Uber Drivers Forum banner
  • If you have joined UberPeople.net because your Uber account was hacked, you've likely been taken in by a scam. Please read this before starting a thread on this subject.

This is how much Uber drivers really make

2K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  mangoman808 
#1 ·
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-how-much-uber-drivers-really-make-2018-05-15

Maybe driving for Uber isn't so profitable. For the drivers, at least.

When accounting for the ride-sharing company's commissions and fees, vehicle expenses and a modest health insurance package, Uber drivers end up earning just $9.21 in hourly wages, according to a new study from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C.

A fellow at the EPI, Lawrence Mishel, analyzed data from a research paper on gender equity among Uber drivers, to calculate how much Uber drivers earn from passengers, versus how much money goes to Uber in the form of commissions.

When workers are salaried and receive W-2s, their employers must pay payroll taxes to finance programs like Medicare, Social security, workers' compensation and unemployment insurance. Uber drivers are independent contractors, so Uber does not pay any payroll taxes toward those programs. Self-employed workers pay extra payroll taxesfor Social Security and Medicare that salaried workers don't.

Here's what the latest report found:

• Uber drivers typically collect $24.77 per hour in passenger fares.

• From that, Uber takes $8.33 in commissions and fees, about a third of all passenger fares.

• Vehicle expenses like gas and maintenance cost drivers about $4.87 per hour, Mishel determined, even after taking into account their tax deductibility.

• That leaves drivers with $11.77 per hour, from which they pay $0.90 in extra Social Security and Medicare taxes, because they are self-employed.

• If drivers don't pay for health insurance or contribute to a retirement plan, they can take home $10.87 per hour.

• If they do want to purchase some basic benefits, their take-home pay would come out to about $9.21 per hour.

Uber provides drivers with a commercial insurance policy with $1 million of coverage per incident, but drivers are responsible for their own expenses, including cleaning their vehicle and filing their own taxes.

The ride-sharing company said Mishel's analysis didn't tell the whole story. "While we appreciate EPI's contribution to this important topic of research, the paper makes several questionable claims and assumptions while altogether ignoring the flexibility drivers tell us they value and cannot find in traditional jobs," an Uber spokesperson said.

Others, however, have come to similar conclusions as EPI's research did. The popular personal finance blogger Mr. Money Mustache experimented with driving for Uber in 2017 and said he only made $7 per hour after expenses while driving in Colorado. An analysis by the loan company Earnest has estimated that Uber drivers make an average of $364 per month and a median of $155 per month.

That said, compensation can vary widely depending on location, whether or not it is a busy time of day that creates "surge" pricing - during peak times - and how often drivers decide to work. The average Uber driver in New York City takes home $25 an hour after commissions and sales tax, Uber said in 2014, and make median incomes of $90,000 per year. In areas with less demand, making that much could prove difficult.

For many drivers, Uber is not their main source of income, according to a separate study by Princeton University researcher Alan Krueger. Krueger, who has previously been employed as a consultant to Uber, worked with Jonathan Hall, chief economist and director of public policy for Uber, on a paper distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2016. Most Uber drivers had full- or part-time employment before becoming drivers, and many continued to work other jobs after starting to drive for Uber, they found.
 
See less See more
1
#3 ·
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-how-much-uber-drivers-really-make-2018-05-15

Maybe driving for Uber isn't so profitable. For the drivers, at least.

When accounting for the ride-sharing company's commissions and fees, vehicle expenses and a modest health insurance package, Uber drivers end up earning just $9.21 in hourly wages, according to a new study from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C.

A fellow at the EPI, Lawrence Mishel, analyzed data from a research paper on gender equity among Uber drivers, to calculate how much Uber drivers earn from passengers, versus how much money goes to Uber in the form of commissions.

When workers are salaried and receive W-2s, their employers must pay payroll taxes to finance programs like Medicare, Social security, workers' compensation and unemployment insurance. Uber drivers are independent contractors, so Uber does not pay any payroll taxes toward those programs. Self-employed workers pay extra payroll taxesfor Social Security and Medicare that salaried workers don't.

Here's what the latest report found:

• Uber drivers typically collect $24.77 per hour in passenger fares.

• From that, Uber takes $8.33 in commissions and fees, about a third of all passenger fares.

• Vehicle expenses like gas and maintenance cost drivers about $4.87 per hour, Mishel determined, even after taking into account their tax deductibility.

• That leaves drivers with $11.77 per hour, from which they pay $0.90 in extra Social Security and Medicare taxes, because they are self-employed.

