Gridwise does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for information purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors before filing your return.

You might be a seasoned driver or completely new at the business of shuttling people and the things they love to where they belong. In any case, you need to understand the ins and outs of being a gig worker and how that affects your status as a taxpayer.

This post will tell you what you need to do to responsibly pay your taxes and get the most out of all the tax deductions you can take as a gig worker.

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What does it mean to be a gig worker?

Before we do anything else, let’s look at what it means to be a gig worker or part of the gig economy. According to this piece from Corporate Finance Institute, the gig economy is flexible and involves the exchange of labor, goods, and services through digital platforms that match buyers and sellers.Companies hire independent contractors and freelancers instead of full-time employees. Work is assigned on a temporary basis and allows gig workers to largely choose their own hours. 

That sounds about right. As a gig driver, you have flexible hours and use an app to connect with people who want to use your services. You are not an employee of any of the companies you work with.

But, because you are an independent contractor, the company or companies you do work with will not take taxes out of your pay. That sounds good at first hearing, because you get to keep all the money you earn, at least until tax time!

Being an independent contractor also means you are totally responsible for paying your own taxes and knowing when and to which government entities to pay. This Gridwise blog post offers more details about the basics of paying your taxes, and how the Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash mileage reimbursement can reduce your taxable income. This is not the only deduction to consider, however.

What you can deduct as a gig driver

When Gridwise was created, it was built specifically for gig drivers, by people who had been in the business themselves. They knew how many things a driver needs to keep track of so that they can deduct the costs of doing business from their gross income, and therefore not have to pay as much at tax time. This list from Keeper details 23 things you can write off as a Lyft and Uber driver. 

1. Vehicle expenses

No one needs to be told how much it costs to keep a vehicle running and in working order. It’s a lot. When it comes to deducting these expenses, drivers have to be careful. For the first year you operate a vehicle for business, the IRS requires you to use the standard mileage rate in order to calculate the deductions you can take for operating it. You must be able to prove that you use your vehicle for business, and document miles accrued for your gig as opposed to personal purposes.

Most vehicle expenses are covered, by and large, by the IRS mileage reimbursement rate. Once you make it through the first year using the IRS standard mileage rate, you can opt to calculate the actual costs of operating your vehicle, and see which method yields the larger deduction. These expenses would include

• fuel/charging
• vehicle maintenance (See this Gridwise maintenance checklist for all that this entails)
• insurance
• registration
• inspection
• tolls
• cleaning the car (car washes, detailing)
• vehicle depreciation
• car lease payments 
• repairs
• parking costs

The IRS provides rules and guidelines for using the actual cost method in this tax document. Be sure to read these requirements before filing your tax return, or better yet, consult with a tax professional to avoid making errors that could turn out costing you more than you’ll ever save by using the actual cost method.

Note: If you’re wondering, Can Uber drivers deduct their car payment? we have to dash your hopes on that one. You can’t list your car payments as part of your Uber expenses because you cannot deduct payments on an item that will eventually become your asset.

2. Equipment

Your vehicle isn’t the only thing that makes your gig work possible, to be sure. There are plenty of other items you use in the course of your rideshare and delivery work, such as

• the portions of your cell phone and phone plan costs that you use for your gig
• accessories such as mounts and phone chargers that you’ve purchased for your riders’ use
• delivery gear like insulated bags, beverage carriers, dollies, pushcarts, and crates
• floor mats and seat covers

3. Extra services

If you’re a rideshare driver, there are certain things you know will make your customers happy, and you want to provide them. If you deliver, you also make purchases related to your work that you might not purchase otherwise. That means there are more tax deductions for Uber drivers and DoorDash tax write-offs to benefit from than there are for people who aren’t gig drivers. These may include

• subscriptions, including satellite radio and music streaming platforms
• bottled water and snacks provided to customers
• sanitizing equipment, from hand cleaner to sneeze guards
• enhanced car sound systems

Wondering why you can’t deduct meals while you’re out there driving? This insight from Keeper will clue you in.

4. Business tools

Your driving gig might be quite diverting, and even fun, but never forget that it’s a business. Because there is so much to managing a business, there are more expenses you might run into as you go along. Be sure to deduct the costs of running your business, such as

• Home office expenses, such as the software, supplies, and equipment used for recordkeeping. This expert advice from Keeper will help you choose the right items to deduct. As always, though, it pays to get “final answers” from a tax pro.
• Contributions to your IRA. 
• Legal, accounting, or tax advisor fees. 
• The cost of productivity apps such as navigation tools, parking assistants, GridwisePlus, and Keeper all count to your tax deductible costs.

Now that you know about the things you can deduct from your gross income, set up a system to record these expenses so you’ll be equipped to put them to work for you when tax time comes.

Documenting your deductible expenses

There are two solid reasons for keeping a full and accurate account of your Lyft, Uber, Instacart, and DoorDash expenses. First, you will want to be able to take advantage of everything you can deduct. Second, in the event your return is questioned via an audit by your “friendly” federal, state, or local tax officials, you’ll be able to produce evidence that could save you a lot of trouble.

What do you need to pay special attention to, and how can you best ensure you have accurate records? Here are a few important behaviors to institute: 

• Keep receipts and invoices organized.
• Record odometer readings and trip details, or use a mileage tracking app such as Gridwise.
• Keep a log of the hours you drove and how much you made.
• Calculate the actual expenses of using your vehicle and compare that to the deduction you would get using the IRS standard mileage rate.
• Clearly differentiate your income and expense records so they concur with your 1099 information.

Organization is a huge part of getting what’s coming to you in terms of tax deductions. And the more money you make, the more you’ll be looking for Lyft driver tax deductions and Uber tax advice to help shave down your taxable income figure.

It’s crucial to keep track of your driver tax deductible expenses. It’s not likely, unless you’ve overpaid your quarterlies, that you’ll come up with reduced rideshare tax or a Lyft refund, but maximizing deductions will keep you on the right road toward driving taxes down.

Gridwise has good news for drivers who might be struggling to understand how to calculate and use DoorDash expenses and Uber driver tax deductions. Gridwise Tax Help, powered by Keeper, isn’t designed for just anyone. It’s engineered specifically to assist gig drivers as they collect their income and expenses information, and prepare and file their tax returns. Gridwise Tax Help gives you:

• automatic mileage tracking for shifts logged with Gridwise—we do the math
• automatic receipt tracking—no more piles of paper to sort through
• extra tax deduction finder—the app scans your expenses for deductions you might miss
• access to your very own tax professional—someone is there to answer all your questions

Do yourself a favor. Download Gridwise and sign up for Gridwise Tax Help to save big on your taxes.

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Are you one of those people who believes chasing down tax deductions is more trouble than it’s worth? You might change your mind this tax season. With costs rising on just about everything—especially gas and other energy items—it has become more expensive than ever to run your gig driving business. 

