money Making Apps That Pay You
- Top 2 Highest Paying Survey Sites That Actually Work & Pay Out via Paypal
- 25 Smart Ways To Make $100 Every Day
- 100+ Fun and Easy Ways to Make Extra Money Today
- 30 Best Side Hustle Ideas To Make Extra Money
- 20+ Easy Side Hustles Millennials Can Start Today
- 21 Gig Economy Jobs that Pay Cash (Near Me & Online)
- 1. Real Estate Investor
- 2. Find Online Jobs on FlexJobs
- 3. Virtual Assistant
- 4. Pet Care
- 5. Search Engine User
- 6. Get Paid to Play Games
- 7. Music Reviewer
- 8. Photographer
- 9. Start Your Own Business
- 10. Become an Airbnb Host
- 11. Win Money Playing Games
- 12. Ask a Company to Pay Off Your Debt
- 13. Blogging
- 14. Freelancer
- 15. Podcasting
- 16. Write eBooks
- 17. Advertise on Your Car
- 18. Invest in Websites
- 19. Sell Your Parking Space
- 20. Open Class Action Lawsuits
- 21. Investing
- 22. Earn Rewards for Playing Games
- 23. eBay Seller
- 24. Coaching & Consulting
