Working as a driver for Uber can be fun.
But most Uber drivers are working to earn money, not simply to have fun.
It’s no surprise that many Uber users ask their driver, “How much do Uber drivers make?”, the answer isn’t always that transparent.
To maximize your earning as an Uber driver, you need to understand a few different things.
These include the pay structure, how it varies in different areas, and all of the little wrinkles that are part of Uber’s compensation guidelines for their drivers.
Keep reading to see how much money Uber drivers can make and how they can optimize their earnings.
We will explain how Uber calculates its pay for drivers, how much Uber drivers make, and how Uber driver payments work.
Sign up for Solo to maximize your earnings and know exactly what you’ll make while driving for Uber!
The Solo app will automatically track your income across gig apps, log your miles and expenses, project your taxes, and even guarantee your daily pay in some metro areas!
Plus, get $10 when you download Solo and link your active gig work account(s) in the Solo app.
Table Of Contents
Overview: Getting Started
Unlike a job where you report to work and punch a time clock, Uber drivers don’t have a traditional payment structure.
Instead, an Uber driver’s earnings are determined by totaling the amount of money earned from trips, including any Surge pricing or price boosts, promotions, tolls, and tips.
An Uber driver’s earnings also include referral awards and cancellation fees.
Referral awards compensate drivers for referrals and Uber sign up bonuses, and cancellation fees protect Uber Eats drivers from canceled orders by paying them a small amount even when a customer cancels.
That total is your gross pay as an Uber driver.
Your net income will be the total remaining after Uber subtracts any applicable fees and you pay any expense on your end.
Drivers can always check their personal Uber dashboard for detailed breakdowns of their earnings.
Uber offers a guide for using the dashboard to see and track your trip earnings.
1. Uber Driver Salary Versus Hourly Pay
Uber has stated that its drivers can earn $55,000 per year.
Independent analysis shows that the hourly earnings of a typical Uber driver are less than fifteen dollars an hour.
Those numbers are quite a bit different.
The reality is that even full-time Uber drivers are at the mercy of market forces in the rideshare industry.
There are also many variations in play as total earnings are greatly affected by the Uber service you provide, the region or city you work, and the total number of hours you worked as a driver.
Variations in the volume of requests for rides also complicate earnings predictions, as inconsistency is the rule.
Uber’s payment structure is not static.
That means that your pay will vary according to the dynamic factors that Uber takes into account for determining income.
It is difficult to pinpoint what salary you will earn, as even Uber can only provide estimates of what a driver may be able to make in any given period.
2. Uber Driver Income Varies by Uber Service
One factor that determines how much an Uber driver can earn is the type of Uber service they provide.
Uber economy services like UberX, Comfort, and UberXL charge riders less than when they use premium services like Uber Premier.
But that doesn’t always translate into more money for drivers who provide premium rides.
If there are fewer riders, you will get fewer customers.
So, many Uber drivers also opt to provide deliveries for Uber Eats to maximize their earnings by doing food deliveries while in between rides.
3. Uber Driver Income Varies by City & Region
Right now, Uber estimates that a driver working forty hours per week will earn $1,309.
But that figure is drawn from data obtained in the suburbs of New York City, where driver supply tends to be high, and there are large population centers near one another.
That figure also includes an estimate of $72 in tips provided by customers and excluded the costs for which a driver is responsible.
So, after an Uber driver pays all their fees, insurance, and taxes, plus the costs for owning, maintaining, and cleaning their vehicle, their earnings will be substantially lower than the figure estimated by Uber.
Also, consider that if an Uber driver has to perform significant maintenance on their vehicle that takes them out of service they will be unable to complete trips and earn wages.
And, if you move that same driver to another area with less volume, the average driver’s salary will drop substantially.
For instance, the median earnings of a driver in San Francisco are almost 30% more than a driver working the same hours in Kentucky.
4. Uber Driver Income Varies by Hours Worked
The bottom line is that the more you drive, the more you will earn.
Uber’s estimates show that a driver working about twenty hours per week will make just over $600, including about $40 in tips.
That is less than half of what a driver working about forty hours per week will earn.
Earnings are not necessarily linearly tied to the hours worked by an Uber driver.
But, by understanding the Uber pay structure and optimizing your time in the car to maximize your earning potential, you can make more money than drivers who do not.
How Does Uber Calculate Pay for Drivers?
Uber uses a system to calculate how much to pay a driver for a completed trip.
Let’s look at how Uber calculates pay for drivers across rideshare and Uber eats services.
How Uber Calculates Pay for Rideshare Services
Uber calculates earnings using a few key metrics.
Understanding how these metrics affect your payments will go a long way to predicting and optimizing your income as an Uber rideshare driver.
1. Standard Fare
The standard trip fare is the set booking fee charged to every rider.