One way to counteract those rising costs is to cut your taxable income figure so you can reduce the amount of tax you need to pay. Surely you’ve heard of “tax loopholes” and other ways big corporations do this. Now is a smarter time than ever for you to take advantage of tax deductions that are available to gig drivers, legally and ethically. Let’s look at 8 smart strategies that show you how.

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1. Bunch expenses and take advantage of deductions in high-income year

Drivers don’t make the same amount of money each year. You know when you’re raking it in at a nice pace, and when you wish you were doing better. As a busy driver, it’s hard to focus on your work and think about how much you’re earning—and worry about Uber and tax matters at the same time. When you’re in the middle of a high earning year, though, you’ll need to consider what Uber taxes, Lyft tax, and delivery driver taxes are going to cost you. 

Be sure to take advantage of deductions, especially retirement and health care investments. In leaner times, you’ll have less income to protect from taxation, so you can cut back on your contributions.

You can also use “bunching” to take advantage of deductions in high income years. For instance, if you plan to purchase deductible items you will need in the following year, purchasing them in a year where you’re making a lot will allow you to deduct the expense from your income. Read this article from Northwestern Mutual for more details about bunching. You can use bunching with items such as property tax and health care expenses. Paying these items in advance can substantially reduce your delivery and rideshare taxes.

In all cases, you’re going to want to see whether the amounts you can use as deductions exceed the standard deduction limits set by the IRS. That is one of the first steps you should take when you deal with your tax deduction strategy.

2. Know what deductions drivers can use

You will probably be surprised at just how many deductions are available to gig drivers, above and beyond what’s available to those with non-gig jobs. Do you know about the delivery and rideshare mileage deduction and how to take advantage of it? Check out this post to see all the tax write-offs all gig drivers can take advantage of. In the meantime, we will list a few for you:

• vehicle expenses (or use the IRS standard mileage deduction)
• subscriptions, including satellite radio and music streaming platforms
• bottled water and snacks provided for customers
• sanitizing equipment, from hand cleaner to sneeze guards
• enhanced car sound systems
• home office expenses
• productivity apps such as navigation tools, parking assistants, GridwisePlus, and Keeper

3. Make use of tax deductible investments

Because you’re an independent contractor, there is no benevolent, all-caring company to pay for your pension. You will need to set up investments such as an IRA or 401(k) for yourself if you expect to have money to live on when you retire. 

Individual Retirement Arrangements (or accounts) and 401(k) plans are ways of setting aside retirement savings or money for health care costs. The contributions you make, most of the time, are tax deductible. Beyond the convenience of reducing tax for Lyft drivers and other gig workers, setting up retirement and health care funds are wise ways of taking care of your present and future needs. Here are some options you have as a freelance worker: 

• SEP IRA: The Simplified Employee Pension Plan is an Individual Retirement Account that businesses can set up for their employees. And guess what? You can set one up too, as a self-employed individual. See more details about how this works from the IRS here. 

• Solo 401(k): With this plan, the self-employed individual acts and contributes to the fund as both employer and employee. Does a 401(k) reduce taxable income? Yes, but what we think of as the 401(k) tax deduction is not exactly that. The money you put in is subtracted from your taxable income, but it isn’t counted technically as a tax deduction. The IRS says contributions can be made in both capacities, employer and employee, as you'll see in this information page. 

• SIMPLE IRA: They call this “Saving Incentive Match Plan for Employees” or SIMPLE because it’s very easy to establish. The fact that, according to the IRS, there are no start-up or operating costs involved makes it appealing as well. The SIMPLE IRA can be an excellent addition to your freelancer tax deductions.

• IRA: The standard Individual Retirement Account is managed by investment institutions. The IRS allows you to make contributions and deduct them from your taxable income. As long as you wait until you are 59.5 years of age, you can withdraw from the account and simply pay tax on it as you go. If you take distributions early, however, there will be substantial penalties. 

While a well-endowed IRA is a nice thing to have waiting for you when retirement comes, it often has start-up costs associated with it. A few options are available that let you begin with a small or even no initial investment, but most investment institutions will want you to start your account with a contribution of $1,000 or more.

This information from the IRS provides further IRA-related details and also compares the standard IRA to the Roth IRA. Roth IRAs act as a source of retirement savings, but because Roth IRA contributions are taxed up front, they are not tax deductible.

• HSA: Contributions to a Health Savings Plan can be another way to deduct from your taxable income and protect you from excessive medical expenses. You must meet several requirements, as shown in this article from Investopedia, but if you already have a high deductible health insurance plan, you will probably benefit from an HSA, both as a savings plan and a tax deduction.

You don’t have to use your retirement plan to reduce your delivery driver or rideshare tax. What you ultimately decide to do about retirement savings will depend on factors such as your age, family situation, and whether you can afford to start an account and make contributions. The options suggested here will help you sort out what is best for you, as will the advice of a tax professional.

4. Use Gridwise features that help drivers

Gridwise knows what drivers need. Why? Because Gridwise was developed and is supported by people who were (and in some cases still are) gig drivers.

Gridwise alerts you to deals on automotive expenses and insurance, and offers tax help for DoorDash, Instacart, Lyft, Uber drivers, and more.

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Here's a quick rundown of what Gridwise offers drivers:

• mileage tracker: a hassle-free tool that counts up those miles up to help maximize your tax deduction
• earnings tracker: a seamless and smart way to track earnings, simply by syncing your gig apps with the Gridwise app
• expense tracker: an easy and paperless method of logging expenses and categorizing them 
• tax report generator: an elegant and organized resource for reports such as itemized earnings, expenses, and mileage all in one place, presented in easy-to-read graphs
• CSV interface: a tax preparer’s dream—all your tax info put into CSV format so it can be easily submitted, by you or your tax professional 

5. Get 1099 tax help with Gridwise

Every driver knows how much time it can take to get ready for tax time, and how little extra time there is to spare. Now, Gridwise offers Gridwise Tax Help, in partnership with Keeper. Like Gridwise, Keeper's tax filing app is tailored to the needs of gig drivers. 

When you get the Keeper tax app through Gridwise, you automatically receive a 30% discount. If you’re a Gridwise Plus user, you get a 50% discount on the regular price, which means you don't have to shell out $100s just to file taxes! Keeper's app helps 1099 workers by giving them:

• write-off detection: Once connected to your bank, the Keeper tax app will search for deductions you can use to reduce your taxes.
• tax bill prediction: Because Keeper has a handle on your earnings, expenses, and deductions, it can predict your tax bill throughout the year. No one needs a surprise when it comes to paying more than you thought you’d have to!
• tax filing: You can file your taxes electronically, right from the Keeper app!
• professional tax help: Chat with a real, live tax professional any time to make sure you’re doing things legally, by taking advantage of every write-off you can.

6. Consult a tax professional

A tax professional’s expertise will put you in the very best tax position possible, and better yet, if any questions from the IRS or your state department of revenue do come up, your tax accountant will help you work with them. How to avoid or deal with an audit is the kind of Lyft and Uber tax advice every rideshare and delivery driver needs.

Gridwise's partnership with Keeper means you can get in touch with tax professionals for FREE! Normally you'd be charged a fee for that kind of tax advice.

Tax professionals can literally save you from the kind of trouble that tax return errors bring. If you're in doubt, it's worth consulting an expert. And through Gridwise Tax Help, you can do it for free. Win-win!

7. Do your return in advance

The IRS sets a date each year before which they will not accept your return. However, if you file early, you can reap a few advantages:

• If you have one coming, your refund will arrive sooner.
• You’ll protect yourself from an identity thief filing your return (and getting your refund) before you do.
• You’ll have time to deal with any problems involving your return and be able to rectify them in time for the tax filing deadline.
• You’ll be able to see how much you will have to pay and save the cash you need.
• It’ll be obvious whether you’ll need professional help to file your return before the deadline.

8. Stay savvy to any changes in tax laws that apply to gig workers

While it isn’t always appealing to learn about what’s going on in the world of taxes, Gridwise makes it easy. Our blog is filled with the information you need, and news items about taxes will often be covered.

You can also keep current by using Gridwise Tax Help and Keeper. The app will be right on top of any news about deductions for gig drivers, and you can always chat with a tax professional to ask about changes in the way the government taxes freelance work.

Ready to make tax time a breeze?

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* Gridwise does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for information purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors before filing your return.

One of the reasons gig driving jobs, including DoorDash food delivery, are so convenient is that you can make your own hours. The only set schedule you work is the one you’ve developed on your own, based on your market (because every market is different), your other responsibilities, your other gigs, and your nine-to-five job if you have one. Many gig drivers work multiple platforms, so working the right gigs at the right time for maximum profit is always a delicate balance. If you’re limited to only a few days to drive DoorDash, what are the best days to maximize DoorDash pay?

So when someone asks, “How much do DoorDash drivers make per day?” your response is, “It depends on what day of the week it is.” 

Gridwise, though, has looked at the numbers, and we can tell you the best days. They come from over 500,000 Gridwise drivers who have downloaded the Gridwise app and tracked their earnings, mileage, and expenses. Gridwise aggregates and anonymizes this data and then presents it to drivers so that they can see trends in their business. If you want to maximize your DoorDash pay, this is the article you need to read. 

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How much DoorDash drivers make daily is not the only barometer of DoorDash earnings, though. There are also per-hour and per-delivery earnings. To look at all facets of DoorDash earnings, see the Gridwise blog post 2023 Doordash Earnings Report. You can also see another perspective of DoorDash earnings from another Gridwise blog post, DoorDash Driver Pay: What Do Dashers Earn in 2023?

How much do DoorDash drivers make per day?

Source: Gridwise Analytics. Graph also appears in 2023 Doordash Earnings Report.

Between Q1 2022, DoorDash gross daily earnings, including tips and bonuses, ranged in average from slightly more than $61.00 to more than $63 per day. The numbers are average and include both full-time and part-time drivers.

What is the best day to drive for optimum DoorDash pay?

BizFluent reports that Mondays and Tuesdays are the least busy days for restaurant delivery and takeout. Many independent restaurants are closed on one of these days for that reason. Conversely, you can also argue that Mondays aren’t bad because many people are in the doldrums from the weekend, and a delivered meal sounds like a heck of an idea. It depends on your market. And let’s not forget Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football.

The weekends, starting on Friday night, are the busiest days. People like to start their weekend relaxing, and there is no better way to kick that off than with a great meal ordered in. When Saturday rolls around, it’s college games, and then Sunday is NFL day. You can learn more about the impact of football from this Gridwise blog post, The Impact of Pro Football Home Kickoff Games on Gig Mobility Demand. 

The women in the house especially appreciate home delivery of meals. USA Today reported last year that 46% of the NFL fanbase is female. That’s even more pressure to open the DoorDash app.

There is one last reveal that you should know. According to SportsBusinessJournal.com, while sporting events dominate the airwaves and attract the most viewers, the president’s State of the Union address is number one. The Academy Awards (held on a Sunday night) comes in fourteenth. Don’t forget those other special events, including the Grammys, The Golden Globes, the Country Music Awards, and others. 

Tips for maximizing DoorDash pay per day

Your earnings as a DoorDash driver are in your control. There are things you can do to make food delivery more profitable. 

Slice and dice earnings for a better perspective

Daily DoorDash earnings are important, but it is also important to understand earnings from an hourly perspective (what would happen if a special event such as the Super Bowl lengthened the dinner hour?). You also need to ask yourself what it would do to earnings if you could squeeze in another delivery per hour? To get the answer to all these questions, check out the Gridwise blog post 2023 DoorDash Earnings Report. 

Determine if DoorDash is the best choice in your city or region

It may not be. DoorDash certainly seems the best choice for a food delivery driver. DoorDash has dominated the food delivery platforms for several years, commanding 65% of the US food delivery market. That’s a far cry from second place Uber Eats, at 24% of the market. The other competitors, including Grubhub, are down in the single digits. 

But food delivery is a competitive business and can vary from city to city. DoorDash has less than a 50% market share in San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, according to Ordering in: The Rapid Evolution of Food Delivery, a 2021 report by McKinsey. The report goes on to say, 

Geographic competition among delivery platforms will be one of the most significant battlegrounds over the coming years. Rival platforms will continue to fight one another for customers, restaurants, and drivers in each individual market, potentially leading to further consolidation over time. This battle will extend into new verticals beyond restaurants, as platforms widen the scope of services they provide.

Look at the McKinsey report and see if your city is listed and how it looks for market share among the food delivery platforms. Depending on where you live, you might be better off delivering for another service. We should point out that the McKinsey report, dated September 2021, is more than two years old. The market for food delivery is constantly changing. 

Don’t look at your DoorDash earnings from one perspective

It is necessary to see DoorDash earnings from a 360-degree perspective to fully understand how you can make more money. An excellent place to start is the recent Gridwise blog post 2023 DoorDash Earnings Report. 

It is also important to understand and appreciate all aspects of Dasher earnings. Gridwise examines these perspectives in other blog posts: 

• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per delivery?
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per hour?
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn before tips?

Select the best hours for DoorDash pay

Food delivery is not a 24/7 job. Yes, there are those odd orders at 4:00 in the morning or 3:00 in the afternoon, but you can generally rely on lunch and dinner as your peak times. 

DoorDash peak timesTotal hoursEarningsCommentsLunch (11:30 am–1:30 pm)2 hrs. × 5 days a week = 10 hrs. $200Weekends tend to eliminate the business lunch crowd. Dinner (5:00 pm–9:00 pm)4 hrs. × 7 days a week = 28 hrs. $560Hours may vary in your region. Late night1.5 hrs. × 7 days a week = 10.5 hrs.$210If your territory includes colleges and universities, you’ll get good results in this time block. Totals48.5 hours$970

Chart initially published in How to Make $1000 a Week with DoorDash

The afternoon gap or after 9:00 pm is where multi-apping comes in. You can take advantage of afternoon rush hours or late nights by driving rideshare. You can also run two or three platforms simultaneously. Check out the Gridwise blog post on multi-apping, The Art of Multi-apping: How-Tos and Strategies for Gig Drivers. 

You can also look at the When to Drive and Where to Drive features on the Gridwise app, which provide you with the most up-date-date information in your region. 

If you familiarize yourself with Amazon Flex, you can also squeeze in a delivery block from that company. Check out these recent Gridwise blog posts on the parcel carrier: 

• How to Make $1,000 a Week with Amazon Flex 
• Demystified: Your Guide to Amazon Flex Standings

Make it easy for customers to tip you 

Tipping waiters and waitresses is a US thing (not so much in Europe). Although many tip their food delivery driver, others don’t. You should make it easy for them. Spend a few dollars and have business cards printed, thanking them for their business, and include one with each delivery. You might even include your personal information for a few electronic cash-handling apps—PayPal, Zelle, Venmo, etc. DoorDash passes on 100% of tips to drivers, but some people don’t like to tip on the app. 

Be bright and cheerful

You don’t always see the customer, but porch cameras are ubiquitous. You should always consider yourself to be on camera. From the moment you get out of the car, all the way to the door and back, you should exude enthusiasm and good cheer. Smile a lot! Optimism is catching, and people will reward their DoorDash driver for it.  

Communicate with customers

Text customers along the way, giving them a running commentary on your progress. “Just got your order on my app, on the way to pick it up.” “Getting out at the restaurant.” “Headed for your place. Three minutes away.” People love communication, which is all the more true if something goes wrong, such as an order that needs correcting (especially if you caught the error) or problems with traffic. 

Remember all the condiments

Some restaurants could be better regarding including extra ketchup or mustard. Make sure to drop in additional packets. Drop in an extra handful of napkins and some plastic forks, knives, and spoons. If you’re picking up beef dip sandwiches, ensure someone at the restaurant remembers the au jus.

Familiarize yourself with DoorDash incentives

DoorDash offers you ways to make more money. Learn about Peak Pay promotions, DoorDash Driver Challenges, and the Dash Now program—all described in a recent Gridwise blog post, DoorDash Incentives 2023: How Do They Work?

Download the Gridwise app

Gridwise is the place to go regarding the latest information on DoorDash or other food delivery, rideshare, and parcel delivery gig jobs. Download the Gridwise app and check out the When to Drive and Where to Drive features. You can also save money at tax time using the Gridwise mileage tracker, the best mileage tracker for gig drivers, and the Gridwise expense tracker.

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Get more insights into DoorDash pay from Gridwise

Check out these Gridwise articles to learn more about DoorDash earnings:

• Download the Gridwise app for free
• DoorDash Driver Pay: What Do Dashers Earn in 2023?
• 2023 DoorDash Earnings Report
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per hour? 
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per delivery? 
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn before tips?

Food delivery is a service business, and in the US, it’s often customary to tip service workers, especially when there’s food involved. Food delivery drivers will tell you tips are a big part of their income. Are you wondering, How much do DoorDash drivers make before tips? 

With inflation up as much as it has been, customers are paying more for food and are thus more apt to skimp when tipping their DoorDash driver. You have to earn those tips. 

You can rely on Gridwise to give you real-world numbers. More than 500,000 gig drivers have downloaded the Gridwise app to track their earnings. Gridwise has aggregated these earnings from various gig platforms—including income from bonuses, incentives, and tips—to provide an accurate picture of DoorDash pay. You can view all the numbers in this recent Gridwise blog post, 2023 Doordash Earnings Report.

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For another perspective on DoorDash aenings, you can also read another Gridwise blog post, DoorDash Driver Pay: What Do Dashers Earn in 2023?

Breakdown of DoorDash driver pay before tips

How much do DoorDash drivers earn? It all starts with base pay. That’s what you see on your app when you get the order. The time, the distance you need to travel, and the desirability of the order all go into computing base pay. 

Top Dashers look for at least a dollar a mile in base pay. Some DoorDash drivers will only accept orders that are closer to two dollars. But other factors can increase this dollar amount. 

How to enhance DoorDash pay

DoorDash pays beyond the base compensation through a couple of other ways.  

Peak Pay.

Peak Pay is the equivalent of surge pay for rideshare drivers. When things get busy, the app will institute Peak Pay for DoorDash drivers. This is an add-on to the payment you see on the app when the order appears. Peak Pay differs depending on what region you drive in. Go to the Promotions tab on your app to see what your region pays. You can find out more about Peak Pay on the DoorDash website. 

Challenges.

Challenges are a way DoorDash tries to keep its drivers loyal to the app. You will see a Challenge on your app, offering a bonus for a set number of deliveries completed in a certain amount of time. For instance, complete 15 deliveries in one night and receive a $20 incentive payment. You might also receive Challenge offers through SMS or email. To find out more about DoorDash Challenges, see the DoorDash website. 

Average daily DoorDash driver earnings before tips

Source: Gridwise Analytics. Graph also appears in the 2023 Doordash Earnings Report.

Between Q1 2022 and Q3 2023, DoorDash driver gross daily earnings before tips ranged from about $30.50 to more than $32.00. 

Tips are an important component of a food delivery driver earnings, but Gridwise realizes that the best drivers want to see the entire income picture, so we’ve collected and analyzed that data. See it all in this Gridwise blog post, 2023 Doordash Earnings Report. 

The most common food delivery complaints from end consumers

A quick Google search can give you the most common complaints from end consumers about their food delivery experience. If you’re committing any of the following errors, as listed in this BusinessofApps.com article, it will affect your tips. 

• Late deliveries (50%). Communication between the DoorDash driver and the end customer is critical. If the restaurant doesn’t have the order ready, or you encounter any other delay, text the customer and let them know. 
• Wrong order (37%). Did you check the order to make sure it’s correct? You don’t have to open every dish or unwrap every sandwich, but at least ensure the number of items is right and the labels correspond with the order. 
• Cold food or food that isn’t fresh (36%). This is usually the restaurant’s fault, but you can prevent cold food by making the delivery promptly and having enough thermal bags to hold everything. 
• Driver needing directions (33%). Your GPS is usually correct, but some neighborhoods fall into a black hole with sketchy internet service. If you get a chance, check Google GPS against Waze.  
• Food not arriving (26%). Restaurants drop the ball, or drivers who are multi-apping get distracted by a better opportunity to make money. 
• Bad attitude of the driver (14%). Food delivery is a customer service job. This means a good mood all the time. Your parents paid a lot of money to straighten your teeth, so you should always show them off by smiling. Make sure you have a spring in your step. Porch cameras are ubiquitous these days, so even if you don’t have to contact the customer, act like you’re on top of the world. It’s contagious. 

