"Jobs for 16 Year Olds: Best Options, Where to Apply, and How to Get Hired (2026)"
Turning 16 is a meaningful threshold in the US job market — many employers who won't hire at 14 or 15 open their doors at 16, and the types of positions available expand considerably. You can legally work more hours, take on more responsibility, and start building a real professional track record that will matter to college applications, future employers, and your own sense of what you're capable of. This guide covers the best jobs for 16-year-olds, who's hiring in 2026, how to apply when you have no experience, and how to make the most of your first real employment.
Working at 16: What the Law Allows
At 16 and 17, the legal restrictions on work are meaningfully lighter than at 14 and 15. Under federal law, 16 and 17-year-olds can work in virtually any non-hazardous job with no federal limits on hours. This is a significant upgrade from the 3-hours-on-school-days, 18-hours-per-week cap that applies to 14 and 15-year-olds.
What's still prohibited at 16 under federal law: driving or operating motor vehicles as part of the job (with limited exceptions for farm work), working with explosives, logging and sawmill work, roofing, excavation, power-driven machinery in manufacturing, and certain other high-hazard activities. These prohibitions apply through age 17; most disappear at 18.
State law matters: even though federal law doesn't restrict hours for 16 and 17-year-olds, many states do. Common state restrictions include: maximum hours per week during school periods, prohibitions on working past midnight or 1 AM, requirements for work permits through age 17 or 18, and limits on hazardous occupations that go beyond federal restrictions. Check your specific state's rules — they may add meaningful limitations that the federal framework doesn't.
Work permits at 16: many states that require work permits for minors continue that requirement through 17 or 18. If your state has a work permit requirement, obtain it before starting any job. The process is the same as at 14: get the form from your school, have a parent sign it and an employer sign the job offer section, and return it to school for authorization.
Major Employers That Hire at 16
At 16, the employer universe expands dramatically. Here are the major national employers with explicit or well-documented 16-year-old minimum hiring ages, organized by sector.
Retail — National Chains
- Target: Hires at 16 for sales floor, food and beverage, fulfillment, and guest services — one of the most commonly cited first retail job for 16-year-olds
- Old Navy / Gap / Banana Republic: Most store locations hire at 16 for sales associate and back-of-house positions
- American Eagle Outfitters: Hires at 16 for sales associate positions
- Bath & Body Works: Hires at 16 for sales associate roles
- Five Below: Hires at 16
- Dollar Tree / Family Dollar: Some locations hire at 16
- HomeGoods / T.J. Maxx / Marshalls: Many locations hire at 16
- PetSmart: Some positions available at 16
- Michaels: Many locations hire at 16 for retail associate positions
- Hobby Lobby: Some locations hire at 16
- Books-A-Million: Hires at 16
- Local and mall retail: Independent stores and mall shops are often very open to 16-year-old applicants
Grocery and Food Retail
- Publix: Continues to hire 16-year-olds in expanded roles beyond the 14-year-old positions
- Kroger / Fry's / King Soopers: Many locations hire 16-year-olds for cashier, stocking, and deli positions
- Whole Foods: Many positions available at 16
- Trader Joe's: Minimum age varies by state; 16 is accepted in many locations
- Aldi: Some positions available at 16
- Sprouts Farmers Market: Hires at 16
- H-E-B: Hires at 16 in Texas locations
- Wegmans: Hires at 14–15 in many departments; 16-year-olds can access expanded positions
Food Service and Restaurants
- Starbucks: Minimum age 16; barista positions are popular first jobs for 16-year-olds
- Panera Bread: Hires at 16 for both front-of-house and café positions
- Chipotle: Many crew member positions available at 16
- In-N-Out Burger: Hires at 16
- Chick-fil-A: Many franchise locations hire at 16 for expanded roles
- McDonald's / Burger King / Wendy's: All available at 16 with expanded duties versus 14-year-old positions
- Dunkin': Many franchise locations hire at 16
- Panda Express: Some positions available at 16
- Jimmy John's: Hires at 16
- Applebee's / Chili's / IHOP: Many casual dining locations hire 16-year-olds as hosts, bussers, and food runners
Entertainment and Recreation
- AMC / Regal / Cinemark theaters: Hire at 16 for concessions, box office, and usher positions
- Six Flags / Cedar Fair: Many park positions available at 16
- Bowling alleys: Many hire at 16 for desk staff and lane maintenance
- Mini golf / go-kart facilities: Commonly hire 16-year-olds for attendant roles
- Community pools (lifeguard): With a Red Cross Lifeguarding certification (minimum age typically 15 or 16), many municipal and private pools hire 16-year-olds as lifeguards — one of the best-paying first jobs available at this age
Healthcare-Adjacent and Community Service
- Public library page: Many municipal libraries hire 16-year-olds for shelving, sorting, and assisting patrons
- YMCA / recreation centers: Front desk and youth program assistant positions often available at 16
- Hospital volunteer programs: Some transition to paid positions at 16; the volunteer experience itself is valuable for healthcare-bound students
- Summer camps: Counselor-in-training or junior counselor paid positions at many camps begin at 16
Best First Jobs for 16 Year Olds: What to Target and Why
Retail sales associate
Retail is one of the best environments for building the skills that all future employers value: professional communication, comfort working with diverse people, learning to stay productive during slow periods, cash handling and register operation, and teamwork in a shift-based environment. The best retail first jobs are at companies with genuine training programs rather than "figure it out" cultures — larger chains like Target are more likely to have structured onboarding that teaches you how to do the job correctly from the beginning.
