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Home / Lyft / How much do Lyft drivers really make? Proof of income inside

How much do Lyft drivers really make? Proof of income inside

September 16, 2014 by DougH 10 Comments

“How much do Lyft drivers really make?” That’s the #1 question I get from everyone — passengers, friends, family. Lyft makes bold claims on their website in size 100 font — “Make $35/hour driving your own car!” $35/hour? Some PhD’s don’t even get paid that much! What’s the reality here? What can you expect to be paid when you drive for Lyft?

Lyft driver pay photo dump!

I make $20 – $30/hour driving for Lyft. But am I special? What about other Lyft drivers? Fellow Lyft drivers share their earnings online, and I’ve collected screencaps to show you how much income Lyft drivers really make.

$24.70/Hour

lyft-driver-pay-2

$18.17/Hour

lyft-driver-pay-5

$25/Hour

lyft-driver-pay-3

$24/Hour

lyft-driver-pay-4

$24/Hour

lyft-driver-pay-6

$37/Hour

lyft driver pay summary

$41/Hour

lyft driver daily summary

$28/Hour

lyft driver income summary

$17/Hour

lyft driver daily summary $702

Breaking down the numbers: Real Lyft driver income

There are two big things to take into account when you’re calculating Lyft driver income: Taxes and gas.

  • Taxes – Depending on your tax bracket, expect to pay around 15% of your income, even after write-offs. Here’s a worksheet that help you estimate Lyft taxes.
  • Gas – Fuel costs for most modern fuel-efficient cars used by most Lyft drivers are 10% or so each day.

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Filed Under: Lyft

Comments

  1. JOey says

    September 24, 2017 at 2:34 pm

    I am a cab driver, I have both a lyft and uber driver account, which I do on my days off. I am old school guy, but watching both companies pick up and drop off all around me on a weekly basis is rough. My only drawback is that coming from a Taxi Industry to my own car, and seeing the fares makes it really hard to convert full-time. I can do one run for the cost of 3 or 4 fares in my own car for Lyft (or uber) I am just being real here. It’s a mindset that needs to be fixed so I can do rideshare full time. If I never drove a cab, it’d be a lot easier to swallow the prices people pay, but when you have NOBODY hailing you down anymore, and getting Pings left and right in rideshare, it’s becoming a no-brainer.

    The Landscape has changed, even though I kind of still disagree with the qualifications for rideshare’s background checks (I need to do drug screening, fingerprinting and printout of DMV record to pass to be a cab driver) It would probably serve better if Rideshare companies started doing this, in light of the current and past problems.

    Thank you for your time (and info)

    Reply
    • Jack says

      April 1, 2018 at 5:04 pm

      where? I drive lyft in Seattle and the income has dropped out of sight. Im making 1/2 what I made driving cab 20 years ago

      Reply
  2. Mark says

    August 20, 2017 at 2:27 am

    I just wanted to take this opportunity to share a way I have made up to $300 extra a week and that is because Lyft pays me anytime a new rider uses my promo code; TREK. I hand out business cards Lyft provided me to every customer, at bars, via blogs and with simple marketing like I’m doing here… New users will get $5-$20 in free ride credit when they enter the code before their first ride and I get $5 for each one. New drivers can use the code to get their cities BEST PROMOTIONAL OFFER (up to $2000 in the first 60 days) and I will make up to $400 for each referral. You can’t use your own promo code on yourself so you might as well use mine before you set up your own code through the Lyft website. My advise is to find a simple 3-5 letter promo code people can remember and promote, promote, promote! It’s almost free money as it takes little effort to promote your personalized code! TREK! TREK! TREK! Get the Lyft app or drivers app today and please use my code for your cities best promotional offer whether you’re a rider or driver! Thanks very much for allowing me to promote and share this easy way to make money with Lyft! Peace!

    Reply
    • DougH says

      August 20, 2017 at 11:04 am

      Thanks for the tips!

      Reply
  3. CB says

    July 5, 2017 at 9:27 am

    This has been very helpful! Could you possibly share what state/cities these drivers are in? Trying to compare rural vs city pay amounts.

    Reply
    • DougH says

      July 5, 2017 at 11:10 am

      Rural will be lower

      Reply
  4. Ray Castagnaro says

    May 20, 2017 at 10:50 pm

    Can you please send me the excel spreadsheet (download does not copy formulas.)

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • DougH says

      May 25, 2017 at 5:27 pm

      Hey Ray, if you want a good spreadsheet you can use yourself I recommend this one

      Reply
  5. Heather HoJo says

    May 10, 2017 at 5:33 pm

    I downloaded the worksheet mentioned at the bottom of this page, but it’s still only viewable, not fillable. Could you email me a copy of this that is fillable? It’s so handy and I’m terrible at Excel formulas. Thank you! 🙂

    Reply
    • DougH says

      May 11, 2017 at 2:01 pm

      I sent you an email 🙂

      Reply

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