Another complaint that pops up regularly is drivers eating customer food. According to RestaurantBusinessOnline.com, 54% of customers have suspected a delivery driver of sampling their food. This is not an outlier report. Earlier this year, RetailBrew.com reported that 79% of food delivery drivers admitted to filching a few fries or other food from an order. Other accounts have that number a bit lower, but any percentage above zero is unacceptable. Don’t be surprised if restaurants start coming out with tamper-proof containers for food delivery. 

Gridwise also provides you precise numbers on DoorDash earnings. We break it down to show you not only how tips matter, but how much drivers average per hour, per delivery, and per day. 

• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per hour? 
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per delivery? 
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per day? 

See all the information in this Gridwise blog post, 2023 Doordash Earnings Report.

How to earn better tips while driving for DoorDash

With tips comprising as much as 50% of DoorDash pay, doing whatever you can to increase them is imperative. With that in mind, what can you do to earn more?

Learn the restaurants in your area that are good for Dashers

We know that one of the chief complaints of customers is late orders or cold food. Some restaurants are poorly managed. Orders are never ready for the Dasher, and you’re left to cool your heels and surf TikTok. Other restaurants don’t package their food well. It’s either cold or smashed (that’s another customer complaint). When you see an order from a restaurant where you have had this experience, pass on it. Look for orders from restaurants that appreciate you and make the Dasher life easy. 

Dress for success 

You don’t have to wear a button-down and tie, but look nice. Too many food delivery drivers wear sleeveless T-shirts, cutoff sweats, and grungy sandals. Look like someone you would want handling your food. 

Dress for specific events

Another version of this considers football, baseball, and basketball seasons. Wear the home team jersey. You can take a page from Robert Woldhuis. USA Today reported that he made $100,000 in one year delivering groceries for Shipt. Part of his schtick was wearing colorful wigs and outlandish costumes. Hey, it worked for Robert!

You’re judged by your attitude

Yes, maybe you had to shell out $300 for new front tires, or you just paid top dollar for gas. Maybe your significant other just moved out and took everything but one place setting so you can eat a meal. No one wants to know your problems, and they sure don’t want to see them reflected on your face. What they want to know is why that DoorDash driver is in such a good mood. It might motivate them to toss you a tip. 

Surprise your customers

Take another lesson from top-earning grocery delivery people and give your clients something they didn’t expect. A pack of seeds for the lady of the house or small boxes of crayons for the kids goes a long way (you can get 250 packs of four crayons, each wrapped in cellophane, very inexpensively on Amazon). Make sure they’re visible by stapling them to the outside of the bag containing the food. You want to blow away customers with your service. 

Deliver in the rain

No one wants to go out in the rain or snow, including customers and other DoorDash drivers. But you do, and you’re smiling the whole time. People will appreciate you—and usually tip you accordingly. 

Watch YouTube videos, read the blogs

Other DoorDash drivers are hustling as hard as you, and sometimes they come up with good tip-earning ideas. Be the first to discover them. If you haven’t read the Gridwise blog post How to Make $1000 a Week with DoorDash, read it now. 

Have a couple of electronic cash-handling accounts for tips off the app

Sometimes you get a group of people ordering off one person’s credit card, but another agrees to handle the tip. You want to make it easy for them. Print some cards with your PayPal handle, or Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle. You should have multiple ways that people can give you money. 

What can be measured can be improved

Sign up for the Gridwise app, link to DoorDash, and monitor your earnings. Track your tip activity and see what works. Then do more of it. And while you’re at it, use the Gridwise app to track your mileage and expenses, and save at tax time. You can also check out When to Drive and Where to Drive, valuable features on the Gridwise app. 

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Take advantage of your free access to the Gridwise blog, a source for the most current information on gig driving, including DoorDash. Click over now to see a full review of DoorDash earnings in the 2023 Doordash Earnings Report, and also read this Gridwise blogpost, DoorDash Driver Pay: What Do Dashers Earn in 2023?

Get more earnings insights for DoorDash

Check out these Gridwise articles to learn more about DoorDash earnings:

• Download the Gridwise app for free
• DoorDash Driver Pay: What Do Dashers Earn in 2023?
• 2023 Doordash Earnings Report
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per day? 
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per delivery? 
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per hour? 

Do you include DoorDash as one of the platforms for your gig driving activities? If so, then congratulations. DoorDash commands a 65% market share of the food delivery industry, more than two-and-a-half times larger than second-place Uber Eats (24%). 

Even though you’re working for the top app on the food delivery platform, there is room to earn more. At Gridwise, we believe that what can be measured can be improved. That’s why we have broken down DoorDash earnings so that you can understand the numbers from every perspective. So when someone asks you “How much do DoorDash drivers make?,” you have the answer. 

You can rely on the accuracy of Gridwise numbers. More than 500,000 gig drivers have downloaded the Gridwise app. They pair Gridwise to all their gig apps to monitor their earnings, spot trends, and see where they can improve. Gridwise aggregates these collective numbers into an industry-wide picture of earnings that’s not available anywhere else. This knowledge will improve your earnings. 

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How much do DoorDashers make per delivery?

Want to know more about how much DoodDash drivers make per delivery? Some drivers prefer to look at earnings on a per-delivery basis. Check out this article that gives you detailed information about per-delivery earnings and how to make more in this Gridwise post, How Much Do DoorDash Drivers Make Per Delivery?

How much do DoorDash drivers make per hour?

Many DoorDash drivers work full-time, and others work part-time, making it difficult to find common ground for comparing earnings. How much DoorDash drivers make per hour is the great equalizer. If you’re doing it all right, implementing the best tactics and strategies, you can tell by per-hour earnings. For a closer look, check out the Gridwise blog post How Much Do DoorDash Drivers Make Per Hour?

How much do DoorDash drivers make per day?

What are the best days of the week for maximizing DoorDash earnings? Look at the information on the chart. There might be some surprises. For a closer look, check out the Gridwise blog post, How Much Do DoorDash Drivers Make Per Day?

How Much Do DoorDash Drivers Make Before Tips?

Inflation affects everything, including how much customers pay for the food you deliver as a DoorDash driver. Sometimes that translates into smaller tips. This is a concern because tips make up a large part of a DoorDash driver’s earnings. See what DoorDash earnings look like before tips. Then click over to a recent Gridwise post, How Much Do DoorDash Drivers Make Before Tips?, where we include pointers for increasing those tips. You can also get a perspective on DoorDash driver earnings from another Gridwise blogpost, DoorDash Driver Pay: What do Dashers earn in 2023? 