Starbucks barista
Starbucks is mentioned specifically because it's one of the more skills-intensive first food service jobs — memorizing dozens of drink recipes, managing multiple simultaneous orders, providing customer service at speed during rushes — and because the company invests relatively more in employee training than many entry-level food service employers. The skills are genuinely transferable: speed under pressure, precision, and customer interaction. The work is also respected on a resume by employers in service industries.
Lifeguarding
Lifeguarding requires completing a Red Cross Lifeguarding certification (typically a 25-30 hour course) and first aid/CPR certification, but those certifications return a significant pay premium over typical teen jobs — lifeguards typically earn considerably more per hour than most entry-level retail or fast food positions. The certification is also useful beyond the job: CPR and first aid credentials are valued in healthcare, education, and childcare contexts throughout your life. Most pools will help you get certified if they want to hire you; the investment is worth making proactively even before you apply.
Grocery store cashier or customer service
Grocery chains like Kroger, Publix, Wegmans, and regional equivalents offer something most teen first jobs don't: genuine career paths for people who want them. The skills developed (cash handling accuracy, customer service, inventory management, team coordination during rushes) translate well, and many people have built careers starting from a grocery cashier position at 16. For students uncertain about their post-high-school direction, grocery retail offers part-time work during school, full-time opportunity during summers, and an employer who is genuinely likely to be flexible with scheduling around college later.
Tutoring or teaching assistant
For students with strong academic backgrounds in specific subjects, tutoring younger students (or peers) is one of the highest-paying per-hour options available at 16, often exceeding what any employer will pay for an entry-level position. A 16-year-old who is strong in calculus or biology tutoring 8th graders can earn meaningfully more per hour than any retail or food service position. The work also builds communication, patience, and the ability to explain complex ideas clearly — skills that admissions officers and future employers value highly.
Online and Remote Work for 16 Year Olds
The expansion of online platforms has created legitimate income opportunities for 16-year-olds that didn't exist a decade ago. These aren't employment in the traditional sense — they're primarily freelance, platform-based, or creative work — but they're real, legal, and for some teens, more lucrative than traditional first jobs.
Content creation: YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms have no age minimum for creators (though most require parental consent for monetization accounts under 18). Teens who build genuine audiences around authentic interests — gaming, study tips, art, cooking, sports — can generate advertising and sponsorship revenue. The challenge: building an audience is genuinely hard work with uncertain returns; this is an entrepreneurial bet, not a reliable income source for most teens who try it.
Freelance creative services: Graphic design, video editing, photography, and web development can all be offered on freelance platforms at 16. Fiverr allows 13+ with parental permission; Upwork requires 18 but the work itself can be delivered through a parent's account with transparent disclosure. The constraint: build real skills first. A 16-year-old with two years of genuine practice in design or video editing can offer work that has real value; a 16-year-old with a week of YouTube tutorials cannot.
Online tutoring platforms: Platforms like Wyzant and Tutor.com require tutors to be 18. Chegg Tutors requires 18. However, direct-arrangement tutoring (finding clients through school networks, community boards, and word of mouth) has no platform age restrictions. Many 16-year-olds successfully operate tutoring practices through direct arrangements at rates above what traditional employer jobs provide.
