“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.
BM says
Your spreadsheets don’t figure in the vehicle cost (which is a substantial amount) and down time between jobs. The “Your Earnings” column is really “your Gross Earnings before expenses”…….
Your Earnings = $28.80 for for 24.8 miles does not include vehicle expense of $13.27. True Earnings would be only $15.53, for 31 minutes….which doesn’t include insurance and down time between stops. There is money to be made, but expenses take a chunk out of it.
Linda Irving says
I was looking to see how to figure out what is the best way to figure how much I am making driving for Lyft.
You show how to figure it out by hourly but is there such a way to figure it out as a daily rate.
I am asking because I was involved in a accident and the other driver’s insurance don’t want to pay for what I am asking in lost wages and he figured out a daily rate of a much lower rate then I figured out hourly.
Linda Irving says
Hello I would also like an email with the worksheet I would like to use it.
Thanks