Download the Gridwise app

Gridwise is the #1 companion app for DoorDash drivers, and for all those that make their living as gig drivers. Besides monitoring your earnings from the various gig platforms you drive, the DoorDash app also has the best mileage tracker for gig drivers, as well as the best expense tracker in the industry. Gridwise also provides valuable information about where business is with their When to Drive and Where to Drive features. 

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Get more DoorDash Dasher earnings insights from Gridwise

Check out these Gridwise articles to learn more about DoorDash earnings:

• DoorDash Driver Pay: What Do Dashers Earn in 2023?
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per delivery? 
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per hour? 
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per day? 
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn before tips? 
• How to Make $1,000 a Week With DoorDash

DoorDash hourly earnings are the great equalizer, an even playing field for comparing full-time and part-time drivers. For this reason, we are taking a close look at, how much do DoorDash drivers make per hour? 

As we look at these numbers, you should know that they come from the over 500,000 gig drivers, both full-time and part-time, who have downloaded the Gridwise app. Gridwise aggregates and anonymizes the numbers to give you the best picture of DoorDash driver earnings.

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This blog post has lots of good information, but if you want to know more, you can check out the Gridwise post 2023 Doordash Earnings Report. You can also compare your earnings to what other drivers earned in 2022 in this Gridwise blog post, DoorDash Driver Pay: What Do Dashers Earn in 2023? While this blog post focuses on how much DoorDash drivers make per hour, high-performing drivers find it important to understand all aspects of Dasher earnings. Gridwise examines these aspects in other blog posts. 

• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per day?
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per delivery?
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn before tips?

DoorDash driver earning numbers per hour

Source: Gridwise Analytics. Graph also appears in 2023 Doordash Earnings Report.

How much do DoorDash drivers make? DoorDash hourly earnings for the last seven quarters, ending in Q3 of this year, averaged $15.20 to $16.00 per hour. Notice that rates increased during the first and fourth quarters, which run concurrently with the football season and the holidays. We don’t see the same increases during March Madness or baseball season for DoorDash drivers (or Dashers, as DoorDash refers to them).

Food delivery is one of many gig driver jobs that sees a positive impact from football season. A recent Gridwise post, The Impact of Pro Football Home Kickoff Games on Gig Mobility Demand, shows a marked increase in rideshare business. 

Keep in mind that these numbers represent the average. High-performing DoorDash Dashers, those in the 90th percentile, earn as much as $20 or more per hour. Dashers in the largest metropolitan areas earn even more. Becoming a high-performing driver may answer your question, Is DoorDash worth it?

As we said in the first paragraph, hourly earnings are the great equalizer between all DoorDash drivers, full- and part-time. For a different perspective on how to look at DoorDash earnings, see the Gridwise post, 2023 Doordash Earnings Report.

DoorDash driver earnings averages across cities per hour

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The per-hour numbers you saw in the first chart represent a national average. Earnings at all levels for gig drivers vary geographically, and Gridwise can break it down per city. The major metropolitan cities have the highest earning rates because of their sheer density. The volume and variety of restaurants also drive this higher rate. 

Large suburbs, carpeted with homes, surround many of these cities. These smaller, densely packed communities attract many restaurants, too. 

For those drivers not based in a major metropolitan area, DoorDash launched an Earn by Time feature for drivers this past June 27. Read about it in the Gridwise blog post Gig Worker News: DoorDash Offers Hourly Pay to Dashers. 

Busiest times of the day for DoorDash drivers

DoorDash peak timesTotal hoursEarningsCommentsLunch (11:30 am–1:30 pm)2 hrs. × 5 days a week = 10 hrs. $200Weekends tend to eliminate the business lunch crowd. Dinner (5:00 pm–9:00 pm)4 hrs. × 7 days a week = 28 hrs. $560Hours may vary in your region. Late night1.5 hrs. × 7 days a week = 10.5 hrs.$210If your territory includes colleges and universities, you’ll get good results in this time block. Totals48.5 hours$970

Chart initially published in How to Make $1000 a Week with DoorDash

Food delivery is not a 24/7 job. Yes, there are those odd orders at 4:00 in the morning or 3:00 in the afternoon, but you can generally rely on lunch and dinner as your peak times. 

The exception to this is when there are major sporting events. These are more likely to carry the food delivery demand through a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Also, remember that football is a weekend-long pursuit. College games are on Saturdays, professional games on Sundays, and football games on Monday and Thursday nights. 

What do food delivery drivers do in the afternoon hours or after 9:00 pm? This is where multi-apping comes in. You can get in several hours of rideshare in the afternoon rush hour or late at night. Check out the Gridwise blog post on multi-apping, The Art of Multi-apping: How-Tos and Strategies for Gig Drivers. 

If you familiarize yourself with Amazon Flex, for example, you can also squeeze in a delivery block from that company. Check out these recent Gridwise blog posts on the parcel carrier: 

• How to Make $1,000 a Week with Amazon Flex 
• Demystified: Your Guide to Amazon Flex Standings

You can also see how hourly earnings fit into the wider perspective of DoorDash earnings in this blog post, 2023 Doordash Earnings Report.

Tips for maximizing hourly DoorDash driver earnings

As a DoorDash Dasher, there are some things you can do to increase your profits. 

 Take advantage of DoorDash double orders

There are scattered reports that the DoorDash app is good at doubling up on orders, meaning that you can, on your way to pick up an order, get a second order going in the same general direction. According to this Quora page on DoorDash double orders, drivers have mixed reviews of this. You can also read more about DoorDash double orders on the DoorDash website. 

Communicate with the customer

It’s better to let the customer know in advance that there’s a hold-up at the restaurant or you’re stuck in traffic. Alternatively, they get upset, look for someone to blame, and the delivery driver becomes the likely target. 

Double-check those orders

Make sure the restaurant gets the complete order. You don’t have to open dishes or unwrap sandwiches to verify what they are, but at least count the components and ensure nothing is missing. Someone might be counting on those onion rings. 

Remember all the condiments

Some restaurants could be better regarding including extra ketchup or mustard. Make sure you include some. Drop in an extra handful of napkins and some plastic forks, knives, and spoons. If you’re picking up beef dip sandwiches, ensure someone at the restaurant remembers the au jus.

Familiarize yourself with DoorDash incentives

DoorDash offers you ways to make more money. Learn about Peak Pay promotions, DoorDash driver Challenges, and the Dash Now program—all described in a recent Gridwise blog post, DoorDash Incentives 2023: How Do They Work?

