10 of the Best Typing Jobs from Home

If you’re looking for a way to earn money from home, have you considered typing? Even if you’re not a particularly fast typist now, it’s a skill that can be learned and there are lots of resources available to help you type faster. With just a few weeks or a few months of effort, you may be able to meet the qualifications for some typing jobs that allow you to earn a great income with flexible hours.

As long as you can handle data entry or have good hearing, there are typing opportunities available where you can earn from home. From microtasks to transcription, here we’ll explore the best typing jobs from home.

Several of these opportunities offer entry-level jobs, and there is a lot of work available.

Work-from-Home Typing Jobs

1. General Transcription

This is likely to be the first thing you consider when looking for the best typing jobs from home. Transcriptionists listen to audio recordings, typing what they hear. You will need a good sense of hearing and the ability to understand a variety of accents. You should also be able to organize multiple sounds, as there could be background noise or numerous voices that may detract from the speaker.

Most general transcription jobs require that you have a high typing speed with a low error rate. This industry has low tolerance for typos or other typing mistakes. Fortunately, there are lots of general transcription opportunities.

You will need a computer with high-speed internet access. For this type of work, you’ll also need good headphones to listen to the audio files. Some companies specify specific transcription software, and you may need a foot pedal. Please see our article on transcription equipment for more information.

According to ZipRecruiter data, the average annual pay for general transcriptionists in the USA is $40,426 per year. However, entry-level transcription is considered a simple job, and this is reflected in the rate of pay. At the low end of the scale, you can expect $17,000 a year. Experience will help you attract higher pay rates, but the cap is approximately $77,000 per year. Typically, you’ll receive pay per hour of audio you complete, so it is possible to increase your pay by being quick and efficient.

2. Legal Transcription

Legal transcription involves listening to dictated recordings from paralegals, attorneys, and other legal professionals, and transcribing them into a legal document. Most legal transcriptionists use headsets and pedals for efficient production of correspondence, motions, pleadings, discovery, agreements, and legal memorandums. The documents you transcribe could end up produced in court.

While many legal transcriptionists work for dedicated brick-and-mortar businesses, many are independent contractors working from home. This provides the flexibility to schedule your own hours and work part-time or irregular hours around your lifestyle.

Typically, legal transcriptionists do have requirements, but entry-level positions may only require a high school diploma and legal office experience. You may receive some training from a paralegal or office manager, or you may be required to take a test to confirm your suitability.

However, these requirements tend to be reflected in the rates offered, making them some of the best transcription jobs. According to ZipRecruiter, legal transcriptionists can earn between $17,000 and $45,000 per year. As a beginner, you are likely to be at the bottom of this scale, but as you establish yourself with more experience, you’ll be able to command higher rates.

3. Captioning

Like transcription, captioning involves listening to audio files and transcribing them. However, rather than dealing with simple documents, you’re creating captions for videos to help those hard of hearing or who want to watch videos with the sound off.

Captioning is a little more tricky than standard transcribing, as you actually need to include notations of background noises. The tasks you’re working on may include recorded lectures, movies, and television shows.

You can also branch out into real-time captioning, but this is a far more intense job. You would be required to caption a live program such as a news broadcast or sports event. There is typically only a short delay in the air time, so you would need to be very fast and accurate.

Most pro captioning jobs require some type of certification or qualification. You may also be required to work with stenographic shorthand since there is a great demand for high typing speeds. At a basic level, you will need a computer, headphones, and high-speed internet access, but some jobs may require additional equipment such as a stenotype machine.

Remote caption workers can expect to earn anywhere from $23,000 per year to $129,000 with an average of $60,000, according to ZipRecruiter. However, the specific salary will depend on your experience and the projects you’re working on.

You can find work on a number of platforms including:

• Aberdeen
• Rev
• CrowdSurf

4. Translation

Translation is one of the more popular jobs for digital nomads, and it can be one of the best typing jobs from home. This type of work can be quick to perform, and it doesn’t require much investment or specialist tools. If you’re already fluent in two or more languages, you’re pretty much ready to get started and this could be a great way for you to make money from home.