Selling on online marketplaces: Etsy allows 13+ with parental consent for handmade goods; eBay allows 18 but parents can manage accounts for minors. For 16-year-olds with craft, art, or reselling interests, these platforms offer genuine income opportunity with the caveat that success requires genuine product-market fit, not just enthusiasm.
How to Get Hired at 16: The Strategy That Works
Apply in person wherever possible
For retail and food service positions, walking in during off-peak hours (between 2–4 PM on weekdays, not during lunch or dinner rushes) and asking to speak with the manager or leave a resume still works better for 16-year-olds than online applications for many employers. The in-person impression — your professionalism, your communication, your genuine interest — is the filter that matters most at entry level, and it's one you can control directly.
Apply online strategically
For Target, Starbucks, Chipotle, and other large chains with structured online applications: apply directly through the company's careers website rather than through third-party job boards. These companies' own career portals are optimized for their specific hiring process, and applications submitted there are more consistently reviewed than those submitted through aggregators. Mark your availability accurately and broadly — the more shifts you can offer, the more useful you are to a scheduling manager.
Use your network
At 16, your network is smaller than an adult's but not zero. Parents' connections matter: a parent who mentions to their friend who manages a retail store that their teenager is looking for a job is the most direct path to a first position. Teachers, coaches, and youth group leaders also often have community connections that lead to job opportunities. Tell everyone who might help that you're looking — the first job often comes from an unexpected connection, not a cold application.
Build a simple one-page resume
Many first-time applicants at 16 don't bring a resume to in-person applications. Bringing one immediately distinguishes you from most of the other applicants. It doesn't need to be impressive — it needs to exist, be neat, and be accurate. Include your school, your GPA if it's above 3.0, your activities (sports, clubs, volunteer work), any prior work or service experience however informal, and two references (teacher, coach, youth program leader). Keep it one page and proofread it.
Related: Resume for High School Students · Build Your Resume →
Answer the availability question honestly
Every 16-year-old job application asks about availability. Be honest — don't claim you can work 30 hours a week if you have sports practice every evening and can really only work weekends. Employers who hire teens understand school schedules; they don't expect 40-hour availability. What they do expect is that the hours you say you're available are actually hours you'll show up. An honest, limited availability is far better than an inflated claim that produces scheduling conflicts in week two.
What to Put on a 16-Year-Old Resume With No Experience
Every 16-year-old applying for their first job has something to put on a resume — the categories are just different from an adult professional resume.
Education: School name, current grade (junior, sophomore), and GPA if above 3.0. Include any honors, AP courses, or specific academic achievements worth noting.
Activities: Sports teams (name the sport and your role — not just "athlete"), school clubs (name the club and any leadership position), student government, theater or performance arts, academic teams or competitions, church or community youth programs. These document your time, your reliability, and your ability to work in a team — all directly relevant to most entry-level jobs.
Volunteer and informal work: Babysitting, yard work, pet sitting, tutoring — any paid or unpaid work you've done for others counts. Document it specifically: "Provided weekly lawn mowing for five neighbors during summers 2023–2024" is better than "lawn care experience." Specificity is credibility, even at 16.
Skills: Customer service experience from any context, cash handling if applicable, languages spoken, technology skills relevant to the role, first aid or safety certifications, driver's license if applicable.
References: A teacher, coach, and one non-family adult who can speak to your character and reliability. Ask in advance and confirm they're comfortable being contacted.
Interview Tips for 16-Year-Olds
First job interviews are short, practical, and focused on a small number of questions. The good news: the bar is calibrated to your experience level. The manager isn't expecting you to have examples from five years of professional work — they're trying to answer three questions: are you going to show up reliably, are you going to be pleasant to work with, and are you going to represent the business professionally with customers?
The questions to expect: Why do you want to work here? What days and hours are you available? Have you ever had to deal with a difficult situation and how did you handle it? What do you know about [this company]? The last one catches more 16-year-olds off guard than it should — spend five minutes looking at the company's website before the interview. Knowing that Target's brand purpose is "helping all families discover the joy of everyday life" and that the specific store has been in the community for a certain number of years is more than enough "research" to answer that question credibly.
Dress for the interview as you want them to see you working: clean and neat, not over-formal. For most entry-level retail and food service interviews, clean pants and a polo or button-down is more than appropriate. Arrive five minutes early. Bring your resume. Thank the interviewer by name at the end.
