Free calculator
Rideshare driver cost calculator
A driver doing 555 miles a week in 21 hours for $522 in payouts (US starting values) keeps $210 after a car that costs $0.56 per mile: $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) — https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/standard-mileage-rates), 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) — https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/standard-mileage-rates) 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 — https://gridwise.io/blog/how-much-do-uber-drivers-make (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 — https://www.urbanismnext.org/resources/estimated-percent-of-total-driving-by-lyft-and-uber (2026-09-18); hours, Gridwise 2026 Annual Gig Mobility Report (2025 data): Uber rideshare drivers average 21.2 hours per week — https://gridwise.io/blog/how-much-do-uber-drivers-make (2026-09-18); payout, Gridwise 2026 Annual Gig Mobility Report (2025 data): $522 gross per week ($23.88 per hour) — https://gridwise.io/blog/how-much-do-uber-drivers-make (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.
Frequently asked questions
- 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 — https://gridwise.io/blog/how-much-do-uber-drivers-make, 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 — https://www.urbanismnext.org/resources/estimated-percent-of-total-driving-by-lyft-and-uber). 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) — https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/standard-mileage-rates). 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.