Report: Half of Uber Drivers Earn Less Than $10 an Hour After Expenses

Half of all Uber drivers earn less than $10 an hour after paying vehicle-related expenses, according to a report.

Ridester’s 2018 Independent Driver Earnings Survey revealed that the median net income for uber X drivers was $13.70 per hour.

With tips, this went up to $14.73 per hour, however, after expenses this went down to just under $10.

“Our survey adds to the mounting body of evidence that at least half of all Uber drivers earn less than $10 per hour after all car expenses are considered,” declared Ridester. “And car expenses must be taken into consideration because they are not optional for drivers. Every mile a driver puts on his car costs something and that has to be accounted for in any attempt to assess how much drivers are really earning.”

Drivers working for Uber’s uber XL, uberSELECT, uberBLACK, uberSUV, and uberLUX reported higher earnings, however, 74.7 percent of Uber drivers work for uber X.

Just 9.3 percent of Uber drivers rated their satisfaction with pay as five out of five stars.

According to the survey, “Drivers gave a grade of 2.9 stars to Uber’s corporate leadership,” and “rated Uber 2.9 stars on earnings satisfaction.”

Recode noted in an article that Uber drivers would earn more money working in one of Amazon’s warehouses, where employees have been reported to urinate in bottles and trash cans for fear of being sanctioned for taking a bathroom break.

The majority of Uber drivers (50.3 percent) also claimed it was their only job, while 67.2 percent of drivers claimed their opinion of the company hadn’t changed since Dara Khosrowshahi became CEO in 2017, taking over from Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick.