The online learning industry is growing at a clip of 9.1% annually and could be worth $687 million or more in revenue by 2030 in the U.S. alone.
Whether you’re looking for a traditional teaching job, want to supplement your income, or are seeking professional opportunities that leverage your expertise, chances are there’s a remote teaching job that’s perfect for you.
7 Remote Job Ideas for Teachers
From side hustles to full-time gigs, remote jobs for teachers are growing in popularity and earning potential. According to ZipRecruiter, the average remote teacher salary is $53,476, ranging from $23,000 to $99,500.
Get the 411 on what kind of work-from-home teaching jobs to consider. We cover the top skills you should have for these positions, and how to establish your new work-from-home business.
K-12 Virtual Teaching Careers
Teachers aren’t the only ones looking for at-home teaching scenarios – parents and students are, too. Especially in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic forced K-12 schools in most U.S. school districts to develop remote teaching environments, at least temporarily. With infrastructure in place, learning and teaching from home is a viable option for more people than ever before.
If you love working with children, teens, or young adults, working as a virtual teacher for K-12 classes could be ideal. You can manage your classroom, hold parent-teacher conferences, tutor students who need extra help, and more, all from the comfort and safety of home.
In the U.S., the seven cities with the highest average salary for work-from-home teachers are (per ZipRecruiter):
- Santa Clara CA | $68,154
- Emeryville CA | $67,632
- Healdsburg CA | $67,487
- South San Francisco CA | $67,385
- Burlingame CA | $66,035
- Mountain View CA | $65,880
- Pittsfield MA | 65,159
- Ramblewood PA | $65,121
- San Francisco CA | $65,092
- Bonney Lake WA | $64,690
Online Professors (Remote Teaching Jobs in Colleges or Universities)
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 20% of students in public and private nonprofit four-year schools took remote courses in 2021, thanks to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The percentage is even higher for four-year private for-profit institutions, with 71% of students choosing to learn remotely.
While in-person classes are now viable for more students, post-pandemic infrastructure allows colleges and universities to continue offering remote learning to students and remote teaching jobs to professors.
With a reliable internet connection and an environment conducive to lecturing, you can teach from virtually anywhere. Post teaching materials, tests, quizzes, assignment due dates, and more through your college’s online portal for easy access. You can even host virtual office hours as needed.
Per ZipRecruiter, an online professor’s average salary is $114,792/year or an hourly rate of $55. (Note that pay goes down for associate professors and down significantly more for adjunct instructors.) These 10 cities offer the highest salaries for work as an online professor:
- Corcoran CA | $164,919
- Richmond CA | $143,803
- Bellevue WA | $141,701
- Santa Clara CA | $136,664
- Pasadena CA | $135,878
- Belgrade MT | $134,276
- Federal Way WA | $134,228
- Palmdale CA | $134,191
- Washington DC | $134,150
- Stamford CT | $133,609
Private Tutor
Becoming an online tutor lets you offer a wealth of knowledge to students in one-on-one or small group sessions. Individual attention can make the difference in whether they “get” tricky math problems, understand how to write that book report, or ace test prep and the SAT.
It’s also a great option for a second job or side hustle, and you don’t always need a teaching degree or license to do it, depending on the subject. Check out our list of the best online tutoring jobs and where to find them.
Per ZipRecruiter, the average online tutor salary is $39,111 annually and $19 hourly. The top 10 cities to work as an online private tutor, based on pay, include:
- Boulder MT | $53,822
- San Gregorio CA | $52,667
- Port Byron NY | $50,194
- San Jose CA | $49,236
- Cupertino CA | $49,176
- Vallejo CA | $48,254
- Oakland CA | $48,160
- Hayward CA | $48,078
- Antioch CA | $48,019
- Lebanon NH | $47,844
Educational Consultant
If you’ve been teaching for a while, you have expertise people starting out in their careers would love for you to share. Being an online educational consultant is a teach-the-teachers type of job that could be ideal for you.
Lifting up other teachers with your lived experiences and advice is invaluable to improving their interactions in the classroom and beyond. Think of this position as coaching your less skilled or less experienced colleagues.
Remote educational consultants can offer advice about just about anything a teacher, administrator, student, or parent might want to know, including these topics and more:
- Using tech in the classroom (e.g., artificial intelligence (AI) and smartboards)
- Making staffing and teacher recommendations
- Giving parents and students suggestions for test preparation, special needs, or college planning
- Classroom management
- Dealing with difficult students (or parents)
- Building a curriculum plan, syllabus, or school-year calendar
Depending on your educational background, location, and a school’s resources, ZipRecruiter says the average educational consultant’s salary is $94,974 per year or an hourly rate of $46.
