It’s that time of year. Gridwise has crunched the numbers and gives you insight into how gig drivers did in 2022. Take a look to see how you did compared to other drivers!
In this post, we take a look at earnings across some of the major services and answer questions like:
- What did rideshare drivers earn in 2022?
- What did food delivery drivers earn in 2022?
- What did grocery delivery drivers earn in 2022?
- What is the prognosis for gig driving?
- What tools can drivers use to help them earn more?
What did rideshare drivers earn in 2022?
Here’s how earnings broke down for Lyft and Uber drivers from Q1 to Q4 2022. All numbers are reported on a median basis.
Hourly gross earnings for rideshare
| Service | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
| Lyft 2022 | $20.05 | $20.63 | $19.03 | $19.10 |
| Uber 2022 | $20.65 | $21.87 | $20.78 | $21.28 |
| Combined hourly earnings for 2021 | $16.58 | $19.67 | $18.91 | $13.81 |
These numbers show a solid increase in earnings for both Uber and Lyft compared to 2021, with Uber drivers about on par with Lyft drivers. These numbers make sense when we consider that this last year the US has been emerging from the worst pandemic most of us have seen.
Per-trip gross earnings for rideshare
| Service | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
| Lyft 2022 | $12.97 | $14.09 | $13.20 | $13.27 |
| Uber 2022 | $13.42 | $14.57 | $13.50 | $13.67 |
Uber earnings are higher, but not by much. Some drivers prefer to evaluate earnings this way, reasoning that squeezing in more rides per hour can boost earnings and efficiency.
Tip earnings per hour for rideshare
| Service | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
| Lyft 2022 | $1.56 | $1.76 | $1.74 | $1.78 |
| Uber 2022 | $2.09 | $2.27 | $2.19 | $2.10 |
This is where we start to see a wider discrepancy. Rideshare drivers typically earn 10% to 11% of their earnings in tips, but Lyft drivers aren’t seeing that amount.
What did food delivery drivers earn in 2022?
Now let’s look at what food delivery drivers earned in 2022. We’ve included DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats. Again, all numbers are reported on a median basis.
Hourly gross earnings for food delivery
| Service | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
| DoorDash 2022 | $15.31 | $14.79 | $14.68 | $14.74 |
| Grubhub 2022 | $14.25 | $13.93 | $13.44 | $13.83 |
| Uber Eats 2022 | $14.84 | $13.83 | $13.45 | $14.01 |
DoorDash consistently leads the category for driver income, but only modestly. Uber Eats and GrubHub switch off the number two and three spots, and sometimes they’re pennies apart. Still, driver earnings for the services remain close.
Per-trip gross earnings for food delivery
Some food delivery drivers prefer to look at what they make on a per-trip basis. Here’s how driver earnings per trip stacked up in 2022.
| Service | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DoorDash 2022 | $7.94 | $7.95 | $7.82 | $7.95 |
| Grubhub 2022 | $10.45 | $10.58 | $10.19 | $10.15 |
| Uber Eats 2022 | $9.58 | $9.70 | $9.37 | $9.28 |
Tip earnings per hour for meal delivery
| Service | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DoorDash 2022 | $7.67 | $7.56 | $7.57 | $7.43 |
| Grubhub 2022 | $6.87 | $6.60 | $6.87 | $6.34 |
| Uber Eats 2022 | $6.93 | $6.79 | $6.73 | $6.97 |
These numbers make sense when matched up to the hourly earnings of the drivers of these respective services. DoorDash drivers continue to receive the highest tips from customers, with Uber Eats and GrubHub going back and forth in the second and third spots. If DoorDash drivers are making more deliveries per hour than Grubhub and Uber Eats drivers, it would stand to reason that they would make appreciably more in tips.
What did grocery delivery drivers earn in 2022?
Instacart and Shipt are the two top companies in the grocery delivery business. According to sources, Walmart also represents a substantial part of the grocery delivery market, handled by Walmart Spark drivers.
Hourly gross earnings for grocery delivery
| Service | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
| Instacart 2022 | $14.78 | $14.14 | $13.44 | $13.84 |
| Shipt 2022 | $16.60 | $15.84 | $15.21 | $15.68 |
Shipt drivers make more hourly, which might be attributed to their bonus structure and because the Shipt app is more likely to give drivers double orders that they can fill at the same time.
