While many gig workers deliver for Uber Eats part-time to earn extra money, you can also earn a full-time income as an Uber Eats driver.
If you work hard and smart, you can even make more than a thousand bucks a week.
Here is how to make $1,000 a week with Uber Eats.
Table Of Contents
How Much Money Can You Make With Uber Eats?
The amount of money you can make with food delivery apps like Uber Eats depends primarily on factors such as:
- How many hours you work
- Your city
- The time of day you work
- Which days of the week you work
Let’s delve a bit deeper into the average Uber delivery driver’s wages.
Average Pay
According to Indeed, the average hourly earnings for an Uber Eats driver is $17.64/hour.
However, the sample size that number was taken from is small, and earnings can vary based on location.
You also have to factor in expenses—after expenses, many Uber drivers only earn $8-12/hour.
Average Tips
Uber Eats gives customers recommended tip options, but the actual tip amount you will get will depend on the cost of the order.
The average tip seems to be $2-4.
According to one survey, most Uber Eats users in the United States agreed that a tip of $4 was reasonable.
However, while the average tip might be around $4, not all users tip.
Around 60% of Uber Eats delivery drivers feel that they don’t get tipped enough or often enough, indicating that many customers aren’t tipping.
Nevertheless, there are ways to increase the chances of getting tips, which I will discuss later.
The good part is that 100% of the tip goes to the Uber Eats delivery driver.
Where Can You Make the Most Money With Uber Eats?
The Uber Eats delivery service is more popular in some cities than others.
In some cities, it would be smart to pick up DoorDash orders, too, if you want to earn extra money.
Busiest Cities
The busiest cities for Uber Eats include:
- Miami
- Atlanta
- Washington, D.C.
- Dallas
- Boston
- Chicago
- New York City
- Houston
For example, in Miami, Uber Eats made up 55% of all food delivery service orders; in all the other cities I listed above, it was more than 25%.
In San Francisco, on the other hand, Uber Eats only accounted for 11% of the market.
Logically, if you work in Miami, you will have more earning opportunities than if you were to work in San Francisco.
How To Make 1000 a Week With Uber Eats?
If you want to make more money, you’ll need to work more hours. That’s the obvious part.
However, working smarter instead of harder is just as important, and it will allow you to earn more without suffering burnout.
Choose Busy Times
If you work at 3 AM, you might not get as many earning opportunities as if you were to work during the day.
Most people will be asleep, and many restaurants will be closed.
The best time to work is during mealtimes.
Lunch is a popular time, especially during the week, as many office workers and other employees will be ordering food.
Supper time is typically busy as well.
Working during those times will ensure you can work nonstop, with minimal wait times between orders.
Provide Good Customer Service
Providing good customer service will help you earn more tips.
Many Uber drivers rely on tips to make up for expenses.
If you aim to please, more of your customers will tip, and those who would otherwise tip will give larger tips.
Here’s what you can do to improve your customer service:
- Text your customer if there are any delays or hiccups at the restaurant
- When picking up the order, ask the customer if they have any special requests
- Ask the customer in advance where to leave the food
- Notify them of your estimated arrival time (it can differ from what Uber tells them)
- Deliver with a smile and a pleasant attitude
- Don’t ask for tips
- If your customer texts or calls you, respond promptly
Know Your Market
Even within cities, more orders may come from some areas than others.
For example, people in higher-income neighborhoods tend to be able to afford to order from Uber Eats more often.
Similarly, areas with a lot of offices may be a good place to hang around.
You can sometimes drive around areas with lots of restaurants to minimize the time it will take for you to pick up orders.
If you live between two cities, commute to the one where you get more orders.
Look for Surge Pricing
Surge pricing happens during busy order times.
When there aren’t enough drivers near a popular restaurant, Uber raises the prices for customers to incentivize more drivers to come on the app and work.
Uber won’t notify you by email in advance that surge pricing will occur.
Instead, all notifications will come in real-time from the app.
You’ll be able to see if an order comes with extra delivery surge earnings when the request pops up on your screen.
You’ll increase your chances of earning extra money via surge pricing by delivering during busy times (like lunchtime) and sticking around popular restaurants.
You could easily earn $3 or $5 extra per order, for example.
Track Your Expenses
Without tracking your expenses, it’s impossible to calculate how many hours you’ll need per week to make $1,000 in profits.
Expenses can include:
- Gas
- Car loans
- Car insurance
- Vehicle maintenance
- Uber’s commission
- Tolls if commuting into the city to work
- Vehicle rental costs
- Etc.
Some vehicles may come with more expenses than others.
For example, some cars may use up more gas.
On the other hand, if you’re delivering on a bicycle, you won’t have to pay for gas, but you may not be able to fulfill as many deliveries.
Advertise on Your Car
You can make anywhere between 50 to a few hundred extra dollars a month by putting an ad on your car.
Companies like Carvertise and Wrapify connect you with businesses willing to pay for putting vinyl wraps or stickers on your vehicle.
Still, your earnings will depend on your city and how many hours you drive around per day.
Use a Professional Profile Picture
Use a professional profile picture!
Customers will respect you more if you look professional in your picture, leading to more tips.
A good profile picture is even more important now than before, as many customers are choosing contactless delivery, so they won’t even see you in person.
How Much Time Do You Need To Deliver To Make 1000 a Week?
Going with the average hourly earnings rate of $17.64, you’d need to work at least 57 hours a week to earn $1,000.
That equals around eight hours a day, including weekends.
While that might sound like a lot, you can drastically increase your earnings by working during busy times, looking for surge pricing, providing good customer service (getting more tips), and taking advantage of Uber Eats bonuses and promotions.
Working on more than one app (Uber Eats + DoorDash, for example) can also help you get the most out of your workday.
I recommend working for several weeks and then calculating your per-hour earnings by dividing your total earnings by the number of hours you worked.
Once you’ve figured out your hourly rate, divide 1,000 by that number to figure out the amount of time you need per week.
Final Word
Many Uber Eats workers are earning full-time incomes from Uber Eats.
Glassdoor estimates that Uber Eats drivers working full time earn around $54,000/year (including additional pay like tips and bonuses), which means making $1,000/week is possible.
