Get Paid To Fly Drones – Over 25 Jobs For Drone Pilots

Photo credit: Pilot Institute

Amazon DEALS: DJI Mini 4K now $249 (-17%) and DJI Osmo Action 4 drops to $249!

So, you’ve got your Part 107 to fly drones commercially, and now you can get paid to fly your drone. Today, we’re diving into over 25 jobs that you can do to make money using your drone. Whether you’re looking for a weekend side hustle, dreaming of launching your own business, or just want to work for a drone service provider, we’ll cover the best options out there. Let’s get to it.

Perfect Side Hustle Opportunities

Let’s kick things off with drone jobs that are perfect for a side hustle. These are low barrier to entry, give you flexible hours, and can generate some extra income.

Stock photography and videography. You can upload your videos to sites like Shutterstock or Blackbox. If your content gets used, then you get paid. It’s passive income and you can’t go wrong with that. Practice your shots, do what you love, and make money doing it. To get started, look for stock photography sites and find out how to become a contributor.

Event videography. You can cover local events, concerts, or even festivals. Reach out to your city’s event department or local venues to get started. If you live in a destination for travel, you can create some amazing travel footage. Pitch it to your local tourism board, hotels, and city marketing departments. Reach out to your local city’s event or tourism department and offer your footage.

Sporting events. Skate parks, surfing, motorsports. Offer highlight reels to event organizers and to individual athletes. Post sample work on social media in order to attract attention. The goal here is to capture footage that people want to see.

Drone light show assistant. This one is an easy in. Drone light shows are always looking for extra hands and they want pilots with a Part 107 license. Join an existing LRO team as an operator or as a tech. You learn the ropes and also earn something on the side.

Real estate photography. Drone footage sells houses. Period. No questions about it. Offer your services at a discounted rate to start. When you deliver results to agents, they’re going to ask you to do more work. Find realtors via Zillow or your local agencies.

Educational content. Make tutorials or 3D maps, for example, and sell them to schools or upload to YouTube for monetization.

Weddings. You can partner with local photographers or videographers and offer your aerial work. If you have a ground camera, you can offer that too. Reach out to your friends and your family to build your portfolio. Search for ads that are looking for wedding photographers or videographers.

You can also go look on Facebook groups, freelance platforms like Fiverr or Upwork, or even Facebook Marketplace. There are tons of one-off drone jobs that you can sign up for. List your drone services and start accepting gigs.

If you’re looking for more information on jobs in the industry, we have a lot of content that you’ll find useful. Head over to the premium community. We have interviews with working professionals and workshops in various fields with plenty of insights and tips that you’re going to want to check out.

Building Your Drone Business

If you’re ready to go all in, you’re going to need to put in some work. First, you have to focus on building your brand. If you want to scale a real business, you’re going to need to build your foundation and pick an area where you want to specialize in.

Inspections can bring good money. Reach out to roofing companies or insurance adjusters directly.

Construction progression surveys. Provide weekly or monthly updates to builders. Offer your services to general contractors or real estate developers. Even offering a free flight to show the value of a drone can get your foot in the door.

Surveying and mapping. Use photogrammetry to create mosaics and land elevation models. Great for civil engineering firms. However, a surveying certificate might be required.

Cinematography and scouting. Directors are always looking for previews of where they’re going to shoot their movies. Reach out to indie filmmakers or production studios. If you have the skills, this can lead to future jobs in the things that you like to do.

Real estate specialization. Yes, this one’s on here again. Not only can you do real estate for some side gigs, if you’re good at it, you can actually build a successful drone business that specializes in real estate. That being said, expect to provide ground camera photography and videography as well. This may require an investment in some decent cameras and lenses if you don’t have them already.

Solar panel inspections. Thermal cameras can detect when a cell is not working correctly or when there is debris on a solar panel. A lot of companies may not realize the value a drone can give to efficiency. Pitch your services to solar companies or property managers.

