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Rideshare driver cost per mile calculator
Driving for Uber or Lyft costs about $0.56 per mile in a typical US car, all in: $0.17 of gas plus maintenance, tyres, depreciation, insurance and registration, spread over a driver's 26,640 miles a year. About 40% of those miles carry no passenger, so each paid mile has to earn $0.94 for the car alone. On the US starting week (555 miles in 21.2 hours for $522 of payouts) the car takes $312 and leaves $210: $9.91 an hour, not $24.62. Type your own week to see what you really keep, what each paid mile has to earn, the break-even payout, and how the standard mileage deduction compares with your real cost.
Not sure? Work it out with the cost per mile calculator; it fills this field for you.
Result
- You keep per week, after the car
- $210
- You keep per hour, after the car
- $9.91
- Platform pays per hour
- $24.62
- Your car costs per week
- $312
- Car cost per paid mile
- $0.937
- Break-even pay per mile driven
- $0.562
- You keep per year, after the car
- $10,084
- Platform pays per mile driven
- $0.941
Net = payout minus the car's real cost for every mile driven, paid or not. Cost per paid mile spreads the car over the miles that earn: what each paid mile has to bring in. Break-even is the payout per mile that only covers the car. Taxes, phone and platform fees are not included unless they are in your figures.
| Per year | |
|---|---|
| IRS standard mileage rate, business (Jul-Dec 2026): $0.760 per mile | $20,246 |
| Your real car cost | $14,972 |
| The standard rate is above your real cost by | $5,275 |
Not tax advice: IRS standard mileage rate, business (Jul-Dec 2026) is the official rate (IRS: 76 cents per mile from 2026-07-01 (IR-2026-29); 72.5 cents Jan-Jun 2026 (IR-2025-128)), applied here to your work miles for the year. Whether you can claim it, or must claim actual costs instead, depends on your situation and your country’s rules.
Get the printable driver cost report
One page with your real cost per mile, fixed against variable, what you keep per hour and the break-even payout, from the numbers you typed here. Print it or save it as PDF.
How it works
Car cost per week = miles driven for work per week x your real cost per mile (every mile, with or without a passenger or order). Net per week = payout minus car cost; net per hour = net per week / hours online. Cost per paid mile = car cost per week / paid miles per week: what each paid mile must bring in for the car alone. Break-even pay per mile driven is simply your cost per mile. Yearly figures are the weekly ones x weeks worked.
The deduction line applies 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)) to your work miles for the year and sets it against your real car cost for the same miles. It shows whether the flat rate is generous or stingy for your car; it is not tax advice, and whether you may claim the rate or must claim actual costs depends on your situation.
The cost per mile is the one number that decides everything here. Work it out first with the cost per mile calculator: it fills this field with fuel, maintenance, tyres, insurance, depreciation and tax spread over your yearly distance. Starting values for the driver’s week (US): distance, 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); hours, Gridwise 2026 Annual Gig Mobility Report (2025 data): Uber rideshare drivers average 21.2 hours per week (2026-09-18); payout, Gridwise 2026 Annual Gig Mobility Report (2025 data): $522 gross per week ($23.88 per hour) (2026-09-18); weeks, Assumption: 48 working weeks a year (4 weeks off); edit to match your year (2026-09-18). They save typing; your week is what counts. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
What it costs per mile to drive for Uber or Lyft (US)
The car costs the same per mile whichever app sends the trip. Take the typical US car of the cost per mile calculator and drive it a rideshare driver's 26,640 miles a year (555 a week x 48 weeks): each mile costs $0.562, of which $0.169 is gas. Gas, maintenance and tyres cost the same per mile however far you drive; depreciation, insurance and registration are paid by the year, so they spread over about 2 times the miles of an average private driver (13,476 a year), who pays $0.837 per mile for the same car.