• If drivers don't pay for health insurance or contribute to a retirement plan, they can take home $10.87 per hour.

• If they do want to purchase some basic benefits, their take-home pay would come out to about $9.21 per hour.

Uber provides drivers with a commercial insurance policy with $1 million of coverage per incident, but drivers are responsible for their own expenses, including cleaning their vehicle and filing their own taxes.

The ride-sharing company said Mishel's analysis didn't tell the whole story. "While we appreciate EPI's contribution to this important topic of research, the paper makes several questionable claims and assumptions while altogether ignoring the flexibility drivers tell us they value and cannot find in traditional jobs," an Uber spokesperson said.

Others, however, have come to similar conclusions as EPI's research did. The popular personal finance blogger Mr. Money Mustache experimented with driving for Uber in 2017 and said he only made $7 per hour after expenses while driving in Colorado. An analysis by the loan company Earnest has estimated that Uber drivers make an average of $364 per month and a median of $155 per month.

That said, compensation can vary widely depending on location, whether or not it is a busy time of day that creates "surge" pricing - during peak times - and how often drivers decide to work. The average Uber driver in New York City takes home $25 an hour after commissions and sales tax, Uber said in 2014, and make median incomes of $90,000 per year. In areas with less demand, making that much could prove difficult.

For many drivers, Uber is not their main source of income, according to a separate study by Princeton University researcher Alan Krueger. Krueger, who has previously been employed as a consultant to Uber, worked with Jonathan Hall, chief economist and director of public policy for Uber, on a paper distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2016. Most Uber drivers had full- or part-time employment before becoming drivers, and many continued to work other jobs after starting to drive for Uber, they found.
I find those earnings figures HIGHLY INFLATED !

Also find driver expenses undervalued.

" LOWER RATES MEAN MORE MONEY "

Have an Uber kitten . . .
Instead of fair compensation.
 
#5 ·
Wrong. It's all dependent on location.
I avg since Jan 1st $26 hr. That's my pay not what the passengers pay.

This morning in 2 hrs before my day job $80 in 2 hours. Usually I avg about $30/hr in the morning.
Sure, but in terms of operating costs and cost of living your Hawaiian $26 is worth less than 20 of my Midwestern dollars.

It's a big country. Numbers don't mean the same everywhere.
 
#6 ·
I'm in Seattle and I averaged $28.70 for 2017. per week working 60-65 hours. I am putting in lots of hours, but I am making a lot. I paid over $5000 in taxes last year. The only way I am stacking tons of money is because I'm regularly working 60-65 hours each week without fail. The reason being that most of my expenses remain fixed per month, such as rent, food, insurance, phone bill etc. Gas here is $3.50+. The expenses that rise proportionally to my rideshare money are gas, maintenance costs/depreciation, and taxes. Even accounting for those expenses, I can still save $3000 or more each month-but I am working 240-270 hours each month vs 160 hours for a 'regular' 40 hour work week job.

My plan is to stack $3000 per month for as long as this remains viable here and then take that lump sum savings to the midwest and settle down into my new life.

I got enough in cash for a used Tesla S, or a 30% + downpayment on a nice house in the midwest. But I'm not done- I plan on continuing this grind for at least 2-3 more years if it stays as profitable..then I can have a very nice life in the midwest even if I dont earn much there.

I've been grinding away since mid/late 2016 until now. I took 3 months off in that time from mid/late 2016 to May 2018.

Before this I was in restaurant work-at first doing min wage work, then a few dollars over min wage, then general manager salary of a whopping $40k. It was barely enough to save a few hundred dollars per month.

Rideshare, however much we think it screws us over, has given me a chance to make real money and save it away in a way I was previously unable to do.
 
#9 ·
I've known this for a couple years and it doesn't really matter if you do x, xl, or black (done them all) if you work days.
If you work long hours, work the drunks, split up your hours, focus on surge zones you have a better opportunity to make a bit more in some markets.
But I worked retail for many years, and do this to avoid working weekends. The main reason is to give me flexibility in my schedule so I can be a foster dad. That's it.

I've known this for a couple years and it doesn't really matter if you do x, xl, or black (done them all) if you work days.
If you work long hours, work the drunks, split up your hours, focus on surge zones you have a better opportunity to make a bit more in some markets.
But I worked retail for many years, and do this to avoid working weekends. The main reason is to give me flexibility in my schedule so I can be a foster dad. That's it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top