Uber supplements the standard trip fare with the rate charged per minute, the rate charged per mile driven, and the Surge pricing multiplier attached to fares in areas and times of high demand.
Put simply, even within the standard fare, there is substantial variation.
For example, a driver who makes five quick trips during a surge period will out-earn a driver who makes the same number of trips in a time where there is less demand for rides and no surge pricing.
The easiest way to increase earnings is to find the best times to drive for Uber – driving in the busiest areas at times of peak demand.
Uber drivers can also earn extra money for completing a set number of trips in a given period.
For instance, a driver may earn a $20 incentive for completing ten rides in a week.
2. Promotions
Uber drivers may occasionally receive notifications of promotions through the Uber app.
They are not always available, so drivers can’t rely on promotions to earn extra money.
But, if there is a promotion attached to an event in their area, drivers can boost their earnings significantly.
For example, there multiple ways that drivers can earn extra income though the current Uber promotions that are now being offered.
3. Tips from Customers
Uber drivers are also eligible to earn tips from their customers.
In areas where it is available, the Uber Driver app has a tipping feature included.
Some areas have laws that restrict that option.
Upon the completion of a trip, a rider can easily choose from a few preset tip amounts within the app or enter a custom amount they feel is more appropriate.
Uber does not charge a service fee on tipping.
Users are also able to tip up to thirty days after the completion of their ride.
Uber does try to mandate that all tipping should be performed through the app, but they don’t always follow this rule.
Uber drivers are able to track their tips in the “Earnings” section of the Uber app and online at the Uber website by logging into their account.
The same information also appears on weekly statements and other summaries for easy access and transparency.
Sign up for Solo to maximize your earnings and know exactly what you’ll make while driving for Uber!
The Solo app will automatically track your income across gig apps, log your miles and expenses, project your taxes, and even guarantee your daily pay in some metro areas!
Plus, get $10 when you download Solo and link your active gig work account(s) in the Solo app.
How Uber Calculates Pay for Delivery Services
Uber drivers can also earn money by performing deliveries.
Like Uber rideshare drivers, Uber calculates the pay for Uber delivery services by adding up a few components.
1. Standard Fare
The standard fare for Uber Eats orders includes your pay for pickup, drop off, the time it took to complete the delivery, and the total distance driven.
If a customer cancels an order, the driver may still be eligible for a small fee.
2. Promotions
Just like Uber rideshare drivers, delivery drivers can take advantage of promotions to boost their earnings.
Typically, a promotion will enable you to earn a surge dollar amount in addition to your base fare.
Surge zones appear on a driver’s map, and they can either pick up a delivery from the surge zone or accept a delivery while driving in one.
Uber often offers cash rewards for completing “Quest Goals.”
They appear under the promotions banner on the Uber Driver app, and drivers can then make extra money by completing a goal within a certain time period as outlined in the Quest Goal.
3. Tips from Customers
Like rideshare drivers, Uber Eats delivery drivers are also eligible to receive tips from their customers.
Uber does not apply a service charge to tips, so drivers are entitled to keep 100% of the tips they earn.
Uber also compensates drivers for canceled orders, so they are afforded at least limited protection from flaky users who cancel a delivery request after they initiate a delivery request.
How Much Do Uber Drivers Make?
It is impossible to make a blanket statement about how much an Uber driver earns.
There are too many variables that influence a driver’s pay.
It’s important to remember that many of the factors are outside of a driver’s control.
Even drivers who spend many hours behind the wheel may not make as much money as they think they should.
But, we can determine what the average driver earns with Uber, though the data is limited to generalities and based on varying circumstances.
Uber is also very secretive when it comes to releasing earnings information.
There are potential political ramifications to revealing the fact that drivers do not always earn more than the minimum wage in a certain area.
Uber Driver Earnings Trends in 2019 and 2020, Into 2023
Before we break down the specifics of how much Uber drivers make, we’ll consider how earning levels have changed in the past year.
At the time of this writing, COVID-19 is currently decimating driver earnings.
Our team just completed a survey of 175 rideshare drivers, and found that rideshare income is down by over 80% since coronavirus lockdowns began last month.
As a result, many drivers are struggling to make ends meet and are at risk of not being able to cover staple expenses like car and insurance payments.
Aside from the pandemic-related income changes, before the lockdowns went into effect, average Uber driver earnings across all platforms actually increased 31.4% from our 2018 survey.
It is evident that there are some big changes happening in a handful of major U.S. cities.
Namely, Uber is responding to criticism about its classification of drivers as independent contractors.
Uber drivers have always been independent contractors in the United States.
This allows you to have full control over your schedule and essentially be your own boss.
At the same time, this has enabled the ridesharing company to keep driver pay fairly low while also leaving drivers responsible for all of their own rideshare expenses.