| Cost item | Per mile, driver (26,640 miles a year) | Per week (555 miles) | Per mile, private use (13,476 miles a year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel or energy | $0.169 | $94 | $0.169 |
| Maintenance and repairs | $0.093 | $52 | $0.093 |
| Tyres | $0.018 | $10 | $0.018 |
| Depreciation | $0.152 | $84 | $0.301 |
| Insurance | $0.099 | $55 | $0.196 |
| Tax, registration, inspection | $0.031 | $17 | $0.060 |
| Total | $0.562 | $312 | $0.837 |
Per paid mile: about 40% of rideshare miles carry no passenger (driving to the pickup, repositioning, waiting; Fehr & Peers for Uber and Lyft (2019)), so each paid mile has to carry $0.94 of car cost. The US starting week pays $0.94 per mile driven ($522 / 555 miles), or $1.57 per paid mile; after the car, $0.38 per mile driven is left before tax. In the UK the same arithmetic on the typical UK car over a UK driver's 37,728 miles a year gives £0.408 per mile driven and £0.68 per paid mile. A paid-off, efficient car costs less than this; a new SUV or a car on a loan costs more. Your own car is the number to type first.
Cost per mile for part-time and full-time drivers (10,000 to 50,000 miles a year)
The same car, driven more or fewer miles for work. The variable part (gas, maintenance, tyres) is $0.280 per mile however far you drive; the fixed part (depreciation, insurance, registration) is paid by the year, so it halves from 20,000 to 40,000 miles. A part-time driver doing 10,000 miles a year pays $1.030 per mile; the starting driver's 26,640 miles give the $0.562 above. Per paid mile = total / the 60% paid share. The cost per mile calculator returns this for your own car and miles.
| Work miles a year | Fixed per mile | Variable per mile | Total per mile | Per paid mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $0.751 | $0.280 | $1.030 | $1.72 |
| 20,000 | $0.375 | $0.280 | $0.655 | $1.09 |
| 26,640* | $0.282 | $0.280 | $0.562 | $0.94 |
| 30,000 | $0.250 | $0.280 | $0.530 | $0.88 |
| 40,000 | $0.188 | $0.280 | $0.467 | $0.78 |
| 50,000 | $0.150 | $0.280 | $0.430 | $0.72 |
* 555 miles a week x 48 weeks (Derived: Gridwise 2026 Annual Gig Mobility Report (2025 data): $522 gross per week at $0.94 per mile driven = ~555 miles per week; Assumption: 48 working weeks a year (4 weeks off); edit to match your year).
DoorDash, Uber Eats, Lyft and Instacart: the car costs the same per mile
The $0.56 per mile is a property of the car and the miles, not of the app. A delivery driver in the typical US car doing the same 26,640 miles a year pays the same $0.562 per mile whether the trip comes from DoorDash, Uber Eats, Lyft, Instacart or Uber; fewer miles move it up the table above, more move it down. What differs between apps is the payout per mile and the share of miles with an order on board, and those are the two numbers you type: payout for the week from the app's earnings summary, all work miles from the odometer, paid share from the trip list. We show no per-app payout figures because we have not found published weekly averages we can cite for them.
Worked example: one week of rideshare driving (US)
The US starting week, step by step, through the same function the calculator runs:
- Payout: $522 including tips for 21.2 hours online = $24.62 an hour before the car.
- Distance: 555 miles driven for work, of which 60% with a passenger = 333 paid miles.
- Car: 555 miles x $0.562 per mile = $311.91 for the week.
- Net: $522 minus $311.91 = $210.09 a week, or $9.91 an hour.
- Each paid mile has to bring in $0.937 for the car alone (car per week / paid miles).
- Over 48 weeks: $25,056 of payouts, $14,972 of car cost, $10,084 kept before tax.
The car cost of $0.562 per mile is the typical US car of the cost per mile calculator (fuel, maintenance, tyres, insurance, depreciation, tax) spread over a driver's 26,640 miles a year. Your own car is the number to type first.
