If you’re considering driving for Uber, one of the most common questions is:
How much do Uber drivers actually make?
To give you a clear and realistic answer, I collected real data and personal experiences from 50-100 Uber drivers.
This post will break down their average incomes, driving hours, expenses, and tips to help you decide if driving for Uber is worth it for you.
Some successful Uber diver also shared their secret strategy for earning more in Uber.
How Much Do Uber Drivers Make?
I analyzed Uber drivers’ earnings from various platforms like YouTube, Facebook groups, and online forums.
I also asked my known Uber driver and whenever i ride in Uber i asked them how much they earn weekly.
Some of them shared their earning information with me, some were not so friendly.
However after a countless number of days and hours of effort, I successfully collected some real data. All are proven, i saw their earning screenshot.
So you don’t have to serf all the internet just to get idea how much they actually make.
Below, you’ll find a detailed table summarizing the experiences of real Uber drivers.
100 Uber Drivers Share Their Earnings
| Driver ID/ Name | Location | Hours Worked Weekly | Weekly Income | Expenses (Weekly) | Net Earnings | Rented | Vehicle Type | Driving Experience | Notes/Strategies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geo | Chicago | 59 hrs | $1437 | $558 | $879 | Rental | GMC Terrain SUVs | 7 Years | 8 Week Avg., (-) Promo & Ref. Pro Tip: 1. Set a goal 2. Drive at best hours 3. Don't wait at airport ques, & chase surge 5. Use destination filters advantage |
| Vinny Kuzz | Miami, Florida | 40 hrs | $1260.57 | $589 | $671.57 | Rental | Tesla Model Y | 3 month Review | 499 rent per week. If you buy it, eventually pay it off & can then use that for years. Renting is an expensive option. He also trip some Lyft As well. |
| Chad Jordan | Dallas /Ft.Worth | 55 hrs | $1400 | $525 | $875 | Rental | Kia Forte | 7 years | Expenses Includes Everything Rent, Gas, Oil, tax & insurance, etc. |
| Khushnud Numonov | California | 60 hrs. | $1667 | $743 | $924 | Rented | Black Suburban | 5 Years | Overall 9 Month Avg. 60K made, revived after rent 40K, 7k Gas, & i paid $19750 for a car when we look into 36 weekly earnings & look into it really hurts me that i don't have my my own car yet. In the beginning i didn't have any choice. Now i'm understanding it and more confident to look into cars. |
| Nora Monie An Athlete | Katy, Texas | 38 hrs | $809.41 | $567 | $242.41 | $447 Week | Tesla | 1 Week Uber Experiment | Uber with the Hertz EV rental program. It was like $447/week. To me, Driving with rented EV & Normal Gas car is same for Uber. You have to wait to charge your car. |
| Junaid USA vlogs | Virginia Texas | 28 hrs | $621.17 | $124.31 | $496.86 | Own the car | Sedan | 4.5 Years, Part Time | Only night driving. I try my best not to cancel any ride. And When You File a Tax, You can show your expenses such as fuel, Mileage, maintenance, tires, tools and all. You will get detection from IRS. |
| Ahmed Ahad @ridexserve | Los Angeles, California | 81 hrs. | $1417 | $700 | $717 | - | Toyota Highlander 2021 | 6 Years, Diamond driver | - |
| Eddie @drivinginstyle1 | Austin, Texas | 84 hrs. | $1184 + 493 = $1677 | $250 Gas | $1427 | Owner | Cadillac XT6 SUV | 4 Years | Ride sharing Uber & lyft / 12 hour shift, He has made $1677 Avg. per week in April 2024. |
| Evangelista Javier Jose Fides | Dallas | 30 hrs | $600 | $203.22 | $396.78 | Own | Toyota Corolla | - | After all the expenses & Taxes you end up making $13/hour. I can make more money doing cleaning. |
| Francis BeatTheBush | California | 49 hrs. | $1,027.23 | $193.61 Gas +Toll | $883.62 | Own | BMW 3 Series Sedan | 1 Week Experiment | There are $507 ext. weekly hidden costs you should consider in order to figure out your real earnings in long run. Such as: depreciation, maintenance, and wait time. |