Tip earnings per hour for grocery delivery
| Service | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
| Instacart 2022 | $6.46 | $6.34 | $6.24 | $6.34 |
| Shipt 2022 | $5.52 | $5.29 | $4.55 | $4.09 |
What is the prognosis for gig driving?
Rideshare
Rideshare gets the majority of attention. It’s been around longer than meal delivery and grocery delivery. It’s the most visible. We see cars with Uber and Lyft decals on the roads daily, numerous times a day. It has also disrupted more workers and industries, specifically taxicab drivers and airport limo drivers.
In addition, rideshare is more vulnerable to other influences. A recent article on CNN.com revealed that the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas attracted 100,000 in-person attendees in early January 2023. A year earlier, when most cities were still in the thralls of the pandemic, attendance was only 45,000. Those extra people in Las Vegas meant a brisk rideshare business, and Las Vegas is a year-round trade show city, in addition to having a healthy tourist economy.
However, the Las Vegas Weekly reports that those tradeshow attendees and tourists will have more transportation choices within a few years. The Boring Company, owned by Elon Musk, built, owns, and operates a system of tunnels connecting the various buildings that make up the Las Vegas Convention Center. A fleet of Teslas moves more than 3,000 people an hour through the tunnels. There are plans to expand the network to all the city’s attractions, from Fremont Street to the Las Vegas Strip, to Allegiant Stadium where the Raiders play, and on to the airport. When completed, a passenger can make the seven-mile trip from Fremont Street to the airport for an anticipated price of $12.
That’s a lot of potential rideshare passengers that might go to another source for their transportation. Other cities are also developing transportation solutions that will affect rideshare. This is not an effort to eliminate rideshare, however; prudent city planners are always concerned with efficiently moving people around.
But rideshare has also become part of the fabric of society. The Las Vegas tunnel system will not go everywhere. There are places public transportation does not reach, regardless of where you live. Rideshare continues to fill this gap. It is last-mile delivery for human passengers. According to PolicyAdvice.net, a website reporting on money management, insurance, mortgage, loans, and investment, the global ridesharing industry, as of September 2022, was worth an estimated $61 billion and expects to nearly quadruple to $220 billion by 2025. About 25% of the US population uses rideshare at least once a month.
Drivers who stay with the job will continue to earn. Have a strategy for driving, and run your rideshare business as a business, controlling costs and taking advantage of tax deductions.
Your accumulated knowledge is an advantage. According to TheInformation.com, only about 3% to 4% of beginning new rideshare drivers are still ridesharing 12 months later. This turnover rate is known as “driver churn.” It is easy to get discouraged in the first few weeks; and for others rideshare is only a temporary source of income until they can find more permanent employment. If you have stuck it out for a year as a rideshare driver, you have gained a lot of wisdom, which gives you a really nice edge.
Food and grocery Delivery
The outlook for food delivery and grocery delivery is even better. According to many sources, including Statistica.com, that market will see a compounded annual growth rate of 12.33%, reaching a global total of $1.45 trillion by 2027. User penetration in the online food delivery segment is projected to reach 37.2% of the population in 2023.
Meal delivery is invigorated by a prepared food industry that is constantly innovating. There are countless ghost kitchens in urban and suburban areas, serving untold numbers of meals—and they are all delivery-only. Restaurant chains as diverse as Chuck E. Cheese and Applebees’ are operating separate brands out of the back door of their kitchens—also delivery-only. They are all using gig drivers in a big way.
The pandemic introduced people to meal and grocery delivery, and they found that they liked it.
What tools can drivers use to help them earn more?
Tremendous growth always brings tremendous change. Some things will stay the same – whatever service you drive for, you’ll need to track your miles and earnings for taxes. And if you want to earn more, you’ll need to know where to drive and the best times to drive for your gig apps to make the most money.
Gridwise tracks each mile you drive (not every app does!) and helps you max out your tax deduction, while also telling you where the demand is for deliveries and passengers.
Want to earn more?
