“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
$18.17/Hour
$25/Hour
$24/Hour
$24/Hour
$37/Hour
$41/Hour
$28/Hour
$17/Hour
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.
JOey says
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)
Mark says
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!
DougH says
Thanks for the tips!
CB says
This has been very helpful! Could you possibly share what state/cities these drivers are in? Trying to compare rural vs city pay amounts.
DougH says
Rural will be lower
Ray Castagnaro says
Can you please send me the excel spreadsheet (download does not copy formulas.)
Thanks!
DougH says
Hey Ray, if you want a good spreadsheet you can use yourself I recommend this one
Heather HoJo says
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! 🙂
DougH says
I sent you an email 🙂