Marketing and promotion. You can work with car dealerships, real estate agencies, or even tourism departments in your local area and sell them your product. If you have the drive and determination for it, create a reel and showcase your skills for local businesses. Send a reel to local agencies and ask for an opportunity to do some paid work to promote their businesses.

Full-Time Drone Career Opportunities

Maybe you want the stability of a full-time gig. And I can’t really blame you. There are a lot of employers out there that are looking for certified Part 107 pilots. Here are some of the jobs that are offered by companies, government, or even by some agencies.

Wildfire monitoring. Join your local fire department to monitor wildfires in real time. Careful here—this is often seasonal and on-call work and will likely include other duties in addition to flying your drone. Make sure you don’t do this on your own. Make sure that you talk to your local department first and make sure that they need the help.

Search and rescue. Find missing hikers or help in disasters. Volunteer with your local search and rescue team or apply for government grants. It’s important that you reach out to your local sheriff’s office or your local authorities before you fly. Don’t do it on your own. Working with a local department can lead to rewarding work in this field. You can literally help save lives.

Disaster relief assessment. After a fire, flood, or hurricane, teams need quick aerial overviews. Work for an NGO, the Red Cross, or FEMA contractors. Again, this can be extremely rewarding, but like search and rescue, you’ll need to get involved before there’s a situation. You can help save lives and give back to your community in a very big way.

Mining industry surveys. Photogrammetry can be used to measure stockpiles and to survey terrain. A drone is a powerful tool. Drones are one of the many tools in a surveyor’s toolbox, and they can help increase efficiency. Apply to mining companies or to subcontracting survey firms. You can also start your own business as a contractor for mining companies.

Archaeological mapping. Help preserve local dig sites or map remote ruins. If Indiana Jones had a drone, he would not have had to run from that big boulder. That’s for sure. There’s a lot more to archaeology than just flying drones, though. This would allow you to work with academic institutions or even museums.

Journalism and breaking news. You can record aerial footage of events as they unfold. If you have a drone handy when a breaking event happens, capture that footage. Now, fly safely from a distance and don’t get in the way of any local authorities. But exclusive footage can be worth its weight in gold. You can sell footage to TV networks or upload to video agencies. While very uncommon, you might be able to work with law enforcement to help create reconstructions. But please don’t do this on your own. Make sure to work with your local agency in order to provide this service.

Energy sector jobs are another option. You can inspect wind turbines, solar fields, or refineries. Apply directly to utility companies, their contractors, or you can start your own business and go after the contracts yourself. Just make sure that you’re ready to scale when you get that contract for 1,500 wind turbines.

Law enforcement and security. Support surveillance of public events through either a private security agency or as a member of law enforcement. Work will depend on the department or the company. Some departments hire full-time and some of them are going to contract out.

Drone manufacturers actually also hire drone pilots. And yes, you can do more than just fly, including testing, coming up with new features, assisting with support, selling drones, and more.

Photo credit: Billy Kyle

Where to Find Drone Jobs

So, where do you actually find these jobs? Here are some sources:

Drone Brothers is a network for pilots looking for jobs in the construction industry. Unlike other websites that post jobs and offer them to the lowest bidder, Drone Brothers actually onboards pilots and then selects them based on location and equipment. These jobs can also be recurring and onboarding is free, so give it a try.

LinkedIn. Search for drone operator, UAS pilot, remote sensing. There are tons of opportunities on LinkedIn.

Fiverr and Upwork. These are great for building a portfolio with small, quick jobs.

Indeed. There are tons of full-time listings, especially in inspection and construction.

Drone manufacturers. There are a lot more than you think. Many list pilot networks or have job boards for certified users. Many larger firms also have their own listings on their website. If you have a particular company in mind, be sure that you check there as well.

Drones are doing way more than just taking cool videos or cool photos. They’re actually transforming how the industry works, and there are a lot of opportunities for you in this growing industry. We want to make sure that we can help you be successful flying your drone under Part 107. If you want to learn more about specific jobs and getting work in the industry, make sure you check out the Pilot Institute community. There you’re going to find insights from working professionals in pretty much every single field that uses drones. Thanks for watching today’s video.