| Victor Salcido @TheReal Victor Salcido | Apple Valley, California | 29 hrs. | $700 | $445 | $255 | Rented | 2021 Hyundai Elantra | 3 Day Experiment | Uber rental program Experiment. Rented a car for $345/week & made $700 in one weekend, covering costs. With extra effort on Fri & Sat, $1,000 was possible. This program can be a profitable side hustle or income stream if you're willing to hustle. |
| Kane Lê | Florida | 40 hrs. | $900 | $175 | $725 | - | - | - | Only gas $175, not counting other costs.Fare the rate are horrible in Florida especially during summer time |
| Nicole Keating | Central CT, New Britain | 32 hrs. | $1,000 - $1300 | - | - | - | M-F | - | Leaves for early-morning airport runs, which pay twice what any other run does. |
| Mike T | Tri-State area of New Jersey | 84 hrs. | $1,300 | - | - | - | - | 6 years | The $30 to $40 per hour rates are history. There are too many drivers, saturating the market. |
| Uriel jones | Philadelphia | 60 hrs. | $2200 to 2400 | $140 (Gas cost) | - | Owner | 2024 Elantra | - | Without tips it may be absolutely impossible I'd hit like 1700 or 1800. I didn't add other Expenses here. |
| Kemist | Tallahassee fl | 64 hrs. | $2,045 | ||||||
| Nick Newsom, The Rideshare Hustle | Boston, MA | 50 hrs. | $1282.5 (-)Promotion | $500 | $783 After Prom: | Rented | Nissan Sentra | 1 Week Uber rental Experiment. | Renting $230/week adds up to $900/month cost, You can't avoid them. While a low-end car might cost $400/month in payments, frequent wear & tear can quickly add up. Renting avoids these repair costs. My advice: start with a rental, save up, & buy a fuel-efficient car like a Prius if it works out. |
| Jimboit | - | 28 hrs. | $900 | $382 R + 160 Chrg. | $385 | Rental | Tesla 3 | 7 years | 1 week trying Tesla 3. The 6 hrs wasted charging kills the whole deal. Take my 28 hrs + 6 hrs charging and net $340 is a joke. With my ICE I get $1,000 in 20 hrs with $200 in gas. |
| @Epic Mindsets | Dallas | 55-60 hrs. | $1150 | $265 Gas & Wash Only | $885 | - | non-EV | 6 years | The pay is lower than it ever has in 6 yrs I was driving. |
| Derrick Agtarap | Greenfield, California | 40 hrs. | $2000 | $525 | $1475 | - | 2021-2022 Tesla model 3 | - | You gotta optimize your tip potential |
| Jose Mendoza | Las Vegas | 25 hrs. | $1150 Avg. | $145 Charg. | $1105 | - | Tesla Model 3 | - | This is the EV market now. No gas, no oil changes, just tire rotation. My electric cost is only $145 a month, gas vehicles would be close to $545 |
| Suber Mike | Houston | 16 hrs. | $600 Avg. | - | - | - | - | 4 years | I have only ever driven Uber Fri sat and very rarely Sunday. |
| Victor Salcido | Apple Victorville, California | 78 hrs. | $2118.78 | - | - | Owner | Hybrid 2021 Hyundai ioniq | Part Time Uber, Truck Driver | My 10 Dollar Trip Strategy save my time, money on gas, deal with less people & make me more money in short amount of time. I only Accepting trips that are $10 or more. |
| Zay | San Francisco | 37 hrs. Avg. | $1900 Avg. | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Mic Breeze | Asheville, North Carolina | 42 hrs. | $1250 | - | - | - | - | 3 years | Live in the largest tourist destination in NC. avoid almost all all tax burdens legally. |
| Jimmy Reyz | Nashville | 10 hrs. | $380 | - | - | - | - | - | 7 years |
| Michael Cooney | Las Vegas | 72 hrs. | $2100 Avg. | $210 | $1890 | - | SUVs | - | 10% going to fuel costs. I didn't count other expenses here. |
| Abe Tilahun | - | 50 hrs. | $1600 | $400 | $1200 | - | Model 3 Tesla | - | $400 for charging /maintenance /tax Weekly Avg. |
| u/Fluid-Strategy-4049 | New York | 70 hrs. | $1400 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Jaroc | North Carolina | 50 hrs. | $1,500- $1800 | $150-$180 | - | - | Corolla | - | Spend about $150-$180 on gas Only every week. |