Work those tips

Tips are a significant source of income for DoorDash Dashers. If you do a lot of dashing, consider getting cards printed that thank people for allowing you to bring them their delivery. Include your information for PayPal, Zelle, or any of the other electronic cash-handling services. Some people would rather tip you directly. Drop one in every bag.

Check out Gridwise for more information on DoorDash

Visit the Gridwise blog and type “DoorDash” into the search bar. You’ll get a host of excellent blog posts about DoorDash. Recent ones include A Guide to Dashing: DoorDash for New Drivers vs. Experienced Drivers. 

Download the Gridwise app

Gridwise is the place to go regarding the latest information on DoorDash or other food delivery, rideshare, and parcel delivery gig jobs. Download the Gridwise app and check out When to Drive and Where to Drive on the Gridwise app. You can also save money at tax time using the Gridwise mileage tracker, the best mileage tracker app for gig drivers, and the Gridwise expense tracker. 

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Gridwise also maintains one of the most authoritative blogs in the gig industry. Check out our recent blog post, 2023 Doordash Earnings Report, for a more encompassing look at DoorDash earnings, and once again, also read DoorDash Driver Pay: What Do Dashers Earn in 2023?. 

Get more DoorDash Dasher earnings insights from Gridwise

Check out these Gridwise articles to learn more about Uber Eats earnings:

• Download the Gridwise app for free
• 2023 DoorDash Earnings Report 
• DoorDash Driver Pay: What Do Dashers Earn in 2023?
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per day? 
• How much do DoorDash drivers earn per delivery? 

How much do DoorDash drivers earn before tips?

Are you making as much money as other Lyft drivers? Is it worth it for you to work for Lyft? Working alone as a Lyft driver sure does beat having a micromanaging supervisor breathing down your back, but there are some things you have to sacrifice. 

One is the camaraderie that comes with working around your peers. From time to time, you may bump into other Lyft drivers and ask them things like how much they’re making per day. Sadly, you’ll rarely get any realistic intel, outside of their opinions about what Lyft driver earnings are like. But are they telling the truth?

Gridwise has data that reflects actual figures from other drivers, without the need to fact-check your airport cell phone lot buddies’ boasts, or to guess whether they drive the same way you do. On top of data, this article gives you tips for out-earning all your peers. Here are some questions we’ll shed light on:

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What is Lyft driver base pay like?

Lyft calculates base pay by adding together the base fare plus the time and distance you will clock during the ride. Besides these variables, you’ll have to take into consideration bonus and tip pay, and your expenses, including gas, car maintenance, and job-related equipment. The wide range of base pay numbers account for differences in location, as well. A ride that takes place in New York or San Francisco, for instance, will be more profitable than a short ride in the suburbs of Butte, Montana.

Gridwise data illustrates base pay ranges across the country:

How much do Lyft drivers make per ride?

When you ask this question, you’re likely to get a whole lot of different answers. Business Insider asked a number of drivers, who reported figures ranging from $22 to $40 per hour. It’s hard to know how many rides a driver makes in an hour, and it can definitely vary. Other sources estimate that median per trip earnings hover around $10.

It’s important to look more closely at how much you’re making with every ride, and then you can begin to estimate how much you can make in a day. This data from Gridwise gives you actual numbers that reflect the nationwide experience of per trip earnings of Lyft drivers.

What cities offer the biggest per ride earnings?

Cities such as New York and Seattle have laws that set minimum wages for drivers, so on the whole, their per trip earnings will be high. Other cities, where demand is less and cost of living lower, will show per trip earnings for Lyft drivers that match that situation. 

This data shows how much Gridwise drivers make per ride in key cities.

In all cities and in less populated areas as well, trips involving big events, rush hours, and bad weather will yield more profitable rides. Download Gridwise to get information about events, traffic, and weather when you need it most.

How can Lyft drivers make more with every ride?

When you work with Lyft, there’s a big difference between simply taking the rides as they come, and strategic driving. Here are some action items that are sure to help you make the most out of every ride you take.

• Download Gridwise and use When to Drive. Each ride you make will be more profitable once you know the best times to drive. When to Drive gives you intel that is sure to boost your earnings. It shows you the days and times when rides are really paying off.

• Use multi-apping to make the most of your time. When Lyft rides don’t come one after the other, you can jump on another app to keep your cash flow going.

• Work for more customer tips. By being efficient and pleasant, you’ll garner more tips from your passengers. Use these pointers and watch your earnings soar!

• Track your mileage and expenses. Your Lyft app only tracks the miles you travel while you’re on a ride. Download Gridwise to keep an account of the miles you drive in between. This lets you take full advantage of your deductible mileage allowance. Gridwise also tracks your other expenses, putting you in the perfect position for tax time.

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More earnings insights for Lyft drivers

• What are Lyft earnings like?
• How much do Lyft drivers make per hour?
• How much do Lyft drivers make per day?
• How much do Lyft drivers make before tips?

Uber Technologies, the parent company of Uber and Uber Eats, set the tone for gig platforms in early February when it posted a $1.87 billion profit for 2023. 

That number comes on the heels of two years of solid growth figures. According to mobility data from Gridwise, Uber's trips increased 66.3% from Q1 2022 to the end of 2023. While not as high, Lyft's numbers rose 52.1%. DoorDash, the giant of the food delivery companies, saw trips soar 34% in almost the same period. 

But investors and hedge fund managers know Uber’s profit comes at a cost. Uber’s annual numbers also revealed that the rideshare leader spent a whopping $529 million on driver incentives, which they label contra revenue. That’s more money that could have gone back to the bottom line.

How can investors tell if the gig platforms are wisely investing in boosting driver loyalty? How can Uber and the other gig platforms get ground truth data on what works? The answer lies in transportation analytics from the Gridwise Annual Gig Mobility Report. 

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Mobility data is a gateway to understanding gig driver loyalty

When evaluating a gig platform, investors should ask, “Do their programs attract and keep drivers?” Gig companies can quickly expand their apps to handle the added demand. It's more challenging, however, to scale the number of drivers needed to meet the demand. A shortage of available drivers leads to long waits for the customer. It can diminish the gig platform’s reputation and compel end users to seek other options, either driving themselves or using public transportation, and in the case of food delivery, picking it up themselves.

The various incentive programs gig platforms use to get and retain drivers include

• Driver referral bonuses—Many gig companies, especially rideshare, offer current drivers bonuses for referring new drivers. The amount of these bonuses and other requirements vary by region and the need for new drivers. In the past, they’ve been as high as $500, according to a post by SmartWallet.  
• Guaranteed incomes—A gig company will guarantee a certain level of earnings for new drivers in a specified period. The gig company will make up the difference if the driver fulfills the requirements but does not reach the amount. 
• Returning-driver incentives—Many drivers quit driving during the pandemic or for other reasons. The gig companies often email these drivers with a bonus offer for returning and meeting specific goals.
• Driver retention programs—The gig companies regularly offer bonuses to drivers for completing a specific amount of rides during a specified period or in a defined region. Examples of these include the Uber Quest bonus and Lyft Sprints. 

