How much do Uber drivers make after expenses?
About $9.91 an hour, or $210 a week, before tax, on the average US week: $522 of payouts including tips for 555 miles in 21.2 hours (Gridwise, 2025 data). A typical car at $0.562 per mile all in costs $312 for those miles, so ($522 - $312) / 21.2 hours = $9.91. The app shows $24.62 an hour because the car is not in it: it takes its share on every mile driven, paid or not. Below: the worked example step by step, what is left at several costs per mile, the same for a UK driver, and the IRS mileage rate against the real cost, all computed by the same code as the calculator.
Open the rideshare driver cost calculator
Worked example: net per hour after expenses (US week)
The average US week, step by step, through the same function the rideshare driver cost calculator runs:
- Payout: $522 including tips for 21.2 hours online = $24.62 an hour. This is the figure the app shows.
- Car: 555 miles driven for work x $0.562 per mile = $311.91 for the week, on every mile, with or without a passenger.
- Net per week: $522 - $311.91 = $210.09.
- Net per hour: $210.09 / 21.2 hours = $9.91 an hour, before tax.
- Per year and per month: $210.09 x 48 weeks = $10,084 a year, about $840 a month.
Income tax and self-employment tax come out of this net figure; how much depends on your situation. The $0.562 per mile is the typical US car of the cost per mile calculator over a driver's 26,640 miles a year, of which fuel is $0.169. A different car changes the answer more than anything else: table 1 shows by how much.
1. Net per week and per hour by cost per mile (US week)
Every row is the same US starting week ($522 of payouts, 555 miles, 21.2 hours; sources at the foot of the page) with a different real cost per mile. Car per week = miles x cost per mile; net = payouts minus the car; per year x 48 weeks. The starting car costs $0.562 per mile, between the $0.500 and $0.600 rows.
| Cost per mile | Car per week | Net per week | Net per hour | Net per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.300 | $167 | $356 | $16.77 | $17,064 |
| $0.400 | $222 | $300 | $14.15 | $14,400 |
| $0.500 | $278 | $245 | $11.53 | $11,736 |
| $0.600 | $333 | $189 | $8.92 | $9,072 |
| $0.700 | $388 | $134 | $6.30 | $6,408 |
| $0.800 | $444 | $78 | $3.68 | $3,744 |
| $0.900 | $499 | $23 | $1.06 | $1,080 |
The break-even pay per mile driven is exactly the cost per mile: at $0.941 of payout per mile driven on this week, a car above that figure loses money on every mile. Work out your own cost with the cost per mile calculator; the guide on what 100 miles really cost shows why the all-in figure is several times the fuel.
2. The same for a UK driver
UK starting week: £570 before costs for 30 hours (a 2024 median of just over £19 an hour from the University of Oxford, and Uber's stated 30-hour average week) over about 786 miles, derived from the US miles-per-hour figure because no UK mileage statistic is published. The typical UK car of the calculator costs £0.408 per mile over a driver's year.
| Cost per mile | Car per week | Net per week | Net per hour | Net per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £0.300 | £236 | £334 | £11.14 | £16,042 |
| £0.400 | £314 | £256 | £8.52 | £12,269 |
| £0.500 | £393 | £177 | £5.90 | £8,496 |
| £0.600 | £472 | £98 | £3.28 | £4,723 |
| £0.700 | £550 | £20 | £0.66 | £950 |
3. The IRS mileage rate against the real cost
IRS standard mileage rate, business (Jul-Dec 2026): $0.760 per mile (IRS: 76 cents per mile from 2026-07-01 (IR-2026-29); 72.5 cents Jan-Jun 2026 (IR-2025-128)). It stands in for all car costs when a driver claims the standard mileage method. The table sets it against the real cost for the same work miles: a positive gap means the rate is above what the car actually costs, which favours cheap, efficient, paid-off cars; a negative gap means a new or thirsty car costs more than the rate allows. Information, not tax advice.
| Work miles per year | Deduction | Gap at $0.400 | Gap at $0.550 | Gap at $0.700 | Gap at $0.850 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $7,600 | $3,600 | $2,100 | $600 | -$900 |
| 20,000 | $15,200 | $7,200 | $4,200 | $1,200 | -$1,800 |
| 30,000 | $22,800 | $10,800 | $6,300 | $1,800 | -$2,700 |
| 40,000 | $30,400 | $14,400 | $8,400 | $2,400 | -$3,600 |
4. What to type to get your own figure
Three numbers from your app's weekly summary (payouts including tips, hours online) and your odometer (all miles driven for work, not only the paid ones), plus your cost per mile from the cost per mile calculator. The rideshare driver cost calculator returns net per week, per hour and per year, the cost per paid mile, the break-even payout and the deduction line; the Pro report puts it on one printable page. If you set your own rate (delivery contracts, miles charged to customers), the guide on what to charge per mile starts from the same cost per mile, US and UK.
Sources of the starting values: US week, Gridwise 2026 Annual Gig Mobility Report (2025 data): $522 gross per week ($23.88 per hour) (2026-09-18); US miles, Derived: Gridwise 2026 Annual Gig Mobility Report (2025 data): $522 gross per week at $0.94 per mile driven = ~555 miles per week (2026-09-18); paid share, Fehr & Peers for Uber and Lyft (2019), Estimated TNC Share of VMT in Six US Metropolitan Regions: about 40 % of ride-hail miles are deadheading (no passenger), so 60 % are paid (2026-09-18); weeks worked, Assumption: 48 working weeks a year (4 weeks off); edit to match your year; UK pay, Derived: University of Oxford (June 2025), 1.5 million UK Uber trips: median just over £19 per hour before costs (2024) x 30 hours = £570 a week (2026-09-18); UK hours, Uber has stated the average UK Uber driver works around 30 hours a week (reported by Zego, 2026 guide) (2026-09-18); UK miles, Derived, no UK mileage statistic is published: 30 hours a week (Uber UK average, via Zego) x 26 miles per hour of work (Gridwise US 2025: 555 miles over 21.2 hours) = about 786 miles a week (second source) (2026-09-18); mileage rate, IRS: 76 cents per mile from 2026-07-01 (IR-2026-29); 72.5 cents Jan-Jun 2026 (IR-2025-128). The starting cars are the cost per mile calculator's starting values for each region, listed with their sources on its page, costed over the driver's yearly miles.