Translation is different from being an interpreter. While interpreters translate spoken conversations, translators work with written documents. This can make it a little easier for freelancers, since you can take a little time to ponder how to translate that colloquialism or slang phrase that may not have a direct translation.

As with transcription, there are areas of specialty. So, if you have a legal background, you can command higher rates of pay by being a legal translator. Likewise, medical translators are in high demand. However, there are lots of work-from-home translation jobs. Companies require letters, correspondence, and other paperwork translating into multiple languages. You may even find that you’re working on website text, where the host wants to sell products to different countries around the world.

There are software tools that can help you, such as computer-aided translation tools. These can help your typing efficiency with spell checking, text alignment, and even creating translation memories. However, these are not mandatory.

According to ZipRecruiter, remote translators can earn anywhere between $37,000 and $135,000 per year, with an average of $70,000. As a beginner, working on general translation projects, you will be at the lower end of this scale, but as you gain experience and develop your skill set, you could start to command higher rates.

5. Virtual Assistant

The scope of a virtual assistant can extend beyond typing. You may simply be working on data entry projects, but other clients may want you to create spreadsheets from raw data or perform some research to complete a project. While experience can be helpful, it is certainly not required, which makes working as a VA one of the best entry-level work from home jobs.

One of the attractive things about VA positions is that there is often a variety of tasks. This can keep the job from becoming monotonous. You will need to check that you are comfortable with the scope of work a client requires before accepting a project. However, if you enjoy social media management, customer service, optimizing mailing lists, or even writing, you can significantly increase your earning potential.

Another attractive feature of being a VA is that you can work with multiple clients. You will need to be well organized, but you can arrange your schedule to work with different clients to fill your desired workday and maximize your earnings. This can also make the job more interesting, as one client may simply require data entry, but that afternoon you could be managing social media profiles and engaging with followers.

The equipment required depends on what you’ll be doing for the specific client. A computer with high-speed internet is a default requirement, but you may need access to common software programs such as Microsoft Office and G Suite. Since you will be juggling multiple tasks, it is also a good idea to have a comfortable place where you can work without disturbances for an extended period.

The average annual pay for a VA in the USA is $67,115, with an average hourly pay of $19, according to ZipRecruiter. However, bear in mind that you may be competing with workers in other areas of the world, who charge far cheaper rates. Fortunately, there are some great virtual assistant jobs, where you can earn great rates and still enjoy a flexible working day.

6. Freelance Writer

If you’re confident with your grammar skills and are quite creative, you could harness your typing skills as a freelance writer. Freelance writing or ghostwriting has become a popular side gig for many people. Not only can you work from home, but you can work on a variety of projects that make your day interesting.

You can choose projects that are fiction or non-fiction, depending on your preferences. Although there are opportunities for writing formal documents, such as white papers, most clients are looking for a conversational style. So, you may be tasked to write blog posts, social media posts, articles, reports, sales letters, or email autoresponders.

You don’t necessarily need to specialize in a particular niche, but you will need to be a keen researcher. You can also command higher rates if you have expertise and experience in a particular niche.

Getting started as a freelancer can be a little intimidating, but fortunately, there are many freelance writing jobs for beginners that make it possible to get started.

To attract freelance writing clients, you will need to develop a portfolio. However, this portfolio can be used for multiple platforms, so you don’t need to spend all your time doing unpaid work. The average hourly pay for freelance writers in the USA is $30, but as you develop your skillset and gain experience and confidence, you may be able to command higher rates.

Want to learn more about how to get started? Freelance Writing 101: Build a Successful Writing Career is a course by Brad Merrill that is an excellent guide for beginners. The course is available on Skillshare and you can get free access for two months through this link.

7. Blogger

Blogging is another area where you can put your typing skills to good use and develop a decent side gig. There is a massive scope for blogging, so you can literally choose any topic that is of interest to you. From cooking to money-saving, hobbies to careers, you can use your personal experience and expertise to help others.

Of course, the earning potential will depend on the topic you choose. While you may love obscure movies and want to share this with others, you are working within a very specialized niche. However, if you are a great home cook and can whip up a gourmet feast on a budget, this is likely to have greater appeal to the masses.

