From 2002 to 2010, Taylor worked as a model in Europe and lived in Miami.^[7] Taylor signed with Ford Models in New York City.^[7] He has appeared in several magazines, including Trump Magazine,V Man, GQ Japan, Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan, 944 Magazine, Esquire, Instinct, CosmoGirl and Out.^[8] He has also starred in campaigns for Target, Macy's, JCPenney, Old Navy, Nordstrom, Kohl's, Skechers, Paul Mitchell, AussieBum, 2^(x)ist, Taco Bell and Abercrombie & Fitch.^[8][9] In 2018, he resumed his modelling career by starring in a Jack Victor campaign.^[10] In 2014, Taylor collaborated with Xcalibur Brand to create a shoe and sweater collection.^[11][12] In 2014, Taylor also created a fitness application, which was discontinued after a few months^[13][14]

Early in his career, he worked as an uncredited background actor in several television shows such as 2 Broke Girls, The O.C., Arrested Development, Dexter and Will & Grace.^[15] In 2009, he was credited as Hot Guy 2 in Dance Club on Desperate Housewives, giving a drink at a club to Nicollette Sheridan's character.^[15] He started working at Lisa Vanderpump's restaurants SUR and Villa Blanca, which earned him a spot on the reality television series Vanderpump Rules in 2013, following the lives of the SUR and Villa Blanca servers. Taylor and Brittany Cartwright got their own spin-off television series Vanderpump Rules: Jax & Brittany Take Kentucky, which followed the couple's visit to Cartwright's hometown in Kentucky.^[16] The couple have also appeared in three episodes of Vanderpump Rules: Watch with Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor (2022–23) on Peacock.^[17] In November 2023, at BravoCon event, Vanderpump Rules' executive producers announced that Taylor will appear as a guest in the eleventh season of Vanderpump Rules.^[1]

In a May 2023 interview with the Rolling Stone, Taylor confirmed that he had filmed a new reality show titled House of Villains.^[17][18] The series premiered on October 12, 2023, on E!. The show followed ten television villains competing for a $200,000 prize and the title of "America’s Ultimate Supervillain."^[19] He was the first contestant to be voted off the competition.^[20]

On June 28, 2023, Variety reported that a Vanderpump Rulesspin-off starring Taylor, Brittany Cartwright and Kristen Doute was in early development at Bravo.^[21] On January 18, 2024, Bravo released a trailer for the reality series called The Valley, which premiered on March 19, 2024.^[22] The series stars five couples, including Taylor and Cartwright.^[23][24] In May 2024, The Valley was renewed for a second season, with the full cast returning.^[25] In July 2025, Taylor announced that he would not returning for the third season in order to focus on his sobriety, mental health, and coparenting.^[26]

In October 2023, Taylor opened up a sports bar "Jax's" in Studio City, California with wife Cartwright and three other business partners. He worked out a deal with the owners of Rocco's tavern and was able to open extremely quickly due to the bones of a bar being in place from a previous venture. People magazine noted that "Cartwright, a Kentucky native, even incorporated her family's famed "Mamaw's Beer Cheese" into the menu (a plot line when the two were on VPR.)"^[27]