Car payments, as well as vehicle and health insurance costs, aren’t covered either.
After paying for their own gas, maintenance, insurance, and more — not to mention paying self-employment taxes on top of income taxes — many drivers are left with unimpressive annual earnings.
We’ll dive into more on that in the section below.
In this past year, the precedent for change has been set.
New York City became the first U.S. city to set a minimum wage for rideshare drivers, boosting driver pay by over $5 per hour above the national average.
As a result of these changes, our survey found that New York City has become the best-paying city for Uber drivers, with drivers earning an average of $26.24 per hour.
Some California drivers are also getting more control over their own rates, allowing for higher earnings for strategic drivers.
If this trend continues, it’s quite possible that both your earnings and independence will continue to increase in 2023 and beyond.
Keep this in mind as you learn more about what Uber drivers are currently making below.
Average Uber Driver Earnings
The average Uber driver earns between $8.55 and $11.77 per hour.
Those figures will vary when influenced by the factors we have discussed, such as the particular Uber service provided, Uber’s pricing schematics, and the number of hours worked in total by the driver.
How Much Do Uber Drivers Make Per Hour?
According to our 2019 RIDES survey, we found that the average UberX driver makes $13.70 per hour before tips, or $14.73 after tips are calculated in.
UberXL and Select drivers earn just under $15 per hour before tips, while Uber Black driver wages average out at an impressive $24.87 per hour before tips.
While being an Uber driver can be great, figures on hourly income can be elusive.
I personally drive in the Midwest, and I’ve made anywhere from $5 an hour during times of high driver supply and passenger demand, to more than $50 an hour during a glacial snowstorm when almost all other drivers were hibernating like bears in their beds.
So in 2019, to clear up the confusion, our team created a survey that measured driver earnings and satisfaction to finally get some answers.
Over 2,600 active drivers took our survey, which allowed us to analyze $1,027,585 in driver earnings that represent 62,583 paid driver hours.
After getting the data, we thoroughly analyzed it and compiled our final results into Ridester’s 2018 Independent Driver Earnings Survey.
2018 survey findings:
After notable news outlets like The New York Times, Forbes, CNBC, and Vice, (just to name a few) quoted our 2018 survey data, we decided to re-run the survey to see how much of a different a year would make on Uber driver pay.
Shockingly, we were blown away by the results.
In our 2020 RIDES Survey, we found that Uber drivers across all service levels experienced a 31.4% increase in earnings for a total of $19.36 per hour when base rate, tips, and Uber bonuses were factored in.
UberX drivers experienced the highest increase of all service levels, seeing a bump in earnings of $14.73 in 2018 to $18.97 in 2020.
2020 survey findings:
Other notable findings from the 2020 RIDES Survey:
- The average tip for UberX drivers increased 7% between 2018 and 2020
- 46.4% of drivers drive for less than a year
- It seems that Uber is paying drivers more bonuses in 2020, which is key to the increase from 2018
While Uber once advertised that drivers could make as much as $25 per hour, it’s clear that this attractive payment isn’t what the majority of drivers — UberX drivers — are experiencing each day.
These higher earnings are only easy if you own or invest in commercial insurance and a luxury vehicle, though doing so can also lead to greater maintenance costs over time.
Still, that’s not to say that $25 per hour isn’t possible for the average driver.
Uber drivers’ hourly wages continue to be heavily influenced by a number of factors, including:
- Location: Drivers in Honolulu and Seattle may often see earnings around the $25 per hour mark, while drivers in places like Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Houston, Texas may not even reach $10 per hour.
- Surge pricing: During busy times (often including rush hours, storms, and big events), demand will rise higher than supply, allowing surge pricing to kick in. This multiplies fares, leading to big per-hour earnings differences.
- Tips: Drivers earn 100% of tips, so getting even one extra dollar on a tip per hour can lead to big hourly earnings differences.
Once in a while, you may even be sent Uber driver promotions that help you earn extra money for driving in a certain location or completing a set amount of rides.
With this in mind, you can see how no Uber driver is limited to the national average $19.36per hour wage.
2. How Much Do Uber Drivers Make Per Day?
If we use the more optimistic estimated earning figure of $11.77 per hour, we might be able to calculate that the average driver will earn about $95 per day driving for Uber.
Taking the average hourly earnings described in the previous section, we can calculate that the average Uber driver can make approximately $154 in a single day.
This is assuming that rideshare driving is your full-time job and you drive a full eight-hour day.
If you are in New York, you’ll of course make more, earning $209.92 per day at an hourly rate of $26.24 per hour.
However, it is admittedly hard to provide a completely accurate daily earnings estimate, as daily earnings see huge fluctuations.
Part-time drivers will naturally earn less than full-time drivers, and even full-time drivers (those who drive 40 hours per week) don’t always follow consistent schedules.
