10 Best Part-Time Jobs for Retirees Who Love Working With Their Hands

Discover the 10 best hands-on part-time jobs for retirees. Learn wage benchmarks, Social Security earning rules, and tips to start earning extra income.

By Tessa

A retired woman happily sands a vintage wooden chair in her sun-drenched backyard workshop, surrounded by classic hand tools. — A smiling retiree finds fulfillment sanding a wooden chair leg in her rustic, sunlit workshop.

Illustration of a woodworking workbench with a checkered cutting board, hand planes, chisels, Japanese pull saws, and wood shavings. — Custom woodworking commands premium prices, generating significant supplemental income with just ten to fifteen working hours per week.

2. Custom Carpenter and Woodworking Artisan

Woodworking translates seamlessly into retirement because you control the pace of production inside your own workshop. The national median hourly pay for carpenters stands at $28.50 per hour. You can build custom floating shelves, repair antique dining chairs, or craft bespoke cutting boards for local farmers markets. Because custom woodworking commands premium prices, you can generate significant supplemental income with just ten to fifteen working hours per week.