A few weeks back we wrote an article going over how to maximize earnings on Halloween that covered the rideshare driving strategy of successful drivers during Halloween and we promised we would revisit that article to understand how much drivers made during Halloween in 2018.
Today we’re making good on that promise with our Halloween 2018 Rideshare earnings report which will give you insight into how much drivers in 4 major markets made during the Halloween holiday.
No long intro this time! Let’s cut to the chase and get to the data!
How much did rideshare drivers earn during Halloween 2018?
Methodology
Rideshare drivers log 1000’s of miles per day and track $10,000’s per week using Gridwise. For reports like these, we look at the anonymized driving statistics for drivers in a number of markets. For the purposes of this report, we have analyzed the earnings and mileage of over 25,000 drivers in Chicago, D.C., Pittsburgh, and Baltimore.
This report is far more accurate than any driver earnings report available as drivers record their statistics exactly as they drive multiple times per week. So not only are the reported earnings accurate, but drivers don’t cherry pick their best or worse days to show us. This gives us the most realistic view of how much drivers are really making over time.
Hypothesis
There are three days during the Halloween season that we would expect higher than average rider demand. Those days are Halloween day, the Saturday before Halloween, and the Friday before Halloween.
Based on our knowledge from being rideshare drivers ourselves along with conversations with other rideshare drivers and last years statistics we would expect earnings to be higher on the Friday and Saturday before Halloween as these days are traditionally the days when most adults dress up and go out to celebrate Halloween, so we would expect more rider demand than a usual Friday and Saturday night during October.
We would also expect that on Halloween day earnings would be higher because there should be more rider demand than your average Wednesday.
Finally, we would expect earnings per hour during the entire week of the 22nd to be higher because that week includes Friday and Saturday before Halloween while earnings for the week of the 29th should be higher than the previous two weeks, but not higher than the week of the 22nd.
Results
Rideshare earnings statistics are heavily dependent on the city that you’re analyzing, so we will look at each city independently for this report.
Let’s start with Chicago.
Chicago
Let’s look at how much drivers made per hour during the week of Halloween vs the 2 weeks before, and the week after.
Here we can see that drivers earned on average about $1.00 more per hour during the week of Halloween than the week before and more than $2.00 more per hour than the week before that. Surprisingly, the week of Halloween day did not yield higher earnings per hour.
Washington D.C.
Let’s look at how much drivers drove during the week of Halloween vs the 2 weeks before, and the week after.
Again, during the week of Halloween weekend, we can see drivers made about $2.00 more per hour, while the week of Halloween day was again the lowest earnings week.
Baltimore
Let’s look at how much drivers drove during the week of Halloween vs the 2 weeks before, and the week after.
Here, for the first time, we can see that the week of the 22nd which includes Halloween Weekend is not the most profitable week. The week that actually includes Halloween is the most profitable which could indicate that the day of Halloween is a bigger money maker for drivers in Baltimore.
Pittsburgh
Here’s how much drivers drove during the week of Halloween vs the 2 weeks before, and the week after.
In Pittsburgh, the week before the 15th was an abnormally highly profitable week, so it looks as if the week before Halloween weekend was the most profitable. The week of Halloween was still more profitable than the other two observable weeks.
Key takeaways
So what have we learned from all of this data?
Drivers are making more money during Halloween
Let’s end this argument right here and right now.
Drivers do make more money during Halloween week than they do otherwise. They are making more money per hour and per mile in 3 out of the 4 cities that we covered. So we can confidently say that it’s likely that drivers across all markets are more profitable during this Holiday.
Drivers are generally on the road much more during Halloween
Drivers are driving longer hours and more miles during Halloween, and likely most other holidays. This isn’t surprising as most drivers are likely perceiving a greater amount of earning power during holidays like Halloween so are ensuring they hit the road.
This also means that rider demand has traditionally been higher during these holidays.
How much did you make during Halloween?
Our data is showing that drivers are indeed making more during Halloween than they otherwise would have, but what are you drivers seeing? Are you making more during Halloween? If so what’s your strategy?
Share your knowledge with the community below!
