Uber Rideshare Driver Net Earnings Study
HR&A conducted an independent study for Uber Technologies analyzing rideshare driver net earnings in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Portland and benchmarking those earnings against comparable occupations in each market. These cities represent diverse labor market conditions, minimum wage levels, and transportation-sector contexts across the U.S. Our comprehensive analysis revealed that across all three cities, Uber driver net earnings ranged from $21.29 to $23.01 per hour after costs.
Rideshare work has become an important part of the labor market, with over 55,000 monthly Uber drivers in Chicago alone, yet questions remained about how driver earnings compare to traditional employment after accounting for expenses. HR&A developed a rigorous methodology to calculate net earnings by analyzing gross earnings alongside detailed cost assessments that distinguished between relevant fixed and variable expenses for both vehicle owners and renters. We weighted these figures based on actual driver and vehicle type distributions to create representative per-mile and per-hour cost estimates that could be meaningfully compared against wage data.
HR&A benchmarked driver earnings against comparable occupations with similar educational requirements and barriers to entry. The analysis also found that part-time workers face larger earnings penalties in traditional jobs than in rideshare, offering insight into how the flexibility of rideshare work fits within today’s labor market.
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