Uber, UK and France: the same sum on each starting week
Each row is a region's published driver week with that region's typical car, in local units. They show the shape of the answer; your market and car move every number.
| Driver | Payout per week | Hours | Distance per week | Car per week | Net per week | Net per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uber, US | $522 | 21.2 | 555 mi | $312 | $210 | $9.91 |
| Uber, UK | £570 | 30 | 786 mi | £321 | £249 | £8.31 |
| Ride-hail (VTC), France | €684 | 30 | 1,265 km | €433 | €251 | €8.38 |
Sources: Uber, US: Gridwise 2026 Annual Gig Mobility Report (2025 data): $522 gross per week ($23.88 per hour); Uber, UK: 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; Ride-hail (VTC), France: Derived: ONT3P / SDES (France, official), VTC platform drivers 2024: €38 gross per hour of rides before bonuses, 3.6 ride hours a day, 5 days a week (assumption) = €684 a week. Car cost: each region's cost per mile calculator starting values over the driver's yearly distance.
Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and other apps work the same way: payout minus miles x cost per mile. We show no figures for them because we have not found a published weekly average we can cite; type the week from your app's earnings summary.
IRS standard mileage rate vs actual 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)). The standard rate is one figure per business mile for every car; actual cost is what your own car costs per mile. On the example driver's 26,640 work miles a year, the rate comes to $20,246. The table sets it against the actual cost of the same miles at several costs per mile: the rate is ahead while your cost per mile is below $0.760, behind above it.
| Actual cost per mile | Actual cost per year | Standard rate per year | Rate minus actual |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.400 | $10,656 | $20,246 | $9,590 |
| $0.550 | $14,652 | $20,246 | $5,594 |
| $0.562* | $14,972 | $20,246 | $5,275 |
| $0.700 | $18,648 | $20,246 | $1,598 |
| $0.850 | $22,644 | $20,246 | -$2,398 |
| $1.000 | $26,640 | $20,246 | -$6,394 |
* The example driver's car. Which method you may use, and what you may deduct, depends on your situation: this is arithmetic, not tax advice.
More tables, by cost per mile and for a UK driver, in the guide How much do Uber drivers make after expenses?. If you set your own rate (delivery contracts, miles charged to customers), the guide How much should I charge per mile? starts from this cost and sets the IRS and HMRC rates against it.
Frequently asked questions
- What does it cost per mile to drive for Uber or Lyft?
- About $0.562 per mile driven in a typical US car, all in, of which $0.169 is gas; that is the cost per mile calculator's typical car over a rideshare driver's 26,640 miles a year. Because about 40% of the miles carry no passenger, each paid mile has to earn $0.94 for the car alone. The same car costs $0.837 per mile for a private driver doing 13,476 miles a year, because its fixed costs spread over fewer miles. Type your own car into the cost per mile calculator for your figure.
- How much do Uber drivers get paid per mile?
- On the US starting week, $522 of payouts including tips for 555 miles driven: $0.94 per mile driven, or $1.57 per paid mile. After a car at $0.562 per mile, $0.38 per mile driven is left before tax. Rates change by city, time and platform; your app's weekly summary and your odometer give your own figure.
- What does it cost per mile to drive for Uber in the UK?
- About £0.408 per mile driven and £0.68 per paid mile, for the calculator's typical UK petrol car over a UK driver's 37,728 miles a year (petrol alone £0.213 per mile). Switch the calculator to UK to use pounds, UK starting values and the HMRC mileage rate.
- How much do Uber drivers make after expenses?
- On the US starting week ($522 for 21.2 hours, Gridwise 2026 Annual Gig Mobility Report (2025 data): $522 gross per week ($23.88 per hour)), about $210 a week or $9.91 an hour after a car costing $0.562 per mile, before tax. The app shows $24.62 an hour because the car is not in it. Our guide "How much do Uber drivers make after expenses?" has the figure at other costs per mile and for the UK; type your own week above for yours.
- How many miles do Uber drivers drive a week?
- It depends on hours online and the market, and a large part of it is unpaid: driving to the next pickup, repositioning, waiting. The US starting value here 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) with 60% of it paid (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). Your own app's weekly summary and odometer give the real figures; type them.
