Teen summer employment is rebounding. But the summer job is still a shadow of what it used to be

For generations, working a summer job was the norm for the American youth. Once school was out, over half of teens used to trade their backpacks and notebooks for aprons, nametags, life jackets and gloves to bolster the workforce and, of course, have a bit of pocket change to enjoy their summer break.  

However, after the Great Recession, the number of teens with summer jobs had ben cut nearly in half. What was once the convention had become the exception. 

A recent Pew Research study showed that this trend is starting to turn around, though teen summer employment is still far from the sustained peak that spanned from the 1940s through the turn of the millennium.  

The downfall of teen summer employment

For the better part of half a century, over 50% of 16- to 19-year-olds in the U.S. held summer jobs, per Pew. In the first 53 years that this federal jobs data was tracked (1948-2000), over half of teens worked jobs in 44 of those summers, with a record high of 58% in 1978. 

Since 2001, the 50% barrier has not been broken a single time, with teen summer employment hitting an all-time low of 29.6% in 2010 and 2011. 

The number of teens holding jobs in the rest of the year has mostly followed the summer trend, though the gap between summer employment and rest-of-year employment has narrowed. 

Post-recession and post-pandemic recovery

Since hitting a valley after the Great Recession, teen summer jobs made a steady climb, increasing marginally in all but one year from 2011-2019, ultimately rebounding to 35.8%. 

The COVID-19 pandemic naturally resulted in a 2020 drop, with many of the typical teen job industries like retail and hospitality having to close their doors due to local restrictions. However, 2021-2023 saw tremendous recovery with teen summer employment hitting a new post-recession high. 

The growth has tapered off in the three years since, but still 35.5% of teens reported having jobs in the summer of 2026.  

What kind of jobs are teens working in the summer? 

Of the teens that are employed this summer, over half are working in two fields. The largest is accommodation and food, which includes hotels and motels, restaurants, and food stands, among others. Thirty-two percent of all employed teens (2 million total) worked in this sector in June and July, per Pew. 

The second largest sector is retail trade, which employed 21% of teens with jobs (1.3 million) in that same span. Retail had been in a bit of a decline since the pandemic, but 2026 is projected to be the first increase in the years since. 

Other sectors with notable levels of teen employment are arts, entertainment and recreation (7.8%); hospitals and health services (4.7%); construction (4.7%); and management, administrative and waste services (4.5%).  

In terms of the actual jobs teens are working, the most common is food preparation and serving, at 1.5 million. Next is sales, at 1.1 million, and rounding out the top three is transportation and material moving, at roughly 701,000.