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US Study reveals Uber and Lyft drivers make just $3.37 per hour

Perry Richardson

A study looking at the average wage of US gig-economy app drivers revealed the average profit is just $3.37 per hour. 

In an MIT Centre for Energy and Environmental Policy Research study that after pairing the data from a survey of 1,100 Uber and Lyft drivers, the average profit was $3.37 per hour before tax. 

The study also revealed that 74% of all drivers earn less than the minimum wage in their respective state and more worryingly that 30% of those drivers are losing money once expenses are deducted.

The gross driver income per mile is $0.59 per mile before expenses, upon factoring in expenses the driver's income and then drops to a mere $0.29 per mile.

The MIT report shows that in 2016, more than half of the drivers who took part in the study could declare a loss to the IRS.

The study shows that 73.5% of an estimated $4.88 billion annual profit in the U.S market is untaxed.

There are little or no statistics in relation to population-level.statistics and ride-hailing profitability. Although the driver themselves can observe their own statistics,  they are unlikely to have any knowledge of other driver's stats.

The MIT study has provided one of the first detailed estimates of ride-hailing profit. It combined the self-reported revenue, mileage and vehicle choices from both Uber and Lyft drivers with detailed vehicle, insurance, maintenance, repairs, fuel and depreciation costs.

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