It’s a bit like counting sheep before you go to bed, but you can actually earn $10/hour by counting the number of people in a crowded area…
This is possible because businesses crave traffic data in order to study their local trends, marketing results, and historical direction. To satisfy their need for this data they often hire people to stand outside their location and count the number of people who enter the doors.
I’ve done this work before and its usually pretty easy. It’s not the most interesting work, but it pays around $10/hour and it’s all independent contract work, so you get to pick and choose when you work.
The companies I’ve worked for are Measure Consumer Perspectives and Certified Field Marketing. I’ve seen them hire people to count the customers at malls, grocery stores, and movie theaters. Some of the locations require you to stand out front, but many of them will let you just keep a tally while sitting in your car.
The application for both companies is pretty simple and nearly everyone is hired. Once you’ve been accepted as an independent contractor, you will want to keep a close eye on their online assignment list. As new assignments become available, they will be posted to that list.
I noticed this morning that Measure Consumer Perspectives has quite a few jobs they are trying to fill right now. They aren’t available in every area, but it might be a good idea to add yourself to their list so you can keep an eye on future opportunities.
Good luck Penny Hoarders!
Update: This one is US only. Sorry to our international readers. 
That is a really cool job. I’m guessing you can just do it when the event occurs, like a weekend?
Yep. You can pick and choose which assignments you want.
Kyle
What a creative way to make money. I never would have guessed people get paid for that. I always thought the counters I’ve seen in the past were volunteers. Good to know at least some of those folks get some money from it! -Sydney
Wow! I never knew that. You know the way it is hard to find jobs now this is a good thing to know. People that are people watching should love this job.
Thank you for sharing this. Now i know what I can do if I ever get tired of blogging. Actually I could do this just to get away from the PC for few hours.
Blessing to you and this is really cool information on job hunting.
Debbie
Wow.. I would have never expected anyone to pay someone to do this. How long did you last as a crowd counter?
It’s crazy what people will pay for. I’ve done it a few times although I usually get bored after a couple of hours.
[...] The Penny Hoarder — How to Make $10 an Hour Counting Crowd Sizes [...]
I never knew such a job exists until now. I can see the importance of knowing traffic trends for businesses and events.
[...] Taylor from The Penny Hoarder presents How to Earn $10/Hour Counting Crowd Sizes, and says, “It’s a bit like counting sheep before you go to bed, but you can actually earn [...]
@ penny hoarder…
Just curious…..were you MSPA certified when you did this stuff??
No – in general I think becoming MSPA certified is a waste of time/money. Some mystery shopping companies say that those with MSPA certification get more jobs, but truth be told, I’ve never had a problem getting jobs. When I was a full-time mystery shopper I would complete 300-400 shops a month and turn down 100′s more….
Kyle
Kyle…
Thanks for the insight dude..