These are the most common programs, but there are others. They all cost the gig platforms money (more than half a billion in Uber’s case), with some being more effective than others. Ground truth information in the form of mobility insights and delivery data paves the way for smarter, more equitable decisions by all stakeholders.

Why should investors be concerned about driver loyalty?

Driver loyalty translates into benefits for a gig platform, all of which can affect the bottom line. These benefits include

• a fleet of loyal drivers, which means the gig company can meet growing demand.
• increased driver loyalty, which means less money spent on driver incentives. 
• drivers who are more likely to recommend the platform to others, resulting in lower acquisition costs. 
• happy drivers, who are more likely to deliver better service, which reflects positively on the company and its brand. 

Data analysis of driver earnings across all platforms

How much are drivers making across the various gig platforms? This chart, part of the Gridwise Annual Gig Mobility Report, provides accurate insight into that question. 

Gross monthly earnings for gig drivers (rideshare and food delivery, 2022–2023)

ServiceGross Earnings (Avg, 2022)Gross Earnings (Avg, 2023)YoY Change (%, Gross Earnings)Work Hours (Avg, 2022)Work Hours (Avg, 2023)YoY Change (%, Work Hours)Uber$1,699.58$1,409.71−17.1%5856−2.9%Lyft$1,032.23$1,058.320.0255144-12.90%DoorDash$704.04$703.17-0.10%49500.032Instacart$661.60$606.50-8.30%3836-4.50%Uber Eats$558.49$472.72-15.40%2827-3.80%Grubhub$445.07$471.770.0625280.136

Source: Gridwise Analytics

It’s not all about compensation

The report also reveals what attracts drivers to gig work. Compensation actually comes in second place. What attracts drivers the most is the ability to have flexible hours. 

The leading motivators in choosing gig driving work

Source: Gridwise Driver Survey 2023

Gig driving is also increasingly seen as a permanent occupation. Almost half (45%) of drivers surveyed see it as a long-term plan. 

The draw of multi-apping

The gig driver alternative to driver loyalty is multi-apping, the driver practice of operating and responding to several apps at once. There are several methods of multi-apping, all which affect driver loyalty in different ways.

• Multi-apping within a category—Drivers have apps open in the same category, such as rideshare, and pick and choose rides based on perceived profitability and other factors. According to a Gridwise blog post, Want to Improve Gig Driver Loyalty? Use Data to Stay Competitive, 31% of drivers multi-app. 
• Multi-apping across categories—Drivers have apps open in rideshare and food delivery, again picking and choosing based on their preferences. According to the previously mentioned Gridwise blog post, 21% of drivers multi-app in this fashion. 
• Switching between apps—Peak demand for food delivery is between 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm, and 5:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Some drivers work food delivery during those hours, and then switch to rideshare, which is often more profitable in the later evening hours. 

Multi-apping is a tool that drivers use to increase profitability. Gig companies, however, would rather have drivers loyal to their platform. To encourage this, they often structure retention programs to encourage drivers to remain on the app to accept rides or orders. Uber Eats Pro and the DoorDash Top Dasher programs are examples of retention programs that encourage drivers to remain on one app. 

The gig platforms also take other measures. Uber and Lyft often void Quests and Sprint promotions if a driver ignores a ride or turns off the app during a prescribed period. 

Mobility data shows delivery wins the loyalty contest

Mobility data analysis in a Gridwise Analytics blog, Want to Improve Gig Driver Loyalty? Use Data to Stay Competitive, indicates delivery platforms get the highest driver loyalty ratings.

Here are some of the findings:

• From Q2 2022 and the beginning of Q3 2023, 60%–65% of DoorDash drivers drove strictly for that service platform.
• Between 45% and 50% of drivers were loyal to Instacart during that period. 
• By the beginning of Q2 2023, Amazon Flex drivers who drove solely for that platform reached about 45%. 

More broadly, data analysis shows that over 75% of drivers stick to one gig type during a working period. Only 24.3% of drivers switch between apps. Nevertheless, there remains a high level of interest in multi-apping, as data shows that 41.7% of drivers have experimented with different gigs.  

The impact of tips on driver loyalty

Tipping is a big part of the gig driver economy. A recent review of gig driver platforms reveals that all allow the customer to tip the driver through the app, and all companies pass on 100% of the tips to the drivers. 

Tipping serves two purposes:

• Tipping augments the driver’s income, and 78.4% of drivers agree that tips matter significantly to their overall income. 
• Tipping also reinforces that drivers are doing a good job, with 68.6% of drivers indicating that tips affect their enthusiasm and job satisfaction. 

What is interesting to note is the disparity between tips by rideshare drivers and those in food delivery. Rideshare drivers receive an average of about 10% of their income in tips, whereas food delivery drivers receive 51% of their income in tips. 

Also notable is the frequency of tipping in the different categories:

• 28% of rideshare passengers give their drivers a tip.
• 74.5% of grocery delivery customers give their drivers a tip. 
• 88.5% of food-service customers give their drivers a tip. 

Investors can learn from Gridwise mobility insights

Mobility insights and transportation analytics can inform the decisions of investment researchers and hedge fund managers who are eager to provide healthy returns for their clients and investor base. 

It's interesting to note that DoorDash and Instacart have a solid lock on market share in their categories, and their drivers have the highest monthly earnings. These same companies also have the highest driver loyalty rates in those categories, indicating that driver loyalty figures into the battle for market share in the gig industry. 

Investors can also use Gridwise Analytics to determine whether the various platforms' driver incentive programs contribute to driver loyalty. Gig platforms with lower driver loyalty rates need to be using the most successful incentive programs. 

Gridwise Analytics provides mobility data and transportation analytics, affording unique insights to companies involved in the broader transportation infrastructure, and demonstrating how people and goods move from one location to another. The data shows where trips originate, where they end, and the primary travel corridors. This data also reveals the success of the gig platforms in building market share and increasing driver loyalty. 

Gridwise Analytics’ partners marvel at the data's clean nature, allowing them to integrate the findings into their existing datasets with little or no manipulation. 

For a demonstration of how Gridwise Analytics' vehicle trip data can sharpen your transportation analytics, contact Gridwise Analytics. 

Check out these articles to learn more about Gridwise Analytics:

• Contact Gridwise Analytics 
• Read the Gridwise Annual Gig Mobility Report 
• Harnessing Gig Mobility Data and Analytics for Growth Opportunities 
• Data-Driven Strategy: How Gig Mobility Drove Fleet Efficiency in an Autonomous Vehicle Company’s Strategy
• Why We Launched Gridwise Analytics