They may drive a couple hours in one day, but drive 10 hours the next.
The best way to estimate your expected earnings is by considering what your own driving habits will look like on any given day.
3. How Much Do Uber Drivers Make Per Week?
Full-time UberX drivers can expect to earn nearly $590 per week after tips when working 40 hours in a week.
Beyond the aforementioned factors — location, surge, and tips — weekly earnings can also be heavily impacted by the amount of trip requests you receive throughout a seven-day period.
Some weeks, especially during the holiday season, you may notice your app lighting up with back-to-back requests as soon as you log on.
On other weeks, you may be frequently idling while waiting for your next pick-up requests.
When considering the $590 per week earnings, remember that this average is calculated before your weekly gas expenses or your taxes are taken into account.
Earnings will vary significantly by individual Uber drivers.
There are just too many factors that can influence the total.
But, a recent study showed that Uber drivers make an average of $364 per month.
However, the median earnings of an Uber driver are only $155.
That means there are a substantial number of Uber drivers earning less than the average.
That means that there are likely a great many Uber drivers who are working only a few hours a week and completing very few trips.
When we extrapolate those monthly numbers to weekly calculations using some division, it seems that the average Uber driver is not driving forty hours per week and that their average earnings total less than $100 weekly.
That is probably not considered a sustainable living wage.
4. How Much Do Uber Drivers Make Per Year?
One online earnings calculator shows that the average Uber driver’s annual salary in the United States is approximately $29,000.
Full-time Uber drivers earn a bit more on average.
That is far below the median income for households in the United States.
Uber Driver Income by Service
Uber driver income varies by the type of Uber service they provide.
For instance, Uber’s luxury rideshare services have different associated fees, and Uber takes more significant cuts from luxury rides than those performed with standard services.
So, it is often through providing a blend of services that drivers can make the most money.
But, remember that the requirements for an Uber driver’s vehicle change based on the class of service they provide.
Some services require larger vehicles.
How Much Do Uber Rideshare Drivers Make?
Uber rideshare drivers make the majority of their money by completing trips.
Those completed trips have a fare attached.
Additional charges for mileage and time spent behind the wheel also supplement the fare.
1. Earnings Per Trip
After paying all of their expenses, and Uber takes its cut, a typical Uber driver will earn about $11 per ride completed.
The more trips you complete in an hour, the greater your hourly wages.
But, if there isn’t much action during that single hour, you may spend a significant amount of time waiting for fares.
That’s where it may make sense to take advantage of the opportunity to provide other Uber services.
Minimizing wait time is key to maximizing earnings.
2. Earnings Per Mile
Each mile of a trip contributes to the total fare charged to the user.
Depending on the total factors influencing the ride, each mile will add between $1 and 2$ to the fare.
So, after Uber takes their cut and calculates all of their other fees, an Uber driver is probably earning less than $1 per mile driven on a completed ride.
That might not seem like much money, but it is enough to offset the cost of fuel.
How Much Do Uber Eats Drivers Make?
Per one recent survey of active Uber Eats drivers, Uber eats drivers can expect to make about $3.50 per delivery.
Uber Eats drivers are also at the mercy of changing demand, food preparation wait times, and recalcitrant tippers.
So earnings are very unpredictable.
And that’s before Uber calculates other expenses.
So, it is probably financially impractical to work exclusively as an Uber Eats driver.
But, by bundling UberEats work with Uber rideshare services, a driver may be able to optimize their time in the car to earn more in the same amount of time.
How Much Do Uber Connect Drivers Make?
Uber Connect is a relatively new service that aims to provide local delivery services for parcels and packages.
Customers receive charges based on rates that include a base fee, mileage, and other factors.
Drivers for Uber Connect should expect to earn only enough money to supplement other employment.
But, you can bundle multiple services for Uber to maximize your earnings behind the wheel.
Uber is not transparent when it comes to the earnings of its drivers.
And, since the Uber Connect program is fairly new, there isn’t even much anecdotal evidence to go by.
This is before the Uber commission.
How Much Does Uber Take From Drivers?
Uber deducts a standard service fee for each trip.
Uber claims that the fee is 25% of the total fare.
But, when you factor in additional Uber fees, the booking fee can actually be much higher than 25%.
Say Uber charges 25% of a ten-dollar fare.
If there is an additional one dollar fee, the total taken is more than 35% of the total fare.
But if the fare is one hundred dollars, that one dollar fee doesn’t hit as hard in terms of a percentage of the total.
As it turns out, Uber hasn’t been so transparent about fees it’s charging its drivers.
In our research, we found that Uber is actually taking a much higher portion of driver earnings than the advertised 25 percent commission.
There are actually a number of additional fees that rideshare companies take.