Using Your First Job to Build Real Skills
The income from a 16-year-old job is real but limited — the state minimum wage for a part-time position produces modest earnings in the context of the overall life you're building. The skills, habits, and professional references are where the long-term value lives.
The habits that compound: showing up reliably, every scheduled shift, on time, without requiring reminders. This sounds basic but it's the filter that separates the employees managers trust from those they manage around. The 16-year-old who is reliable — genuinely, consistently reliable — gets more hours, better scheduling consideration, and stronger references than the one who is more capable but less dependable.
The customer interaction skills built in retail and food service — learning to be professional and pleasant with people who are sometimes rude, impatient, or confused, learning to stay productive when you'd rather check your phone, learning to represent an organization's standards when you interact with the public — are foundational professional skills that are hard to learn except through practice. They transfer to every future job you'll ever have.
The references you build matter: the manager who knows you well and thinks highly of you is one of the most valuable professional assets you'll accumulate in high school. Future employers (including college work-study positions), college applications (some ask about work experience), and graduate school applications all benefit from having a professional reference who can speak to your reliability, character, and work quality from direct observation.
Frequently Asked Questions: Jobs for 16 Year Olds
Can a 16-year-old work at Walmart?
Walmart's standard minimum age is 16 for most positions at Walmart stores. 16-year-olds can apply for front-end, stocking, and general merchandise positions. Note that state laws may restrict hours for 16-year-olds, and Walmart's scheduling will comply with applicable state minor labor laws. Sam's Club has a minimum age of 18 for most positions.
Can a 16-year-old be a lifeguard?
Yes, with certification. The American Red Cross Lifeguarding certification is available to candidates who are at least 15 years old (some courses require 15 years 3 months). Most pools require 16 as the minimum employment age for paid lifeguards. The certification course typically runs 25–30 hours over several days and includes CPR/AED and first aid training. The investment is worth it — lifeguarding typically pays significantly more per hour than most other jobs available to 16-year-olds.
What is the minimum wage for a 16-year-old?
In most states, the minimum wage applies equally to 16-year-olds as to adult workers. Some states allow a lower "youth minimum wage" for workers under 20 for the first 90 days of employment, though many states have eliminated this provision. The federal youth minimum wage is lower than the standard federal minimum wage, but most states' minimum wages are higher than the federal minimum anyway. Check your state's specific minimum wage rules — and note that many employers pay above minimum wage even for entry-level positions in tight labor markets.
How do I find jobs for 16 year olds near me?
Best approaches: walk into local businesses and ask directly, check Indeed and Snagajob using "part-time" filters, look on each employer's careers page directly, check your school's job board if it has one, and tell family and family friends you're looking. For online platforms: Snagajob is designed for hourly and part-time work and includes many teen-friendly positions; Indeed's "part-time" filter with your location and the specific employer name will find openings at specific chains near you.
Seasonal and Summer Jobs for 16 Year Olds
Summer is the prime hiring season for 16-year-olds — you have no school schedule constraint, employers ramp up for the summer rush, and the full federal work allowance (40 hours per week) applies. The competition is also higher, because every other student is looking at the same time. The advantage goes to those who apply early and who can offer flexible summer availability.
Summer positions worth targeting at 16: resort and hotel guest services (some resorts hire 16-year-olds for front desk support, pool attendant, and activity assistant roles), summer camp counselor (many camp counselor positions start at 16 with First Aid certification), amusement park seasonal roles (most parks hire large seasonal staffs at 16 for the summer season), seasonal retail (many retailers hire specifically for summer seasonal roles with less competitive hiring than year-round positions), and waterfront recreation roles at lakes, beaches, and water parks.
Apply for summer jobs in March and April — not June. By June, most of the summer positions at desirable employers are filled. The students who get the best summer jobs are those who start the process before spring break.
Getting Your First Job at 16: The Bottom Line
At 16, the job market opens up meaningfully — more employers, more positions, more hours, more opportunity. The candidates who get the best first jobs are the ones who apply broadly, show up in person at promising employers, come prepared with a simple resume, and treat the application and interview process with the seriousness that signals they'll bring to the job itself.
The first job at 16 is more than the money. It's the first entry in a professional record that will accumulate for decades. The habits you build — reliability, professional communication, customer service orientation, the ability to stay productive without being supervised — are skills that compound throughout a career. Start building them now.