| u/ methdaccpt | SF Bay Area | 32 hrs. | $1116 | $120 | |||||
| u/ Cold_Pop | South FL market | 60 hrs. | $1500 | $250 | $1250 | - | Hybrid | - | $100 on gas weekly and the rest accounts for maintenance |
| Steph on the Pedal | Denver, Colorado | 13 hrs. | $404 | $124 gas | $280 | - | - | - | Without bonus $312 Wkly. My advice: Get out of this hourly mind set. Make business cards and pass them out. Besides passing them out to riders go to enterprises. You will fail if you depend on the app. |
| Aidan Abad | California | 8 hrs. | $214.23 | $16 Chrg. | $198.23 | - | 2021 Tesla Model Y | 1 Day Experiment | It was a 1 Day Experiment. |
| Happy Aujla | California | 5 hrs. | $213 | $35 | $178 | - | Audi RS 5 | 1 Day Experiment | $105 Was the main Fare. If You Drive a Car like Honda Civic, Toyota Camry/Prius, You Could Earn More because of Less Fuel & Maintenance cost . |
| @RideShare AndDelivery | Boston | 7 hrs. | $264.80 | $132.65 | $132.15 | - | 2019 Kia Forte LXS | - | Accepted every Uber trip in Boston for a day (Fri), just like Uber platform recommends & see if it was worth it. |
| Faysal | New York City | 36 hrs. | $734.37 | $45 Chrg. +80 Ins. | $609 | Owner | Tesla Model y | 1 Month | This is my week driving Uber black in NYC , I give a income breakdown. I did about 29 rides on Uber. $320 insurance for a month. |
| Eisenhower Maldia jr | Los Angeles | 55 hrs. | $1,061 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Aykut Ozkan | Tampa, Florida | 30 hrs. | $700 | $390 | $310 | Rented | Toyota Camry | 3 Day UBER Rental Experiment. | Rented Camry from UBER for $300 Week, made 700$ in 3 days. Spent 90$ for gas. Biggest issue in rental is you can not able to use Lyft & Uber at the same time. |
| Driver Eddie | Philadelphia | 13 hrs. | $344 | $183 | $161 | Owner | 2012 Honda Civic LX | 9 Years | |
| Samuel Demos | Boston | 60 hrs. | $1800 | $1200 | $600 | Rented | - | New driver | About a 1 month, I am doing 55 to 60 hours week in Boston, rental from hertz I do 1800 a week - gas and rental 1200 of net so I don’t have to deal with maintenance. |
| Javon | Chicago, Illinios | 72 hrs. | $1500 | - | - | - | - | - | 12 a day. Theory is simple, more hours you put in the more money you can make. My goal is I don't come in a house till I reach at least $300 a day. Thinking I'm crazy, I have plenty life. You can go 3 weeks straight & 1 week off you still making over $6,000 something a month. |
| SFDriver | San Francisco | 19 hrs. | $543 | Hyundai Ioniq | 4 Years. | As an independent contractor, I see vehicle expenses as a way to reduce taxable income. Whether owning or renting, it’s about finding what works best. I personally view my car as a tax write-off, which offsets costs and increases my profits. Switching to an efficient EV has made my rideshare gig even more profitable. | |||
| David | Houston, Texas | 53 hrs. | $2013 | - | - | - | Volkswagen SUV | 1 Year | Most important thing is testing out different times. it's a little learning curve you got to go out there you got to test out different times test out your Market see what times are more optimal to drive. |
| Ronald Spears | Las Vegas, Nevada | 75 hrs. | $2019.29 | $280 Gas | $1739 | Owner | Toyota Prius Hybrid | 5 Years | SECRETS TO EARNING $2000 + A WEEK. Through 37,000 rides, I've gained unique insights. Pervasive lack of seriousness towards life & success. Self-doubt & misplaced priorities also hinder many from reaching their true potential. |
A small note: Some old Uber driver said me the money in before 2019 and previous years was much better. They experienced a decline in earnings after COVID-19 pandemic lock-down. They suggest me that I have to be strategic as a ride share driver today. If i do not have a good strategy to make my money, i will definitely struggle.