As a result, the Uber booking fee is actually much higher than that 25 percent.
How does this happen? We put together a quick video to easily explain:
Uber and Lyft both charge a “booking fee” and “safe rides fee” on each ride.
These vary by city but are generally somewhere between $1–$3 dollars in the United States and are added directly to the passenger’s fare.
Unfortunately, Uber drivers don’t actually see any of this booking fee in their bank accounts
It goes directly to Uber and isn’t included in the driver’s fare.
Even if you’re driving a Tesla or another high end car, they still take a healthy cut.
On lower priced rides, this means that Uber is taking a much higher cut than 25 percent.
Further, Uber has lowered its prices significantly over the past few years, hurting Uber driver salaries in the process.
For example, in 2013, Uber drivers only had to drive roughly 2.36 miles to make $10 before fees.
Nowadays, the average Uber driver has to travel a whopping 4.71 miles to make the same amount of money.
Oh, and that’s before the $3.26 Uber takes.
In other words:
Despite claiming to take just 25 percent commission on rides, rideshare companies like Uber actually take up to 42.75 percent of their drivers.
That’s just for a minimum-price fare ride in San Francisco.
In other words: Short rides are becoming less and less profitable for drivers.
For many rideshare drivers in San Francisco (and elsewhere), almost half of a driver’s earnings are lost to Uber.
So before you rush out and sign up to become an Uber driver, we suggest getting a firm understanding of what’ll get taken from your paycheck first.
The Drain on Your Commission
According to the San Francisco-based study, the median commission that drivers lost out on over the course of 37 rides was around 39.01 percent — much higher than the 25 percent claim that Uber makes.
Here’s an infographic that analyzes a recent study of Uber rides in San Francisco.
As you can see, after Uber’s booking fee and 25 percent commission are added up, the fee can sometimes be significantly more than one-fourth of the ride that Uber promises.
See the full infographic below:
Don’t Forget Driver Expenses
It is essential to remember to factor in your driver expenses when trying to estimate your earnings.
After a driver has given an Uber ride, they must calculate the hidden cost of the ride.
Often drivers overlook these expenses, which then comes back to bite them later down the road.
Some of the biggest expenses you will incur are:
- Insurance: This includes personal insurance and a rideshare or commercial insurance policy.
- Car/lease payments: The amounts a driver pays to drive their vehicle. Drivers either own their own vehicles or lease one from Uber or a third-party provider.
- Tolls, license, permit fees: Drivers pay for all of these fees. Passengers pay an added surcharge when drivers must incur toll fees.
- Gas: Since drivers are considered independent contractors, they must pay for their own gas, and are not reimbursed.
- Vehicle maintenance: Drivers are responsible for their own vehicle maintenance and upkeep. They will be reimbursed if a rider damages their vehicle, however.
- Taxes: including a 10% Self-Employment Tax with the IRS
These types of expenses, again, can vary widely based on a bunch of different factors, including what type of car you drive, what city you drive in, age, and driving record.
Given that fact, we’ll summarize these expenses and speak in broad generalities.
It’s a general rule of thumb for the rideshare industry to budget roughly 20 percent of the total ride fare amount for ride-related expenses.
In our example, that would mean: $10.24 x 0.8 = $8.19
At that rate – hypothetically speaking, after factoring in pick-up, drop-off, and dead time – the UberX driver could estimate to make somewhere in the neighborhood of $15–$20 an hour if they were to get two similar rides each hour they drove.
How Do Uber Driver Payments Work?
When Does Uber Pay?
By default, Uber pays drivers once per week using an ACH bank transfer directly into their account.
A week for Uber runs from Monday at 4:00 a.m. to the following Monday at 3:59 a.m.
All rides during that time period will count towards that week’s pay period, which will be reflected in a driver’s Uber pay stub.
You will receive a weekly statement of earnings on Monday or Tuesday which shows your earnings for the previous week.
You can also check your driver earnings from within the app by clicking on the “Earnings” icon on the bottom of the driver app.
You can even see your earnings including current and previous weeks in the Uber Partner dashboard.
For most banks, direct deposit will show up on Thursday for the previous week’s pay.
or some people, the direct deposit shows up on Friday, but it really depends on your bank.
Even though my direct deposit usually shows on the following Thursday, I’ve also seen instances where the pay didn’t show up in my account until Friday.
While an ACH bank transfer is the standard method for payments, drivers can also elect to be paid by two other ways.
1. Instant Pay
Drivers have the option of getting paid via Instant Pay.
Once they hit a certain minimum payout limit, they can request their earnings to be paid out instantly without having to wait the entire rest of the week till the next payment cycle.
Your earnings are available quickly, and you can cash out up to five times per day.
2. Uber Debit Card
Another option for drivers is to get paid using Instant Pay, but paid directly to a special Uber debit card instead of a bank account.
