Uber driver pay varies widely across U.S. cities, Columbia study finds

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Uber driver pay by city study

Highlights

Columbia Business School analyzed 1.8 million Uber trips from March 2025 to March 2026 and found median pay varies from $3.18 to $21.87 net per hour depending on city.
Six of the 16 cities studied offered net hourly pay falling below the $7.25 federal minimum wage, with Orlando drivers earning the lowest and Boston the highest due to state regulation.
Uber disputes the study, arguing its drivers earn more than $30 per engaged hour including tips and bonuses, and challenges Sherman's methodology and assumptions.

Study methodology and city-by-city pay gaps

As first reported by Business Insider, Len Sherman, an executive in residence and adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, analyzed about 1.8 million Uber trip offers collected by third-party driver app GigU between March 2025 and March 2026.

Sherman estimated driver pay per mile and per active hour, meaning time spent on a trip or en route to a passenger rather than time waiting for the next ride. His analysis shows Uber offered drivers in Orlando a median of 72 cents a mile, or $19.30 per active hour, while drivers in Los Angeles saw a median of $2.15 per mile, or $46 per active hour.

After accounting for major driving expenses such as gas and car maintenance, Sherman estimates that six of the 16 cities fall below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. He says Orlando has the lowest net hourly pay at $3.18, while Boston has the highest at $21.87 per active hour, with Massachusetts law requiring ride-hailing services to pay drivers at least $34.48 an hour.

Regulatory pressure and dispute over earnings metrics

Uber disputes the findings and says the analysis is flawed. A company spokesperson says the calculations likely overstate lower-paying offers that drivers reject and leave out tips, promotional payments and minimum wage adjustment payments available in states including California and Massachusetts.

The company also challenges Sherman's assumptions on average trip length and trips per hour, but declines to provide its own estimates for those figures or overall driver pay. Uber says its pay per engaged hour is on average more than 25% higher than Sherman's figures, and it has previously said drivers earn more than $30 per hour when traveling to pick up riders or transporting them.

Sherman says he stands by the calculations and argues they provide a more realistic picture of earnings than Uber's broader claims. He says higher-paying cities such as Boston and Los Angeles tend to have local minimum pay rules, while tourist-heavy markets including Las Vegas and Orlando may see lower rates because more drivers compete for trips.

Rising transport and input costs are fueling a renewed uptick in U.S. grocery inflation, with food manufacturers and retailers warning that higher freight, packaging, and agricultural expenses could translate into another round of price increases. Our earlier coverage highlighted how shoppers remain price sensitive even as companies try to protect margins, and how the broader inflation backdrop remains politically and economically consequential.

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