The summer job market sucks. Here’s how teens are making money.

It is once again a bad summer for teenagers to find jobs. A competitive job market, AI and inflation mean fewer opportunities.

Teen workers are expected to add just 790,000 U.S. jobs to the employment rolls this summer, according to a prediction from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That would be the lowest summer hiring total since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the data in 1948.

Employers in industries that typically hire teenagers like food preparation, service, or sales are also hiring fewer young people in favor of more experienced candidates.

With limited options and mounting costs of pretty much everything, Baltimore teens are starting their own businesses and turning their side hustles into a real income.

Bryce Miller, 16, from Parkville, applied to part-time jobs at Rita’s, Giant Food and AutoZone, but was turned down everywhere because of his age. Employers wanted workers 18 and older because they don’t need work permits and don’t have limits on work hours.

So in April, the Parkville High School straight-A student and baseball player took matters into his own hands and started his own lawn care business.

The lawn mower and other equipment Miller uses are his father’s, and he pays his dad $50 a week for gas and utilities.

When he meets a client, he surveys their yard and provides an estimated price. He makes about $300 each week mowing for 10 clients.

“Most people don’t do it,” he said. “It’s an easy way for me to make money around my schedule.”

Miller said he’s saving the money he earns this summer for a car and insurance.

Breonna Jones, 19, turned to online platforms to pad her wallet.

After finishing her first year at the University of Maryland, College Park, Jones is spending the summer growing two ventures: Baskets by Bre, a custom gifting business she launched in 2025, and her social media presence, where she posts lifestyle content to roughly 7,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram.

Jones recently launched a new website that offers a streamlined way for customers to place custom orders for any occasion, rather than just special events.

On Instagram, she’s done commission-based collaborations, including a partnership with Sleepyhead mattress toppers for college students, and is creating content for an apartment complex in College Park.

For her TikTok page, Jones promotes products for a percentage of money, depending on the number of people who buy the product.

Content creation, she said is “not necessarily a job. It’s just another way of me receiving the income, but I do it for the fun of it.”

Not every teen has found a workaround.

Eli Stassord, 18, from Beechfield, graduated from high school this month and has applied to around 50 jobs in the past year to fill his summer.

He’s attending California State University in the fall and wants to save enough money to pay for his own car insurance and to have spending money.

In the summer of 2024, Stassord was a counselor in training at a summer camp but has been applying to retail and restaurant jobs listed as “no experience required.”

He landed 10-15 interviews with hiring managers only to receive rejection emails without explanations.

“The interviews that I’ve done have never been super extensive,” Stassord said.

Stassord is now considering delivering for DoorDash to earn some extra money.

“I know some people who apply to dozens of jobs a week,” Stassord said about his peers. “It definitely has a low success rate, I suppose.”

Donnice Brown, assistant director and chief of youth services for YouthWorks Baltimore, a city youth employment program, said they received 11,881 applications but only 8,812 kids were offered employment, which is similar to previous years.

“The number of jobs we’re able to offer are based on our fundraising efforts,” Brown said.

Blanca Tapahuasco has been preparing her son, Juan, for his first job since he was in tenth grade.

Juan, who has special needs and graduated from the National Academy Foundation in Baltimore this month, earned his ServSafe certificate to help him get a job in a kitchen or restaurant.

“What is most challenging is that you have a graduated 18-year-old willing to work and it’s not so much the job market or the economics,” Tapahuasco said. “The missing part is there was no guidance.”

Because Juan can’t drive and has a speech impediment, Tapahuasco said she’s coached him through mock interviews and job applications.

She’s not giving up on her son, she said, because the work experience would teach him independence and financial responsibility.

“It is tough to get a position as someone who may have skills and experience,” she said. “But it is tougher when your disability is really keeping you from obtaining any type of employment.”

This story is published as part of the Baltimore News Collaborative, a project exploring the challenges and successes experienced by young people in Baltimore. The collaborative is supported by theAnnie E. Casey Foundation. News members of the collaborative retain full editorial control.