Drivers opting to receive payment on their own debit card incur a fifty-cent charge on each payout.
Those who use the Uber Visa Debit Card from GoBank are not charged a transaction fee for cashouts.
Uber Earnings Date: When Does Uber Pay Drivers?
Uber has a weekly driver pay period.
But, you can check your earnings in the app, and anything you are entitled to can be transferred to you using Instant Pay at any time.
Earned fares are usually available very quickly.
But metrics that are calculated once per pay period are limited to the availability of those payments.
Uber Payment Types Summarized
Just to review, let’s look at all the options Uber drivers have for receiving payments.
There are three main options:
- Bank Transfer: Uber drivers may elect to receive a direct deposit to their personal bank account. You will receive your funds at the end of each pay period.
- Instant Pay: Instant Pay services allow a driver to collect their earnings more quickly than via a traditional bank transfer. If they elect to use a personal debit card, they incur a fifty-cent charge per transaction.
- Uber Debit Card: Uber Instant Pay users can avoid the transaction fee by opening an account and using the Uber Visa Debit card from GoBank to receive their payments.
Does Uber Reimburse Surcharges and Tolls?
Uber does not reimburse drivers for most local surcharges.
But, drivers are supposed to receive automatic reimbursement for tolls they must pay during a given ride.
However, many drivers have complained that they don’t always receive their toll reimbursements automatically and that they have to take action to receive compensation from Uber.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are a few questions people ask about driving for Uber.
Is Uber meant to replace a full time job, or supplement income as a side hustle?
It’s fair to say that, for most Uber drivers, a job with Uber has to be a supplement to a salary they earn elsewhere.
There simply isn’t enough consistency for the typical Uber driver to make enough money to sustain themselves with Uber alone.
So, many Uber drivers are only part-time drivers.
But, drivers who operate full-time in a dense urban area, and optimize their trips by supplementing their time behind the wheel by providing other Uber services can certainly earn a respectable income.
At that point, they are working a full-time job but don’t receive the benefits that other full-time workers enjoy.
For instance, you will not receive any paid time-off or sick leave working for Uber.
How much Uber drivers make by using the platform is up to them, but the ancillary benefits of full-time employment are not attainable as an Uber driver, as you are not an employee of Uber.
How long does it take to make 100 Uber trips?
That depends on how buys your operating area is and how much you are working.
If you are operating in a densely populated urban area, it’s quite possible you could complete 100 trips in a week to ten days, depending on the number of hours you work.
But, if you are in a more rural setting, with longer rides for each trip, or you don’t work many hours consistently, it will take much longer to complete 100 trips.
Can you make $1,000 in a week with Uber?
You can. But, you might be the exception to the rule.
Most Uber drivers do not make that kind of money.
But, by keeping in mind Uber’s payment structure, targeting times where your trips are eligible for surge pricing, and providing quality service that earns tips from your passengers, you can drive your earnings higher.
There are a great many factors that can make it easier (or harder) for full-time drivers to earn money with Uber.
It’s up to you to tailor your efforts to maximize your wages.
How Much Can You Earn Driving for Uber? The Bottom Line
How much do Uber drivers make?
Working as an Uber driver can provide a steady revenue stream.
There are quite a few factors that will influence your daily earnings, and some of them are outside of your control.
Working in an urban area is probably the best way to enhance your earnings as an Uber driver.
But, by targeting opportunities to increase your profits, like working during surge pricing and high-volume periods, you can tilt the playing field to your advantage and earn more money for your time behind the wheel.
And remember, all Uber drivers set their own schedules and priorities.
So, for someone who wants to avoid the demands of an office-based or nine-to-five type job, the flexibility of an Uber schedule can be especially appealing.
If you are thinking about driving for Uber, sign up today and see what you can earn.
Due to Covid in 2020 they were less drivers available. This increased the rate and percentage of the drivers driving in 2020. The major problem is happening with Uber now, is it is actually falsifying surge areas. It does this so you get a basic fix the fair while it gets a stacking fair from the true surge amount. This just started happening for about a year now. I’ve sent proof and complain but it’s totally ignored. Also Uber would get a percentage of the fair when I first started it was 25%. Now they are taking close to 50 and well over 40% many times from the ride. In other words Uber knowingly and purposely is short changing the drivers. I’ve also taken proof from what the rider is charged compared to what he would be charged. They also falsify knowingly when they do estimate rides. The riders are paying much more than they should have up to and over 30% because they are getting an estimate charge of the ride instead of the actual charge. When I complained about This and showed uber the proof, they said the rider accepted that charge. The extra money charged neither the rider or driver gets. Uber keeps at all. Uber has been very unethical the past year and a half and more. They send out an update to the contractual agreement. Of course you have to except it. If you don’t excepted you no longer drive for Uber. Now it states you only get paid for the actual amount of mileage you drive. This is the way to get around the surge falsification and they get to charge estimate charges instead of the real charge and keep the money.
