I decided to write this article to tell you about my experience as an Uber Eats courier. I’ll tell you right away that it’s obviously not the best job because it requires a lot of stamina and a lot of time, but if you work well, you can earn $1000 a week or even about that.
This is my first article, so it might seem a bit rambling to you, but I just want to share my experience and tell you about the path I took and the hacks I learned to make more money.
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How much can you make as an Uber Eats driver
Actually, it very much depends on the area where you work. In some busy areas you can make even $20 an hour, while in others you can’t make even $8 an hour. However, the average Uber Eats driver can make about $12 an hour, which means that if you work 8 hours and 5 days a week, you will make about $500.
Sounds far off the mark, doesn’t it?
However, this is in case you work in “lazy mode”, that is, you do not try to choose the best working hours and do not choose only short orders. Still, there are some tips that can help you do more than other Uber Eats drivers (but you also have to work more and not always at a convenient time for you). If you’re ready, you can get started.
I will say right away that making $1000 a week is a lot and you should really set yourself a goal, because most Uber Eats drivers don’t make that much.
How much does Uber Eats pay
Like I said, it very much depends on the area in which you deliver food, so I can’t tell you the exact numbers. But I can give you my numbers.
- Pick Up Fee – $1.12
- Drop Off Fee – $0.75
- Time paid from pickup location to delivery destination – $0.17 per minute
- Miles from pickup location to the delivery destination – $0.45 per mile
I might have mixed up the numbers a little bit, but I think I got it right.
So you’ll get about $15 an hour, provided you choose orders with the shortest delivery route possible to deliver as many orders as possible.
Now let’s talk about how you can maximize the money you make, because $15 an hour is not enough to make $1000 a week if you work 12 hours 5 days a week (because you’ll only make $900 with Uber Eats).
How to maximize money you make with Uber Eats
However, I can tell you about a few tips that have helped me make $1,000 a week. I don’t know how obvious they are, but given that most people make less, there’s probably something special about them.
First, choose the right area. Yes, it’s very trivial, but almost all the colleagues I talked to took too big an area. As a result, they spent a lot of money going without orders, which means they didn’t get paid.
Limit your delivery area by choosing a very dense area, preferably with lots of pickup places and lots of residential buildings.
Second, never drive around empty-handed. Try to take several orders in a row so that you can deliver them one at a time and save the time you spend waiting for delivery.
Third, choose short trips and deliver multiple orders at the same time, this will also help maximize the money you make.
Fourth, choose the right time to work. Sure, there’s a great temptation to work when it’s convenient for you and spend your best time with friends or a girlfriend, but keep in mind that the best hours for you are often the best hours for deliveries. According to my experience, the best times to work are at lunchtime and then from dinner until late afternoon. There are a lot of orders at that time, so you won’t be wasting time waiting for the right order.
Fifth, be polite and it’s not for the tip (our tipping culture is such that you’ll either get a tip or you won’t get one at all), but for the sake of a high rating. The higher your rating, the easier it is to get orders.
Sixth, be aware of what’s going on around you. It sounds strange, but if you know a lot about your area, you can earn a lot more during events or holidays.
Seventh, choose areas with high demand. I know I said that before, but I forgot to add that in those areas you get a multiplier for high demand. In my case, it was usually 1.4 (it changes during the day, but I will use this number as a median). That way, at certain hours, you’ll make a lot more than $15 ($21).
I think these tips can help you do more with Uber Eats, but it’s still hard work, so keep that in mind.
Can you actually make $1000 with Uber Eats
Let’s count a few scenarios.
Scenario 1. You work 12 hours 5 days a week and the multiplier works half the time. If you do everything right and maximize your time, you can make $1080. Everything seems cool. But the reality is that you also have to factor in your car expenses. The IRS allows you to write off 0.56 for every mile, and you’ll average about 550 miles. So let’s pretend your expenses were $308 for the week (I got a little more than that, but nevermind). And so, you were able to make $772.
Also, don’t forget to write off FICA (15%) and you will get $656.2. You will also pay federal and state tax. Even if you hired a very good tax preparer (who also needs to be paid), you will pay about 10-15% anyway. But even if you only pay 10%, you will be left with about $580.
Scenario 2. You work 12 hours 5 days a week and the multiplier is in effect all the time. Congratulations, you’ve found a great area so you can get a lot more done without putting in any extra effort. In that case, you will make $1260.
Now let’s calculate your car expenses, they are still the same $308, which means you are left with $952.
Also don’t forget the FICA and you will be left with $809.
Now subtract state and federal taxes from that and you’re left with $700 to $720 at best.
Scenario 3. You work 12 hours 7 days a week and the multiplier works half the time (on average of course). In that case, you work a lot more, but let’s calculate how much more you can make with Uber Eats.
You can make $1512, but don’t forget the expenses. In that case, you’ll drive an average of 200 more miles, which is already 750 miles. That means your car expenses (according to the IRS) will be $420.
And so, you are left with $1092. But don’t forget FICA after you pay that leaves you with $928 and state and federal tax. That leaves you with about $800 to $820.
Scenario 4. You work 12 hours 7 days a week and the multiplier works all the time. In that case, you are not only lucky, but you also work hard. This is exactly the case I’m talking about. At a rough estimate, we get $1764 (but I got about $1680-$1720 to be honest, but let’s use our calculation).
So you made $1764 and drove about 750 miles. So your expenses would be about $420. That leaves you with $1362.
After that, you pay FICA and you’re left with $1157. And now don’t forget about state and federal tax. That leaves you with around $1000. Exactly what you were looking for, right?
Not at all, at least that’s very hard, so I don’t think you can work in such pace for a long time. Maybe as a fast way to make some money, but not as a regular work.
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