Frequently asked questions
- How much do Uber drivers make per hour after expenses?
- Payout per week minus miles driven x cost per mile, divided by hours online. On the US starting week ($522 for 555 miles in 21.2 hours): $9.91 an hour in a car costing $0.562 per mile, $16.77 at $0.300 per mile, $1.06 at $0.900. The $24.62 the app shows is before the car; taxes and health cover come out of the net figure too.
- How much do Uber drivers make per month after expenses?
- About $840 a month on the US starting week: $210 a week after the car x 48 weeks = $10,084 a year, spread over 12 months, before tax. That is for 21.2 hours a week (555 miles) in a car costing $0.562 per mile; more hours, a cheaper car or a better market move it up. The 48 working weeks a year are an assumption; change them in the calculator.
- How much does a full-time Uber driver make after expenses?
- If a full-time week is 40 hours at the same pay and miles per hour as the US starting week, the net per hour stays $9.91 and the week comes to 40 x $9.91 = $396, or $19,027 over 48 weeks, before tax. Pay per hour usually changes with the hours you pick (peak or quiet times), so type your own week into the calculator.
- How much do Lyft drivers make after expenses?
- The same sum: payout minus miles driven x cost per mile, divided by hours online. We show no Lyft figure because we have not found a published weekly Lyft average we can cite; the US week on this page is Gridwise's Uber figure. The car costs the same per mile on either app ($0.562 for the typical car over a driver's 26,640 miles a year), so type the week from your Lyft earnings summary into the calculator.
- What does driving for Uber cost per mile?
- Fuel, maintenance, tyres, depreciation, insurance and tax spread over the miles you drive for work. The US starting value here is $0.562 per mile: the typical US car of the cost per mile calculator, with maintenance and tyres scaled up to a driver's 26,640 miles a year, in which fuel alone is $0.169 per mile. A paid-off, efficient car sits nearer $0.300; a new SUV or a car on a loan nearer $0.900. Work yours out first: it is the one number that decides everything on this page.
- How many miles do Uber drivers drive a week?
- The US starting value is 555 miles a week (Derived: Gridwise 2026 Annual Gig Mobility Report (2025 data): $522 gross per week at $0.94 per mile driven = ~555 miles per week, 2026-09-18), of which about 60% carry a passenger (Fehr & Peers for Uber and Lyft (2019), Estimated TNC Share of VMT in Six US Metropolitan Regions: about 40 % of ride-hail miles are deadheading (no passenger), so 60 % are paid); the rest is driving to pickups, repositioning and waiting, and the car costs the same on every one of them. That is why each paid mile has to earn $0.94 for the car alone at $0.562 per mile driven.
- How much do Uber drivers make in the UK after expenses?
- On the UK starting week, £570 before costs for 30 hours (Derived: University of Oxford (June 2025), 1.5 million UK Uber trips: median just over £19 per hour before costs (2024) x 30 hours = £570 a week, 2026-09-18) over about 786 miles, a typical UK car at £0.408 per mile leaves £249 a week, £8.31 an hour against £19.00 before the car. Table 2 gives the figure for £0.300 to £0.700 per mile.
- Does the IRS mileage deduction cover the real cost of the car?
- IRS standard mileage rate, business (Jul-Dec 2026): $0.760 per mile. On 26,640 work miles a year at the starting cost of $0.562 per mile, the deduction is $20,246 against a real cost of $14,972: $5,275 in the rate's favour. Table 3 shows the gap for other miles and costs. Whether you may use the standard mileage method or must claim actual costs depends on your situation; this is information, not tax advice.
- Are these figures what I will earn?
- No. They are the published starting values (a 2025 US average week from Gridwise, a 2024 UK median from the University of Oxford) put through the same arithmetic the calculator uses, so you can see the shape of the answer before typing your own week. Your market, hours, car and the tips you receive move every number; the calculator takes your app's weekly summary and your odometer and keeps them in your browser. Estimates for planning, not financial or tax advice.
More guides
- How much does it cost to drive 100 miles?
Fuel alone and the all-in cost of 100, 200 and 1,000 miles in a typical gas, diesel and electric car, US and UK, by mpg and fuel price, plus 100 miles line by line.
- How much should I charge per mile? Your real cost, US and UK
Charge at least your cost per mile: diesel and petrol fuel by mpg and price, the all-in figure by miles a year, and the IRS and HMRC rates against it. US and UK.
- How much does it cost to charge an EV at home?
Home charging cost per 100 miles, per month and per year by efficiency and electricity price, against gas, and what public charging adds. US and UK.
- How much does it cost to drive 100 km?
Fuel for 100 km by L/100 km and price per litre, 100 to 1,000 km all in for petrol, diesel and electric, and km per litre to L/100 km and mpg.
Last updated 2026-10-01. Cost estimates from published starting values (EPA, EIA, AAA, DESNZ, Ofgem, IRS/HMRC), each with its source and date, put through the same arithmetic as the calculators. Your car, prices and mileage move every figure. Information for planning, not financial or tax advice.