Uber is doing same route Amazon and food delivery gigs does. Recently Amazon got caught and end up paying millions of dollars to the drivers but they doing the same game someone needs to step up and investigate and Sue Uber sooner or later over it will catch up to them.
I drive in Kansas City. I have seen Uber take as much as 60% of fares. On an actual trip my rider was charged $29 and my pay out was $11 and change. Especially during surge events. They also do not show us drivers what the rider actually paid for the trip. This gives them the green light to charge riders as much as they want, and pay drivers as little as they can get away with. And as a driver we have no way to verify the percentage they are taking. I just want them to be transparent about what they are charging my riders so I can verify my payout.
They claim 25percent. They are misleading. 60 percent is taken out. We pay our own gas and maintenance. Tell me how this is fare to the driver. Be truthful.
I make more in 2 days than the 500 this guy claims Uber drivers can only make.
I’m an uber driver and have been asking my riders and found that uber takes almost 50% of what they pay..Us drivers need to get together and do something. We need to protest/boycott Uber and Lyft for a couple days to make a stand!!
I can show anyone where Uber is consistently giving me 35 to 50 percent of what the are charging the rider, on rare occasion i may get a ride that pays me a little more if the ride took longer or there was heavy traffic in a comfort ride i even might get an occasional 60-70 percent which is awesome btw when it happens rarely. My percentage averages around 45-55 percent when i shut down uber X and only drive comfort, which is a new feature started in late February 2022. Uber is taking the lions share in fees and they do not negotiate it, I’ve been told…”the fees uber takes can vary greatly from ride to ride and we do not negotiate that amount or give you any share of it” ( which they actually used to do btw). Pre pandemic i worked about 90-100 hours around 100-120 rides a week and grossed around 2800-3000 a week in ATL. Now i work about 90-100 hours and only get about 70-80 rides a week and make about 1500 a week. For this reason I’m looking for a real job again. I work 15+ hour days most of the time. Uber hires a surge of new people and you can’t hardly get 1 ride in 2 hours ride for 4–6 weeks if you are an experienced long term driver. This is so they can give the majority of rides to new people to make them think they can make lots of money with uber. They get bonuses geared towards making tons of trips and throttle you on the last day to avoid paying you a bonus you deserve. OR… They will send you only long rides so you cannot attain the bonus that’s based on make lots of rides. I have even had them throttle me the third day on a 4 day bonus if they think I’m getting close and i will sit for hours in a surge and not get a single ride so they don’t have to pay me a bonus, it’s horrible third world treatment to the drivers. These used to be tiered weekly… now they are tiered twice a week with Monday through Thursday’s minimum rides being 60 at the lowest and 100 at the highest bonus and then another 60-100 in three days on the weekend as the lowest tiers. That’s minimum 15 rides a day during the week ( hard but obtainable) and 20 a day in weekend ( requires driving asleep unless you are new and the platform sends you the right number of rides to get it) Just let me say… the people who are attaining this many rides or even higher to attain these bonuses are literally driving all the time. So when you are sitting still waiting on a ride it does not count against the 12 hour driving limit so a lot of drivers are on the road way beyond the 12 hours we are supposed to be driving to reach these lofty bonuses. I’ve seen drivers that sleep in their cars for days at a time. I don’t! And the bonus for 60 rides can vary greatly from one week ti the next. They most recently have decided to add feature that give you an upfront guarantee and even the option to p/u rides in a “radar” screen but if you look at it and don’t see one worth the money and go back to the main page then it sends the crappy paying ride to you anyway. Then you have to decline it which runs your decline rate up taking you out of your professional tier like platinum or diamond and then you don’t get instant pickups at airport or your other benefits like vips. And Guaranteed pricing is not guaranteed nor do they give you “reasoning in the receipt” like they say. They just tell you one of your recent rides was recalculated and although they weren’t recalculating much to start now almost every ride is recalculated and it says recalculated when we receive a tip as well. And now the service agents tell you they can’t see the before recalculated price… it’s all just another way to avoid paying us a fair amount for the work we do. they reduce the “guaranteed amount ” if you are quicker and don’t give you the amount they reduced it by or send you the amount they reduced it by and they keep the profit. When explained they tell you it is for your benefit but the reality is you have zero legs to fight them with because they do whatever they want and you just have to be screwed or do something else. Also uber delivery sucks now without tips you don’t even make enough to pay for gas. And people are cheap, many don’t tip, even in my affluent area of ATL… And during surges instead of letting the experienced drivers make money by keeping them in those areas they will send us outside the surge area to pickup and then run us around on long trips outside the surge area. If i set a destination in the city to try and stay there during surge hours they will say destination reached and shut it off immediately… that’s new as well… point is that your uber driver isn’t making much anymore… expect it to get harder and harder to get a good one. Unfortunately they have a new surge of drivers that don’t know any better and have quit their jobs because they don’t want to take a vaccine or they think the pay is great. This actually hurts the long term drivers because they do not realize they aren’t making any money until tax time rolls around. When i started 5.5 years ago in ATL i could drive 2 days a week and make more than i made during the week at work. In 2019 when i went full time, i was killing it, rented a reasonably priced vehicle from uber. The price of renting a vehicle from them now is 150% of what it was then. People are paying more for rides and in general i have seen my tips decrease by about 10% due to the rate hikes and employers setting limits on tipping or the regular riders being hit with higher fares. My gas expenses have gone from about 10% of my gross to 20% and now that gas is skyrocketing is 30% or more some days. When i started doing this 5.5 years ago my fares were 76% my share across the board. Now sometimes i make only 30% or less in a fare. Customer pays $11-$14 and i still get the standard $3.75-$4.28 it’s literally highway robbery and those that don’t do the math or have no idea how to do the math are the reason there are still uber drivers when they do that to us. Oh and their new bragging right as of March is that they pay less for longer rides and more for short ones… short rides are not how i make money so this is useless for me!
Recently i have started driving lyft again… in 3.5 years I’ve only done 85 rides against the nearly 6300 with uber… uber is the stronger platform in ATL and the clientele are the airport/ business riders who tend to tip better. So driving with lyft is like shopping at Walmart vs Target. Less money, about half in as many hours, more work… they offer streak bonuses but you have to consider even at $18 on 3 it’s literally $6 per ride extra and i can make that on one surge bonus during those hours if i get the right ride with uber. So I’m finding that Lyft in my area tends to have mostly broke people taking it for long distances to save money getting to work and back. I have consistently grossed less than $8 an hour with them over the last couple of weeks. Not good, but if you don’t know anything else I’m sure it’s great.
Both platforms will reduce the surge pricing as you get closer to the area they are offering it in, even if you are offline driving to that area…. Cheaters… i could give you so many number it would make your head spin. But that’s my degree… accounting… yes i have a degree… those people you look down your nose at driving you might actually be former CEO’s, they are all self employed and many share business strategy and talk about how to increase revenue on the platform when they get together. We are often taken for idiots and hear enough insider trade info during our rides to put some companies out of business or make a fortune in the stock market if we didn’t keep it to ourselves. But that’s part of being professionals at what we do. People say and do everything in Ubers… so next time you ride be considerate of your driver.
I make $35-$45 an hour in Austin TX driving both food and clients. My job before Covid was high end, managerial. Post Covid, salaries did not increase and lay offs were a thing. Fortunately Uber figured out some clever ways to keep me wanting to drive during this inflation and chaotic shutdown period in the United States. Cheers to Uber, I wouldn’t have survived without this as a Plan B.
Not sure where you get your data from, but here in Phoenix I sometimes have $300 days and fairly often have $1,000 weeks. I average about 10 hours a day on the road.
Also I get 53 miles to a gallon, so I didn’t even feel the gas hike.
I’m so sorry, I am very very exhausted from some personal things going on and I didn’t take the time to proofread my comment so that I could get all my thoughts in one comment. Again, apologies.
Those figures I gave you don’t even include quite a few bonus opportunities that I pass up because I don’t want to take the time at that moment. If I chose to take advantage of everything they offer my numbers would be at least, I would say, as much as another 50% higher.
It’s unbelievable. Uber had more than doubled what they take from us completely cutting out the profit margain entirely. I was averaging 35+ an hour here in Denver. Now I average 16? For the same amount of rides. They now take 60 percent, so you actually lose money on the longer drives, especially when there is no return trip. Few nights ago I had a ride 35 miles into castle rock, they then added another stop that took another half hour, past castle oaks, in a snow storm, 2 1/2 hours round trip, in a snow storm, for 38 bucks, and that was surged, that ride used to pay 100. Airport runs were 30+ dollars and now they’re 16? And gas is 4 dollars a gallon and rising. I started sending my resume back out into the regular work force again because after fuel and maintainable the new rates gross a few dollars below min wage it’s disgusting
I quit Uber today. No more. The last straw was a afternoon ping to the airport in Indy from Anderson IN. my home. 60 miles for $37.22
.60 a mile before gas, oil, tires, brakes, increased insurance, Uber optional insurance, and 2019 yr 4 payment of 301 on my Toyota Corolla. Equivalent to a 60 mile trip in 1980 for 10 dollars. You could not hire a cab or limo for 60 miles and pay $10 in 1980 Uber drivers are idiots. I’m out!