Curriculum Writing as a Work-From-Home Job for Teachers
Curriculum writers are people who create courses and lesson plans for other teachers. Like being an educational consultant, it’s a great remote teaching job for those with some classroom experience.
Think of curriculum as different recipes in a cookbook that others will follow and experiment with for the best results. Curriculum writers research industry trends and incorporate them (along with their own expertise and knowledge) into valuable guides for student learning.
Qualifications for this career may include having a bachelor’s degree and teaching or education development experience, depending on the intended audience for the curriculum. Some curriculum development may not require educational degrees or licenses, like building corporate training courses, for example.
Per ZipRecruiter, the average salary for this position is $55,907, and the 10 highest-paying cities to work as a curriculum writer include:
- Medford MA | $73,146
- San Jose CA | $71,662
- Oakland CA | $70,085
- Hayward CA | $69,966
- Ashland CA | $69,959
- Antioch CA | $69,918
- Seattle WA | $69,581
- Bellerose NY | $68,250
- Great Neck Gardens NY | $68,237
- Santa Cruz CA | $67,691
As with many remote teaching jobs, developing curriculums is a good option for those who want a side hustle for supplemental income. Plus, you can create a curriculum and sell it online to create residual income.
Educational Blogger
Educational bloggers (aka educational content creators) are writers who pen online posts about education — teacher perspectives, school hacks, lesson plans, and teaching technology are just a few topics you could pick for a niche blog.
Educational bloggers can earn money from selling subscriptions, hosting ads, offering consulting, selling curriculums or templates, hosting webinars or workshops, and more.
Per ZipRecruiter, the average educational content creator salary is an impressive $116,615, and the average hourly rate is $56. The 10 best cities for educational content creators, based on salary, include:
- Santa Clara CA | $142,724
- Federal Way WA | $140,968
- Washington DC | $140,532
- San Francisco CA | $137,514
- Los Angeles CA | $134,748
- Marysville WA | $134,497
- Green River WY | $134,143
- San Jose CA | $133,904
- Tracy CA | $133,563
- Borough of Queens NY | $132,855
Instructional Designer
This remote job for teachers refers to people who develop in-depth learning and training guides for the K-12, higher learning, business, and government sectors. In this role, you collaborate with subject matter experts and perform research to create effective eCourses, learning guides, training manuals, training video scripts, and more.
Some other duties include:
- Obtaining and implementing peer feedback for programs
- Training others to deliver learning materials
- Developing educational content such as blogs, articles, podcasts, and videos
- Finding and reviewing innovative trends for learning design and education
Since this job has robust responsibilities and requirements, most instructional designers hold a master’s degree and have prior teaching experience.
Per ZipRecruiter, the average instructional designer salary is $79,711, or a $38 hourly wage. The 10 states where instructional designers earn the most are:
- New Jersey | $86,102
- Wisconsin | $84,248
- Washington | $83,161
- Massachusetts | $83,035
- Alaska | $82,998
- Oregon | $82,485
- North Dakota | $82,294
- New Mexico | $81,001
- Hawaii | $80,675
- Minnesota | $80,197
Remote Teaching Jobs — Honorable Mentions
Some runner-up work-from-home jobs for teachers include:
- Virtual school administration – remote principals make $109,393/year on average
- Online language tutor or teacher – remote English tutors make $58,518/year on average
- Remote guidance counselor – virtual guidance counselors earn an average of $57,280/year
- Online career coach or counselor
- Peer mentor for other teachers
- Professional development trainer
- Online corporate trainer – virtual corporate trainers earn $89,957 per year on average
- SAT, ACT, GRE, and testing tutor – test prep tutors make $29/hour on average
- YouTube educational channel host
- Remote copywriter for corporate, technical, medical, and other sectors
What Skills Do Teachers Need to Work From Home?
Working in any setting comes with pros and cons. But the flexibility of a work-from-home teaching job opens up opportunities you might find worth the adjustment. If you see yourself in the skills-needed list below, a remote teaching job could be in the cards for you.
Time Management
Time management is essential as a remote teacher — you only have so much time in a class or online session to cover your agenda. Some lessons also take longer based on how your students retain information.
For example, if you’re an online high school English teacher doing a unit on the works of William Shakespeare, you may budget a week or two on your syllabus. However, if students struggle to engage with the plays because of the language, it might take longer than you thought.
Communication
Communicating is vital for remote educators, from the delivery of the material to the housekeeping needed to keep your students in the know.
Suppose you’re a college professor who can’t make an online class or won’t be available for your office hours this week. Communicating the information beforehand is a must if you don’t want upset students who feel like they logged on for nothing.
Patience
Working with students requires matching their learning pace. Some students may fail, but working with those willing to learn and understand the material is vital.