- What is the IRS mileage rate?
- 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 is the flat amount per business mile that stands in for all car costs when you claim the standard mileage method instead of actual costs. Switch region to see the UK rate. This calculator applies it to your work miles for information only; it is not tax advice.
- Does the standard mileage deduction cover my real cost?
- Only when your real cost per mile is at or below the rate. With the US starting values the car costs $0.562 per mile against a rate of $0.760 per mile; over 26,640 work miles a year that is a gap of $5,275 in the rate's favour. Cheap, efficient, paid-off cars come out ahead of the rate; new or thirsty cars fall behind it.
- What counts as a paid mile?
- A mile with a passenger or an order on board. The miles to the pickup, back from a drop-off and circling while waiting are unpaid, but the car costs the same on every one of them. That is why the calculator asks for all work miles and the paid share separately, and shows the cost per paid mile: the amount each paid mile has to earn to carry the unpaid ones.
- What is the break-even pay per mile?
- The payout per mile driven at which the car eats everything you earn: it equals your real cost per mile. Compare it with what the platform pays per mile driven (payout / all work miles); the difference, times your miles, is what you keep. If the platform's figure is below break-even, every extra mile loses money.
- Is this tax or financial advice?
- No. The standard mileage rate is quoted from its official source for the year shown and applied arithmetically; whether you can use it, and what you may deduct, depends on your situation and your country's rules. The other figures are your own numbers put through simple formulas, in your browser, with nothing stored on our servers.
- How much does it cost per mile to drive for DoorDash or Uber Eats?
- The same as for Uber or Lyft: about $0.56 per mile all in for the typical US car over 26,640 work miles a year, because the cost belongs to the car and the miles, not to the app. The cost per paid mile depends on the share of miles with an order on board, which you type; at the 60% rideshare starting value it is $0.94. Delivery payouts per mile differ from rideshare, so type the week from your app's earnings summary.
- How much do Uber drivers spend on their car per week?
- About $312 on the US starting week: 555 miles x $0.562 per mile for the typical car, of which $94 is gas and the rest maintenance, tyres, depreciation, insurance and registration spread over the week's miles. That is against $522 of payouts (Gridwise 2026 Annual Gig Mobility Report (2025 data): $522 gross per week ($23.88 per hour)). Your own miles and car give your figure.
- What does a part-time Uber driver pay per mile?
- More per mile than a full-time driver in the same car, because depreciation, insurance and registration are paid by the year. The typical US car costs $1.030 per mile at 10,000 work miles a year against $0.562 at the starting driver's 26,640; the variable part ($0.280 of gas, maintenance and tyres) is the same in both. The table above has 10,000 to 50,000 miles. If the car is also your private car, the private miles share the fixed costs too; type the total miles you drive into the cost per mile calculator.
- What is the wear and tear per mile of driving for Uber?
- Maintenance and repairs, tyres and depreciation together: maintenance and repairs $0.093 + tyres $0.018 + depreciation $0.152 = $0.26 per mile for the typical US car over a driver's 26,640 miles a year, out of $0.562 all in; gas, insurance and registration are the rest. In this calculator depreciation is a fixed share of the car's value per year, so over a driver's 26,640 miles it comes out smaller per mile than over a private owner's 13,476; if your car loses more value than that, type your own share in "Value lost per year (%)" in the cost per mile calculator.
- Can I use my actual car costs instead of the IRS mileage rate?
- The IRS publishes the standard mileage rate (IRS: 76 cents per mile from 2026-07-01 (IR-2026-29); 72.5 cents Jan-Jun 2026 (IR-2025-128)); the other way to count car costs is your actual expenses. This page shows both numbers side by side for your work miles: the rate for the year and your real car cost for the same miles. Which method you may use depends on your situation and the IRS rules; that is a question for your adviser, not for this calculator.
Guides
- How much do Uber drivers make after expenses?
Net per week and per hour after the car at several costs per mile, on a typical US and UK driver week, and the IRS mileage rate against real cost.