1. Average Earnings by City
Every market, and every person varies based upon their knowledge, abilities, and what they drive.
For example In my data table, there are some Uber drivers doing great in uber and other platform as well like lyft, and doordash. I interviewed some of them, you can read their strategy and see screenshot of their all earning in this article latter.
But first lets finish this section.
From my data, drivers’ net monthly incomes vary based on their city, car type, and hours worked.
Here’s a summary:
- Top-Earning Cities:
- New York: $4,269/month (Gross) (53 hours/week) 1067
- Los Angeles: $4,956/month (Gross) (68 hours/week) 1239 weekly
- Chicago: $5748/month (Gross) (59 hours/week)
- Las Vegas: $7026/month (Gross) (57 hours/week)1756.43
- Dallas: $4200/month (Gross) (47 hours/week)1050
- San Francisco: $6032/month (Gross) (35 hours/week)1508
- Boston: $4463/month (Gross) (39 hours/week)1116
- Nashville
2. The Truth About Car Depreciation
A common concern among Uber drivers is car depreciation. It’s true that driving more miles wears down your car, But i can assure you depreciation is often overestimated. Here’s why:
- Modern Cars Last Longer: Cars today can easily reach 250,000+ miles with proper care.
- Depreciation Slows Over Time: A new car loses value quickly in the first 3-5 years. Older cars (8-10 years+) depreciate much slower.
- Smart Maintenance Reduces Costs: Regular oil changes, tire care, and timely repairs keep your car running longer without major expenses.
So what i find that Drivers who use reliable, well-maintained used cars minimize depreciation costs and maximize their profits.
That’s why i always suggest rather than worrying about depreciation, focus on net earnings after expenses like fuel, maintenance, and insurance.
How to Minimize Uber Expenses and Maximize Profits
- Drive Smart Hours
- Use Fuel-Efficient Cars: Hybrid or electric vehicles save significantly on gas costs.
- Track Expenses: Use apps like Stride or Hurdlr to monitor fuel, maintenance, and insurance expenses.
- Regular Maintenance: Preventative care (oil changes, tire rotations) saves money in the long run.
Challenges to Consider
Uber and Lyft drivers face unique challenges that go beyond income:
- Dealing with difficult customers: “One drunk customer threw up in my friend’s car—it was a nightmare to clean.”
- Lack of benefits: Rideshare drivers don’t receive healthcare, 401Ks, or paid time off, unlike traditional employees.
- Legal grey areas: Drivers are often left to navigate tricky situations like passengers without car seats, legal liabilities, and more.
Tips and Insights from Drivers
- Many drivers don’t realize that most car-related expenses, including depreciation, gas, and maintenance, are tax-deductible.“Almost everything you mentioned is tax-deductible. What isn’t deductible is often covered by insurance.”
- Successful drivers stress the importance of strategy.“Without a clear plan, you’ll struggle. It’s not like 2019 when earnings were higher—you need to adapt to today’s market.”
- For those needing flexibility, such as caregivers, rideshare driving can still be a valuable option.“I care for my 97-year-old mother-in-law, and Uber’s flexibility allows me to be there when she needs me.”
Conclusion: Is Uber Driving Worth It?
Based on the data, driving for Uber can be profitable, especially in major cities with high demand.
This diverse range of experiences highlights the pros and cons of rideshare driving. It can be profitable with the right strategies, but it’s also essential to consider hidden costs, declining pay rates, and the realities of gig work.
If you’re looking for flexible work and can drive strategically, Uber driving remains a solid option for earning consistent income.
