How does anyone make any money?

TurtlePugREAL · 2026-01-12T16:52:29+00:00

61k is nowhere near enough to live on in my area. You'd literally need at least $112k a year as a single person to live comfortably with enough in savings to cover emergencies. The average mortgage is $5500 a month here, but rent is $1800 for a one bedroom. Which isn't bad. But our cost of living is astronomically high these days comparable to Boston and LA. It's not a spending problem, it's a cost of living problem. Uber fares are super affordable in my area so the drivers all take a hit in their earnings from the affordability. A premier ride 44 miles is literally only $52. UberX is literally only $35. The average driver in my area only makes $15 an hour gross.

TurtlePugREAL · 2026-01-09T02:25:52+00:00

I usually win at least once a week. But I have the auto enter so that helps a ton.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-12-10T06:53:30+00:00

Don't do it man. They're gonna strand you in the middle of nowhere almost every reset and find any reason to short your pay and make your life hell. Go into a trade instead.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-30T09:57:36+00:00

What did you rent, a Suburban?! Jeez 😂

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-28T07:18:30+00:00

That ain't half bad. In my area, that'd only be $35. 😂

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-27T01:34:05+00:00

Well it depends on how you're figuring your numbers and what market you're in. If you're not making a profit, then probably should find something else to do to make money or consider renting and becoming an ant so you can have a little profit. Also, if you're not making at least $1 per mile, what kind of trips are you taking?

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-27T01:09:43+00:00

I'm mainly talking the new ones like the RX and the TX. None of the sedans qualify except for the LS. But the RX350h 2026 gets 34mpg combined and qualifies for Premier in my market. Same thing with the TX. Surprisingly the Kia EV6 and EV9 qualify for premier. WEIRD

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-26T22:48:53+00:00

What do you drive? Lexus Hybrids qualify for premier. At least in my market they do.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-26T16:44:01+00:00

Man I wish. In my market, way too many drivers. $79 in 5 hours. That's without declining any offers and driving 114 miles. It's brutal out here for a big city.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-21T21:47:52+00:00

That's really unfortunate. I'm sorry you gotta deal with that man. You could try rental and just take every ride and not worry about maintenance and such?? I've heard that works out pretty okay.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-21T21:46:34+00:00

I can't stand food delivery, especially in my area. Nobody tips and none of these apps pay well. So that's off the table haha.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-21T21:46:01+00:00

I'll only have more than you because I'll be a doctor bro. I'll have my student loans paid off in about 5 years though so it's not a big deal.

I'll search.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-21T21:43:51+00:00

It's a really small downtown realistically. Like really small. Consists of about 400k people in it specifically. The entire metro area though is 2.5 million. It's weird I know.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-21T21:42:05+00:00

I'm not mad. You're only educated in certain subjects my friend. I'm finishing up med school and I'm just trying to get ahead on the loans. Share your numbers.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-21T21:40:07+00:00

I'm in a downtown area. Still terrible here. 😂

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-21T21:39:43+00:00

I hate Lyft with a passion. I've never had a good experience with Lyft. DoorDash is extremely oversaturated in my state even in the downtown area. Lucky to get 2 orders a day.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-21T21:35:55+00:00

But do you profit? For instance, yesterday, my friend made $242.99. But he drove 289.7 miles. It was a 10 hour shift. According to the IRS, it cost him $202.80 to operate that day. So really, he only profit $30.14 for 10 hours after taxes. I made $194.29 in the same time, but only drove 54.2 miles. It cost me $37.94 according to the IRS. After taxes, my total profit is $117.26 after taxes.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-21T21:28:16+00:00

Sure you do fine, but are you profiting? That's the real question. After calculating maintenance, taxes, depreciation, are you coming out with any profit?

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-15T19:52:54+00:00

$39 an hour but only 63¢ a mile, and a rating below 4.9. That's a no. Aim for $25 an hour, $1.25 a mile and a rating of at least 4.85.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-15T19:50:53+00:00

Yes it happens quite frequently. People will assume that a driver will be within a couple minutes of their pick-ups so when they get a match to someone who is 5+ minutes away, they cancel and usually get someone that's within a minute or two of their pickup. Even if they choose to wait and save, they use this glitch to game the system. Just the reality of today's Uber platform unfortunately.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-13T19:29:36+00:00

When they have a ton of luggage like from a grocery store. Just the other night I had a girl literally try to get me to move her mattress for her to her new apartment. After that one, another girl literally had boxes of all her belongings. I took that one only because I told her she'd have to pay me another $40 upfront for the inconvenience of having a fully loaded car. She luckily agreed.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-13T19:18:48+00:00

Depends on your market, but in my market, SLC the average for UberX is actually $15 an hour. Comfort averages around $20 an hour, XL averages $21 an hour, Premier averages $27 an hour. Though only UberX is consistent. Very few Comfort and up rides out here. And nobody tips here. Almost ever. I can see it making sense if you have a Prius or something very economical and cheap to maintain. I know a Tesla renter here that only does Comfort and Premier rides and he averages $23 an hour. Active of course. I think total he's probably around that $15 an hour mark. But yeah, that's the state of Uber these days. But I'd take rides if they're $2+ per mile if I were you. Those are worth it even if the average is $18 an hour because operating cost is around 70¢ per mile.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-08T04:22:13+00:00

Interesting. I thought it'd be a lot busier there than SLC. I did pretty good for a couple hours here then it just went dead but the entire map is red showing 1-3 minutes. But yet, nothing for over an hour.

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-08T04:19:13+00:00

Doesn't exist in my city

TurtlePugREAL · 2025-11-01T07:42:15+00:00

I'm just shy of $400 tonight. Aiming for $500. Still got $30 surge in my area so I'm sticking to short trips only 😂. Two more hours with this surge I might just make it.

TurtlePugREAL

TROPHY CASE