For example, you’re a high school math teacher with a struggling student. They take time to work hard and seek help during and after class. Giving extra time and effort to help this student can help them achieve and pass your class.
Critical Thinking/Creative Problem Solving
Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate problems and find rational and unbiased solutions. Remote teachers face different scenarios during every class. To succeed, you’ll need to be able to think around obstacles with creative problem-solving to keep things moving smoothly.
Let’s say you’re a sixth-grade teacher who wants to make history lessons about famous U.S. presidents engaging. Instead of a lecture, you have students work together to present skits to the class representative of each president’s important milestones.
Now you’ve got students doing the research, learning collaboration, and delivering the material in a fun and memorable way for the whole class.
Conflict Resolution
If you’re in a remote K-12, higher education, or tutoring role, you need strong conflict resolution skills. Not only might students have interpersonal disputes, but it’s common for remote teachers to need these skills to deal with students, parents, and administrators.
Technology Skills
A reliable internet connection isn’t the only thing you need to work remotely. Since remote work inevitably requires tech from computers to software, the ability to quickly adopt new technology is a must-have.
Some of the technology work-from-home teacher jobs might require include:
- Desktop computer, laptop, tablet, and/or smartphone
- Video conferencing software (and features like recording, breakout rooms, whiteboards, and attendance)
- Learning management systems (LMS) software for creating or delivering lessons
- Word processing software like Microsoft Word and Google Docs
- Internet research
- Survey forms
- Online test-taking apps
- Online storage drives and folder management
Adaptability
For teachers and other educational roles, being adaptable is a necessity. Are you comfortable creating a contingency plan for when:
- The internet won’t work for you or a student
- Students aren’t getting it and some remedial teaching is needed (throwing off your course schedule in the process!)
- A few students aren’t keeping pace or are acting out during class
- New information, advances, tech, or legislation requires a major content overhaul
How Can Teachers Set Up for Remote Work Success?
Here are some ways to set up your online teacher business for success:
- Make things official: Register your business at the federal, state, and (if needed) local levels, and set up a business bank account (While you might not think of yourself as a business, the IRS considers freelance online teachers and tutors small business owners)
- Create offerings: Outline your services, rates, and work with a lawyer to create any contracts you’ll need
- Safeguard your career: Keep your career in good hands with educators insurance
- Protect your intellectual property: If you develop out-of-the-box lesson plans or courses no one else offers, get trademark or copyright protection with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or the U.S. Copyright Office
- Get work: Promote your business with a website, social media, ads, word-of-mouth referrals, and other marketing tactics, or source teach-from-home opportunities through schools or educational platforms like Udemy and VIPKid
- Find your tribe: Build a network of people who have “been there, done that” and are willing to share their knowledge with you, like peers on LinkedIn, templates and ideas on We Are Teachers, advice from other remote education professionals on Facebook groups like The Teachers Community, and so on
Yes, Remote Teachers Need Liability Insurance, Too
You might think that working remotely means you don’t have to worry too hard about professional risk. But it’s simply not true.
Any teacher, educational consultant, instructional designer, or other work-from-home educator could see their career ended and finances ruined by common claims.
- A student could sue you for poor instruction if they don’t advance to the next grade, graduate, or score high enough on a test to get into the right college, claiming that you didn’t do your job
- A landlord could sue you for accidental damage done to the flooring or furnishings in a space you lease for tutoring
- A client could claim that you used outdated textbooks that made them fail in the workplace
- A teacher who buys your curriculum might sue you, saying the coursework didn’t match what you advertised
Teachers insurance can protect you from paying for these and other claims out of pocket – including your legal defense, which could be in the tens of thousands, even if you’re not found at fault.
FAQs About Careers in Remote Education
Is There a Demand for Online Teachers?
Yes — there is a large and rising demand for online teachers. The industry is growing just under 10% annually, and opportunities don’t stop with traditional schools and tutoring. More than nine of 10 Fortune 500 companies use eLearning at least occasionally, and 40% use it regularly.
How Can I Transition to Teaching From Home?
Some ways to transition to teaching from home include:
- Set up a workspace in your home or at an office location
- Outline services, fees, and contracts
- Get your business license(s), a business bank account, and teachers liability insurance
- Build a website and market your services, or source jobs online
- Develop a network of teachers and other educators
What Side Hustles Can Teachers Do From Home?
Some remote teacher side hustles include:
- Tutoring
- Peer mentoring
- Life coaching
- Education consulting
- Workshops and webinars
- Curriculum writing
- Blogging or podcasting
Is Online Teaching a Good Job?
Online teaching is a great job for those who want to leverage their skills and credentials as an educator and have the ability to teach remotely. It also offers multiple potential earning streams, from remote teaching and consulting to writing and selling curriculum.