The most successful blogs have a regular content schedule, so you will need to be prepared to post once or twice a week, every week. It is far better to post once a week than to post every day for a week and then post nothing for three months. You want to encourage your visitors to come back to read the next post, so they need to know when this will be.

Blogging does not provide instant rewards, and you will need to dedicate three to six months before you start to see any type of revenue, and it’s likely to take a year or more until the revenue becomes significant.

You can earn money through your blog with affiliate marketing, advertising, sponsorships, and even selling your own digital products. Ziprecruiter states that it is possible to earn $19,500 to $80,000 a year as a blogger (with an average of $38,000), but you will need to be proactive.

8. Data Entry

Data entry is one of the easiest and best typing jobs from home. It is appealing to beginners as there is no special training, you just need to be able to type the information into the application as you’re directed.

You may be adding data into a spreadsheet or entering information into a company system. Some data entry clients require verification or editing of the data, and some projects involve research.
There are specialized fields of data entry that require additional training or certification. This includes medical coding and scopistry, which is the reviewing and editing of court reporter transcriptions.

Data entry can be a highly repetitive task, so you need to ensure that you have the mindset that will not become overwhelmed by this over a long period.

As with all of the typing jobs we’ve listed, you’ll need a computer with high-speed internet access. It is also a good idea to have a keyboard with a number pad. Different data entry jobs may also require access to data processing programs such as Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, and other applications.

According to ZipRecruiter, remote data entry jobs can pay $25,000 to $79,000 per year, with an average annual pay of $38,197. However, since many entry-level positions are very easy and available for anyone, there is fierce competition for these jobs, and they don’t pay that well. So, it is important to build up your skillset, so you can qualify for more challenging roles and better rates.

Remote data entry roles are available on a variety of platforms, including:

• Axion Data Services
• Clickworker

9. Customer Service 

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that many positions can be worked remotely, including customer service. Remote customer service agents can handle all customer queries and complaints via email or through internet chat. Of course, phone-based customer service jobs are also available, but since the topic of this article is typing jobs, we’ll focus on email and chat-based support roles.

You may be required to field complaints, provide details about products, and log queries. Remote customer service agents need to work independently and with the minimum amount of supervision.

Your typing skills will come in handy, not only responding to emails, but also during live chat. Customers don’t want to wait for minutes while you type a response, so speed and accuracy are important.

Many roles require a high school diploma, but some employers require a college degree. You’ll need to be proficient with the basic technology to deal with email, live chat, and other types of communication platforms. However, often employers will provide on the job training.

According to Ziprecruiter, remote customer service agents can earn $17,500 to $28,500 per year (with an average of $21,500). As with most of the best typing jobs from home, you can boost your earning potential by expanding your skillset and experience.

Remote customer service jobs are available on a number of platforms including:

• OutPLEX
• The Chat Shop

10. Microtasks

Microtasks are small tasks that are quick to complete but cannot be automated. Since human interaction is needed to complete these tasks, you can create a decent side hustle.

The list of tasks under this umbrella term includes transcribing small audio files, writing a paragraph or two, updating a spreadsheet, or even identifying items in a photograph. Since these are quick tasks, they are easy to slot around your schedule. Some can even be completed while you’re doing something else, such as watching television or preparing dinner.

You’ll need high-speed internet access and a computer, but you will also need access to as many software programs as possible. If you’re familiar with different programs, you’ll be able to accept a wider variety of jobs.

Unfortunately, microtasks only offer micro pay. You’re likely to receive a few pennies to a dollar for each task. However, there are rare opportunities to earn more. This means that you may struggle to reach minimum wage. However, the work is extremely flexible and requires no experience.

You can find microtasks jobs on several platforms, including:

• Clickworker
• MTurk
• Microworkers

As you can see, there are some great ways to put your typing skills to good use. The best typing jobs from home offer decent earning potential, but beginners will need to start at the bottom and develop the experience to command higher rates of pay. However, the jobs we’ve listed here offer the flexibility to fit around your commitments, making them a great side hustle or potential new career.