The app says you made $1,400 this week. That's not what you made.
If you drive for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash or Instacart, the number in the app is gross earnings. It doesn't take out gas, wear on your car, the miles you drove to pick someone up, or the time you spent waiting for a ping. Two drivers can see the same weekly total and take home very different amounts.
Here's how to figure out what you're actually earning, and how to use that to drive smarter.
1.Track all your miles, not just paid ones
The app tracks miles while you're on a trip. It doesn't track the drive to the busy area, the miles between orders, or the drive home. Those miles cost you just as much.
Use a mileage app or your car's trip meter, and log every mile from when you start driving for work to when you stop. It matters twice: once for knowing your real earnings, and again at tax time, because business miles are deductible. The IRS standard rate for 2025 is 70 cents a mile.
2.Figure out your real cost per mile
Gas is the obvious one. But maintenance, tires, oil changes and the value your car loses with every mile are real costs too. Many drivers land somewhere between 25 and 40 cents a mile once everything is counted, depending on their car.
3.Do the math on one real week
- Earnings shown in apps (including tips)
- $1,400
- Total miles driven: 820 × $0.32
- −$262
- Phone, car wash, parking
- −$38
- Real earnings
- $1,100
- Hours logged in, including waiting
- 44
- Real hourly rate
- $25.00
And taxes haven't come out yet. A lot of drivers set aside 20–25% of real earnings for self-employment and income tax.
Two numbers matter: what you earn per hour and what you earn per mile, after costs.
4.Compare apps, times and areas
Once you know your real hourly rate, you can compare. Keep a simple log for a few weeks: which app, what hours, which part of town, and what you earned per hour after costs. Patterns show up fast. Maybe Friday dinner delivery beats Saturday rides. Maybe the airport run looks good but eats an hour of waiting.
| Shift | App says | Real hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Weekday lunch, delivery | $27/hr | $21/hr |
| Friday night, rides | $34/hr | $28/hr |
| Sunday morning, airport | $38/hr | $22/hr |
5.Set a weekly goal you can check
Pick a real-earnings goal for the week and the year. Check it every Sunday. When you can see you're $150 short with one day left, you can decide whether to drive the extra shift, instead of wondering at the end of the month where the money went.
If you drive for more than one app, add them together. Your year isn't one app. It's all of them, after costs. That's the number worth tracking.
Yegly is open now, and the special deal runs through December 31, 2026.
Know your number every day, not just today.
Yegly adds up every business you own and keeps your Year-End Goal pace current, automatically. Start a free trial: pay yearly by December 31, 2026 for two extra people free and a locked price.
- 14 days free
- Cancel anytime
- Nothing is charged until the trial ends
— The Yegly team
